Against Competition / Towards Mutual Aid: ABC No Rio in Exile at Flux Factory
February 1 – February 14
Closing Reception
Tuesday February 14
7:00pm – 10:00pm
Viewing Hours Feb 8 – Feb 14
Tues, Wed, Thrs, Fri 5:00 – 8:00pm
Sat + Sun noon – 6:00pm
Artist as Ally panel
February 9th,
Dinner at 7 pm / Panel at 8pm
Quality Programming
February 11th
6pm – 7pm – Projection in the Park: Site-Specific Projection
7pm – 8pm – Feminist Cocktail Party
8pm – 10pm – PARADISO: a subversive party
February 12th
6pm – Against Commodification! How?
About
NEW YORK: ABC No Rio and Flux Factory are proud to collaborate on the process-based exhibition, Against Competition/Towards Mutual Aid. Seeking an alternative to the competitive atmosphere of art production and exhibition, this project is based on the idea that art should exist as a venture that nourishes collaboration. As such, competitive approaches should be replaced by more mutualist and participatory practices.
Unlike a traditional exhibition, the premise of Against Competition/Towards Mutual Aid requires all artists to propose works themed around mutual aid; those projects will be realized by all of the artists collaboratively over the course of a month. A core part of the exhibition will be the sharing of materials, skills, and labor. Visions will be realized, but not necessarily as originally imagined; this is part of the excitement of the project.
The work for this project will be planned in January, implemented and installed the first week of February, and made available to the public on Wednesday February 8. There will be a closing party and reception on Valentine’s Day, Tuesday, February 14.
On February 9, as part of Flux Thursdays, Flux Factory and ABC No Rio will present the panel Artist as Ally. Please join us for a potluck and discussion, as four artists will share how they engage the arts in ways that address social issues.
Against Competition/Towards Mutual Aid expands on an ABC No Rio project of several years ago that was inspired in part by Marc Fischer’s essay “Against Competition” and consisted of artworks made cooperatively by an artist and another who helped realize their vision.
Participants
Artists participating in Against Competition/Towards Mutual Aid include Razan AlSalah, Rachel Brown, Lee Brozgol, Kerry Cox, Elizabeth Demaray, Rachel Haberstroh, Robert Hieger, Rachel Hillery, Christopher Lin, Jemila MacEwan, Firoz Mahmud, Liz Naiden + Anatole Hocek, Patrícia Silva, Alex Strada, Julieta Triangular, Moira Williams, Ariel Zakarison, and Joanie Fritz Zosike.
This project is organized by ABC No Rio Visual Arts Collective members Vandana Jain, Mike Estabrook, Brian George, and Steven Englander, and Flux Factory Artists-In-Residence Eleni Theodora Zaharopoulos and Christina Freeman.
Founded in 1993, Flux Factory is an artist run center located in Long Island City, Queens. Flux Factory hosts 40 multidisciplinary Artists-in-Residence each year in the 16 studios of our Long Island City building. Flux’s building also features a 1700 sq ft gallery and shared workspaces such as a wood shop and print shop. Flux’s exhibition and educational programs pay emerging artists to create new works at our free public events. Flux is renowned for our focus on community building in socially engaged public projects.
Founded in 1980, ABC No Rio, a center for art and activism on New York’s Lower East Side, is internationally known as a venue for oppositional culture. This past summer ABC No Rio vacated its building on Rivington Street in preparation for demolition and the construction of a new facility for its projects, programs and operations. During the building of its new home, ABC No Rio will continue “in exile” at other venues and in collaboration with other organizations. This renewed focus towards collaborative work brings ABC No Rio back to its roots — ABC No Rio was founded by members of the 1970s artist group Collaborative Projects.
Against Competition/Towards Mutual Aid is supported in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts.