"D.I.Y" Exhibition
Stendhal Gallery
This event has ended.
The concept of Do It Yourself began as a philosophy related to the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th and early 20th century in which a search for an authentic, meaningful style was carried out as a reaction to the “soulless” aesthetic that developed out of the Industrial Revolution. A DIY subculture soon followed, explicitly critiquing modern consumer culture while encouraging people to take technologies into their own hands to solve needs. The exhibition examines how the Fluxus movement of the 1960s applied the DIY philosophy to practice establishing an interdisciplinary, anti-art approach that aestheticized aspects of daily life. Often viewed as humorous, thrifty, ephemeral and spontaneous, the featured works reveal a deeper set of utopian ideals that believed attributes of functionality, economy, and accessibility could stimulate social change. Influenced by the avant-garde theories of Futurism, Dada, and composer John Cage, artists were not only questioning art history’s hierarchical paradigms of value, authorship, and interpretation, but also the burgeoning commodity culture of the 1960’s. On view will be works on paper, film, posters, diagrams, maps, charts, and documents by artists George Maciunas, Jonas Mekas, George Brecht, Ben Vautier, Yoko Ono, Paul Sharits, Henry Flynt, and Shigeko Kubota. The project room will feature works on paper by artist Paula Scher.
Media
Schedule
from May 07, 2009 to July 25, 2009
Opening Reception on 2009-05-07 from 18:00 to 21:00