Un/mute Contemporary Art Exhibition

by Scout Daugherty

An innovative art exhibition, Un/mute provides a way in which artists could stay connected to their work while also communicating with other artists in a time of isolation and uncertainty. Amid COVID-19, many artists found themselves out of work and disconnected from the art world, but un/ mute combatted this isolation by creating a project unlike any other of its time. Un/ mute paired twenty-eight artists with one another, connecting one artist from New York to one from Europe. The two artists were strangers to one another and worked together over ten weeks to create an art piece together, although thousands of miles apart. Un/mute’s innovation stems from its emphasis on the creative process. Every zoom meeting between the artists can be found on the un/ mute website and viewers can follow as the project develops from the moment the artists meet to the moment they finish their project. The un/mute website includes every ounce of content created by the artists over these ten weeks, and all of this remains available to the public. The artists used any form of art including podcasts, visual media, music scores, and anything else they wished. There were no limits to their creations despite their inability to work in person. In 2020, shortly after the beginning of the pandemic, the first project named after New York zip code “10001” came to fruition. The project’s unexpected popularity allowed for a second exhibition titled “10002” which supported further connection and creation between artists from different countries and backgrounds. Two locations in New York City act as the physical manifestations of these works. At the Austrian Cultural Forum

THE BULLETIN - 48 - nov/dec 2021

in Midtown Manhattan, the exhibition fills three levels and also serves as a meeting place for the artists part of this project. The other location in Dumbo is a smaller building with no entry fee, whose entrance descends into a main room filled with more works by such artists. QR Codes are scattered across the floors and walls, providing information about the exhibition itself and the individual artists. By scanning the QR Codes under each work you are taken to a specific moment in the artists’ zoom meetings in which they both have a revelation and discovery about their work which shifts the trajectory of their project. By simultaneously presenting the physical work as well as media depicting the moment of revelation, the exhibition showcases the creative process unlike any other. In conversation with Daina Mattis, one of the curators and main producers of un/ mute, she explained that the exhibition’s goal is to allow viewers and non-artists to see such processes and collaborations between artists. Mattis pointed out that one work—a static television surrounded by hanging speakers whose sounds culminate in the middle of the circle where the viewer must stand—remains unfinished. Despite the artists’ vision not coming to fruition, Mattis mentioned that

the end product of these collaborations was not the point of un/mute. The exhibition focuses more on the process of art, and despite being unfinished, this work still constitutes as art and belongs in the exhibit to portray that the process of such creation is in fact art in itself. Both exhibition locations have big plans this month to showcase their artists, including a Magic Talk/ Rap by artist and performer Marie Luká ová at the Dumbo location and an artist meeting at the Midtown location. Due to borders reopening for travel, the event held at the Austrian Cultural Forum will be the first opportunity for collaborators to meet in person as artists travel from around the world to view the final products of their works, which some artists have not had the opportunity to see yet. This event, held November 16, provides an opportunity for artists to meet and for viewers to discuss their works with the artists themselves. Visit the un/mute website to see the final works and the process of collaboration between artists, or visit either location to see these collaborative physical manifestations in the wake of a global pandemic.

THE BULLETIN - 49 - nov/dec 2021