The Queens Museum’s Open A.I.R. Artist Services Program invites you to take part in two collective investigations led by Madison based artist Matthew Bakkom. Each investigation will last 1.5 – 2 hours and will be preceded by a 1 hour talk by the artist about the history and methodology of this activity. Collective investigations are limited to 7 people and will take place in the Reanimation Library.

To RSVP please email sespinoza@queensmuseum.org and specify the session you want to participate in.

The artist talk is free and open to the public.

Artist talk: 1 – 2pm

First investigation: 2:15 – 4:00pm

Second investigation: 4:15 – 6:00pm

About Collective Investigations Collective investigation is a social method through which groups can share collections and together discover relationships within them. It has been proven successful as a means to creatively interpret formal organizational systems such as libraries, but could also be deployed in other settings. It can be regarded as a means of activating institutional spaces, a vehicle for intellectual experimentation, or, perhaps most appropriately, an engaging way to spend time with others that is motivated equally by the spirit of inquiry and a desire to discover shared affinity through chance procedures.

The method was initially developed by artist Matthew Bakkom in the late 1990’s and introduced at the Whitney Independent Study. It was first featured in exhibition at Artists Space in 2000, but has subsequently taken place in venues such as the University of Minnesota, The University of Wisconsin Madison, USC, New York University, The Danish Royal Academy of Art, The Walker Art Center (Through its inclusion in the show Open†Ended†in 2006), The Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania (through its inclusion in the show Locally Localized Gravity in 2007), The Temple Gallery (through its inclusion in the exhibition Volume†Attempts†in 2008), and the CCA Wattis Institute for Arts as part of Codex†in 2013 where it was deployed in an investigation of the Prelinger Archive. Details on the collective investigation will be featured in the upcoming publication The Archive as A Space of Productive Conflict, forthcoming in Spring of 2016 from the Sternberg Press.

About Matthew Bakkom Matthew Bakkom was born in Minneapolis in 1968. Starting in the early 1990’s, working as a visual artist in North America and Europe, he has participated in exhibitions at the Walker Art Center, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia and the Queens Museum of Art. Bakkom has received awards of support from the Jerome Foundation, The Rema Hort Mann Foundation the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs of the City of Paris. The investigation of civic archives often serves as the basis for his work.

About Andrew Beccone Andrew Beccone, an artist, librarian, and musician, is the founder of the Reanimation Library. The library has been exhibited widely at venues around the world including Vox Populi (Philadelphia), SPACE (London), High Desert Test Sites (Joshua Tree), talcual (Mexico City), 98weeks (Beirut), the Museum of Modern Art, the Queens Museum, and Kunsthalle Osnabrück.

About the Open A.I.R. Artist Services Program Open A.I.R. draws on the Queens Museum’s resources, staff expertise, and networks to provide workshops and lectures that help artists grow their practice, advance their career, and develop sustainable lives as artists. Given the Museum’s commitment to socially-engaged art that crosses sectors, as well as attention to its role in neighboring communities, Open A.I.R. works to expand the notion of who is an artist and, moreover, utilizes a holistic view of how to support their potential to thrive and contribute to the cultural landscape of Queens and New York City more broadly. Tailored to artists in the outer boroughs, Open A.I.R. prioritizes the needs of artists of color, queer artists, and immigrant artists, facilitating conversations where art meets activism, and organizing experiences that bring together artists and non-artists.

Open A.I.R. is made possible by a generous grant from The Scherman Foundation’s Katharine S. and Axel G. Rosin Fund. Additional support provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Questions? Email sespinoza@queensmuseum.org