SPRING/BREAK :: A Chat with Vanessa Albury and Rachel Rampleman

SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2014 titled PUBLICPRIVATE,  recently took place in Soho, New York on Mott street once again within the interior of a large, former school. For the last several years, the schoolhouse is transformed into an art fair but at a much smaller level then many of the others. Within the tier of fairs, I would say SPRING/BREAK is not only the youngest sibling of the group, but also the least experienced and disciplined. That being said, they usually have the loudest party associated with the opening and rather than visitors sipping champagne, it’s more common to spot beer bottles and hidden flasks. This year, the best of the three years thus far, during the VIP preview on March 4th, a line snaked around the corner from Mott to Prince street, to where they had moved the entrance. A big change, was rather than have emergent galleries represented as was the case in previous seasons, the organizers invited curators to submit proposals and many of the classrooms were transformed, instead of mimicking typical “art fair” style booths, to group exhibitions. Each curator brought an amalgamated selection of artists along with a thoughtful, minimal installation. Numerous artist friends were involved, some wearing many hats including curator, artist and PR representative. They self promoted and also took on the task of promoting others. Overall, there was a symbiosis felt between artist, curator, organizer and viewer because in most cases, they were all the same individual.

Drifting from room to room, I couldn’t help but wonder what the benefits were of SPRING/BREAK, besides the obvious friends getting together to hang out, celebrate art and gain further exposure outside the realm of the studio. I decided to pose some thoughts to artist curators Vanessa Albury and Rachel Rampleman both who had artwork in PUBLICPRIVATE but also curated an exhibition featured in one of the large classrooms titled The Sun That Never Sets: Spectacle and Normalcy in Time.

KATY DIAMOND HAMER: I’m very curious about SPRING/BREAK, this year titled PUBLICPRIVATE and sales within the “Fair” context, since it is held during Armory Week. Does it function as such or rather  just as an exhibition?  As co-curators who are also practicing artists,  can you both talk about your experience, individual and collective, with Spring Break, the organizational process, the visitors etc?

VANESSA ALBURY: We don’t have the funds to produce a show, much less rent a booth at a mainstream art fair, but we are part of a rich art “ecology” (Jesse Bransford coined) and connected to smart and skilled artists at all levels of commercial success.  We don’t know collectors, we know artists and a handful of gallerists. Many of these artists have creatively negotiated a way to do their work and survive in the city financially. The balance of time and money can be quite a challenge. There are exciting ideas within our community that we [Vanessa and co-curator Rachel Rampleman] both enjoy sharing with a new audience. The work is engaging, well-crafted and conceptually considered. Art is one of the only fields where one can be emerging for an entire career. There are major barriers to creating, showing and selling art for a lot of emerging artists. Second careers, sometimes in related fields, are essential.

We approached SPRING/BREAK, PUBLICPRIVATE  as an opportunity to curate an interesting show that brings something fresh to the  conversation on film and video art exhibition. We were thinking about creating a space to share video art that is quiet and welcoming. We had 9 videos; that means half of our artists presented video and film works on headphones. We were not thinking about what could sell until the fair opened really. Our show housed more ideas than the average fair-goer is accustomed to encountering and people seemed to respond well to the show because of this.

A couple of days after I  [originally] received the call for proposals, I had a studio visit with Rachel and threw the idea out there of co-curating a film and video show that played with the boundaries or experiential overlap of art in any medium. We both find the way film and video are commonly presented underwhelming, an after-thought typically. We had never worked together before and both just jumped in. It’s been a great experience because we, and all our artists, are in it for a love of the work. We had a lot of help from our friends and artists from equipment to labor. The Norwegian Consul General of New York, Elin Bergithe Rognlie, also generously funded Marthe Ramm Fortun’s plane ticket and installation costs. There were still a lot of out-of-pocket costs, but nothing like a traditional art fair.

RACHEL RAMPLEMAN: I agree with all of the above! Having come from Cincinnati Ohio (to NYC) 10 years ago, where large and inexpensive studios were the norm rather than the exception, where shows by artists like Vanessa and I were at non-profit gallery spaces 99% of the time, and where there was a real DIY and grass-roots ethos and community (and zero expectations of sales). Participating in this art show/fair as both a co-curator and an artist seemed like a great opportunity to re-connect to that distant and wonderful feeling of engagement and pride that comes with doing something as a labor of love, and out of the excitement that comes with sharing some ideas and works you find important, moving, missing, necessary… It’s also been a great way to create an opportunity to show a little of our own work, exactly as we want it installed, and in the company of our most highly esteemed colleagues. Such a rare and special treat to have that control, and run with it! Especially with video art, where so often one’s work is presented remotely and who knows how, and for one night only, and often as one of many, one after the other… It’s been amazing to grant every video artist in our show (myself included) their ideal installation, and to each have their own dedicated monitor or projection (okay – so MAYBE one or two would have preferred speakers to headphones, but with nine videos in one room…?!).

The Sun That Never Sets: Spectacle and Normalcy in Time. featured works by:

Peter Clough, Jamie Diamond, Bradley Eros & Tim Geraghty, Thale Fastvold, Tara Fracalossi, Jennifer Gustavson, Juliet Jacobson, Karsten Krejcarek, Abshalom Jac Lahav, Thomas Lail, Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, Joe Namy, Paul Pfeiffer, Angela Washko, Vanessa Albury and Rachel Rampleman.

With performances by
Crystal Curtis, Marthe Ramm Fortun and Rachel Mason

Other exhibitions of note included the debut of a performance by Scott Avery (Amani Olu), a curated booth/group exhibition by Kari Adelaide and Max Razdow and a selection of artworks by Alex McQuilkin organized by Marina Schindler.