Teachers College, Columbia University
525 West 120th Street
New York, NY 10027
Hours: Daily 10am–8pm
T +1 212 678 3461
Doing and Undergoing is an immersive exhibition offering an interactive experience by featuring site-specific works that reflect the concepts of American philosopher John Dewey, whose idea of experiential learning provides the ground for the works on display. Emerging and established artists from across the globe explore the underlying themes of “Experiential Inquiry” “Experiment and Experience” and “Doing and Undergoing” to disclose rich fields of experience.
Celebrating the 125th anniversary of Teachers College, Columbia University, the exhibition is installed throughout the historic building activating both its history and architecture. The exhibition is intended to break down the conventional distinctions between different communities of experiencers since it engages the often separate spheres of teachers, students, facilities workers and art community at large. As Dewey points out—”the work of art is complete only as it works in the experience of others than the one who created it.”
The exhibition includes works by Mac Adams, Bill Albertini, Luis Camnitzer, Mary Ellen Carroll, Christo & Jeanne Claude, Jake Cruzen & Dan Solberg, Katherine Daniels, Kara Daving, Peter Dudek, Helidon Gjergji, Ana Golici, Nicholas Knight, Vikki Michalios, Jorge Pardo, Moritz Partenheimer, Risa Puno, Michael Rees, Julika Rudelius, Gina Ruggeri, Caterina Tiazzoldi & Eduardo Duarte, Ana Tiscornia, and Monika Wuhrer.
Among the works on display, Helidon Gjergji recreates two stained glass windows from The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, formerly the Basilica of Saint John the Baptist (a World Heritage site). One of the windows will be a faithful citation of the Damascus iconography, the other one will have lost the black lead that connects and highlights the pieces, as if a mysterious source of extreme heat had melted and returned the pieces of glass back to their material origin, depriving them of their cultural glue. By focusing on this extraordinary site, his project sounds the alarm to safeguard the protection of an endangered world culture and its artifacts from senseless destruction.
Onion Pinch is the newest chapter in Caterina Tiazzoldi and Eduardo Benamor Duarte’s chronicle of interactive public installations. Responding to our living environment, the artists conceived a projection-based video piece that is a poetic documentary of dancers moving in the installation. The hybrid work innovates the architectural space and challenges the boundary between research and experimentation, the environment and public interaction.
The exhibition is conceived by Richard Jochum, associate professor of art and art education at Teachers College, Columbia University. It is curated by Robert Gero, who currently serves as assistant professor in the Visual Arts Department at SUNY College, Old Westbury.
The project was made possible by the Office of the Provost at Teachers College and the AAE|TC Art & Art Education Program.
Performance Festival in November 2013; please contact the organizer for more information.
Academic Festival, April 12, 2014; a panel discussion with the organizers and select artists.
About Teachers College, Columbia University
Teachers College, Columbia University, is the oldest and largest graduate school of education in the United States, and also perennially ranked among the nation’s best. Its name notwithstanding, the College is committed to a vision of education writ large, encompassing our four core areas of expertise: health, education, leadership and psychology.
For information contact Geraldine Fabris, [email protected] | T +1 212 678 3461 | doingandergoing.net
