Garage invites researchers to submit works related to the themes raised in the exhibition project Spirit Labor: Duration, Difficulty, and Affect.
Spirit Labor explores and challenges the durational aspect of time in art, from the body of the artist to the act of making and exhibiting art. The title of the project was borrowed from the eponymous film essay by British curator and performance historian Adrian Heathfield, in which he traces a special kind of labor that transpires in artistic practices “inclined toward elemental exposure and non-human forces.”
The aim of the open call is to stimulate research and the accumulation of reflexive works that offer a critical perspective on the notion of endurance as embodied experiences relevant to the exhibition. The Museum’s interest in such research is connected with the launch of the platform Experiencing the Museum. Diversity and Inclusion, which brings together the experience of Russian and international institutions and experts in the field of inclusion. The platform features an archive of completed inclusive programs and presents different approaches to the understanding of inclusion. One of the key questions discussed on the platform is that of the relationship between the discourses of art and inclusivity. The Russian community of inclusion experts has not yet formulated a common understanding of the subject. Applicants are invited to present their views on questions such as “How can art and inclusive practices relate to each other?” and “Does art have to be comfortable and, by default, accessible to everyone?”.
