The CJM Blog

A couple months ago, The CJM Assistant Curator Pierre-François Galpin visited artist Kota Ezawa in his Oakland studio and talked about his next project at The Contemporary Jewish Museum, part of the In That Case: Havruta in Contemporary Art ongoing series. Then a work in progress, the three-channel video Much Ado About Nothing is a collaboration between Ezawa and contemporary dancer James Kirby Rogers, San Francisco-native and now part of the Kansas City Ballet. The installation opened to the public on July 28, 2016 and will be on view through July 2, 2017. Pierre-François Galpin (PFG) : The Havruta project re-interprets the Jewish tradition of dialogue and etymologically means friendship. Could you tell me a little about your relationship with James [Kirby Rogers] and describe how the video shoot went in January? Kota Ezawa (KE) : James and I lived in the same neighborhood in San Francisco for a number of years. His mother and I are colleagues, teaching at Californi...

The Bureau of Suspended Objects in Jenny Odell's studio at Recology.  Recently, The Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) made the trek out to the San Francisco dump (for art’s sake of course). At the  Recology Artist in Residence (AiR) Program , we chatted with artist, archivist, and internet (and now dump) miner  Jenny Odell  about her AiR project— The Bureau of Suspended Objects , the line between utility and trash, and how this experience might influence future projects.  And, in case you’re left wondering what’s next for Odell, she's participating in The CJM's ongoing installation series,   In That Case:  Havruta  in Contemporary Art , collaborating with window dresser Philip Buscemi. _________________________________________________________________________________ The ar(t)chivist's desk. Stephanie Smith (SS):   Tell us about the Recology Artist in Residence Program and the project you’re currently working on. Jenny Od...

Installation view of In That Case: Havruta in Contemporary Art :  Lindsey White and Ron Lynch. Photo by Johnna Arnold. Creativity comes in pairs in The CJM’s exhibition series In That Case: Havruta in Contemporary Art . Following exhibitions with Lindsey White and Ron Lynch, and Helena Keefe and Jessica Prentice, Anthony Discenza and Peter Straub are the third duo to showcase their collaboration. Each duo had, and will have, different roles in the creative process; for instance, photographer Lindsey White took pictures of the subject—Ron Lynch—while Lynch employed his comedic skills, creating an audio ‘tour’ of the exhibition that was available to visitors. Researching for the exhibition series, I read Sarah Lewis’  NYT review on Joshua Wolf Shenk’s Powers of Two: Finding the Essence of Innovation in Creative Pairs.  I thought about the implications of a collaborative practice—not only on the pair’s creativity, but also on their indivi...