roz crews

Roz Crews is an artist living in Portland, OR. She designs and implements socially-engaged art and curatorial projects that facilitate relationships, collaboration and dialogue. Portfolio: seeroz.com/portfolio.

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On Tuesday I gave a presentation to my class about all the projects I’m working on...current and upcoming. Pretty excited for the next few months!

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This week I taught a race and social justice class from PSU at the Portland Art Museum. I spent the first part of the week talking about socially engaged artists who address race, social justice, and identity in their work, and the second part of the week in the museum. There were two assignments that worked together to help students have a critical dialogue about what art is presented in the museum and why.

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A new self-portrait series about my relationship to things that don’t matter

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sometimes probably not feels worse than definitely not

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For a long time, I’ve been writing and talking to myself through letters and interviews...here’s an example from 2000.

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rearranging my work space to feel more productive

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new drawings and installations all over my dorm room

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On 2/10/16, I taught an intro to drawing class at PSU. I told the students about my drawing practice and the book I’m working on to define the word “weird” (all of the content in the book is determined through a process of question asking.) Each student created a mini-zine based on stories they elicited from each other through question asking.

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For a collaborative project opening at Disjecta on March 12, I’m working with piano instructor Shirley Meador to highlight her service in the community. She will be offering piano lessons in the gallery during the course of the show.

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As the artist-in-residence at the PSU Housing and Residence Life department, I work with this amazing person who helps me produce projects for the students. She is the associate director of housing, but she also is responsible for me and the projects I take on as the AIR. She is my primary advocate in the institution, and I’m very grateful for her.

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During the first two weeks of February 2016, I was in Mexico City visiting museums and artist run spaces, taking a workshop with Pedro Reyes, meeting Yoshua Okón and Paul Ramirez Jonas, exploring art fairs with PICA, and rethinking my own art practice. I also gave a presentation about my work at SOMA, an interesting school in el DF. “SOMA es un espacio que permite estimular el diálogo y la colaboración entre artistas y agentes culturales de diferentes contextos, disciplinas y generaciones. A través de sus programas, en SOMA se analizan colectivamente las consecuencias estéticas, políticas y sociales de la producción de arte.”

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In January I started a project with globalization students at Portland State University, together we’re asking questions about specific works of art in the museum which are somehow related to issues of globalization. “First-year students studying globalization at Portland State University will research works of art from the Portland Art Museum's permanent collection, design participatory activities and public presentations that explore how their chosen work of art relates to topics in globalization.” http://studentresearchatthemuseum.tumblr.com/

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In January, I gave a presentation called “Art museums agents of social change?” to a race and social justice class at PSU.

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In late January 2016, I repeated a project I designed in 2014 called “Spelling Bee Choreography.” For this project, people participate in a spelling bee, and their performance in the spelling bee affects a choreographic score in the center of the room (getting a word right means adding a fluxus instruction, getting a word wrong means removing an instruction). I will perform the score as a dance on video.

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A few weeks ago I gave a presentation about socially engaged artists who focus on sustainability, and I lead a workshop with sustainability students at PSU based on an RSVP Cycles workshop I took in November 2014 at Fritz Haeg’s geodesic dome. The students worked in teams to collaboratively design their perfect community. Most teams arrived at the conclusion that there might not be a “perfect community.”

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I’m making an audio-book of this edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland because my grandfather gave me this book in the 1990s, and back then, he gave me an audio-book that he made for the book. Now that I don’t have his version of the audio-book, I need my own.

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A collaborative exhibition I’ve been working on the last couple of months opens on March 12! Open until April 24! The Music That Makes Us is an exhibition presented by the Art and Social Practice MFA Program in collaboration with musically-inclined partners from Kenton, the neighborhood surrounding Disjecta. A cross-section of community members have been invited to expand their musical practice and collaborate on an installation of ephemera that explores the broad range of musical experiences in the neighborhood. Throughout the exhibition there will be programmed events, including temporary rehearsal space, music lessons, and a guided audio tour exploring public space through personal histories. The project culminates with a closing reception/festival of performances by the musicians featured in the exhibition, ranging from local church and school choirs to bands and individual artists. The Music That Makes Us investigates a neighborhood through its music, and emphasizes the value of diverse musical expression within a community. “Without music, life would be a mistake.” – Friedrich Nietzsche. “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” – Bob Marley. “Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.” – Maya Angelou. “Music is … a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.” – Ludwig van Beethoven. “Play it fuckin’ loud!” – Bob Dylan. This exhibition is part of the Season 5 Curator-in-Residence program, Sound is Matter, curated by Chiara Giovando. Exhibition design in collaboration with Neil Doshi. http://www.disjecta.org/portfolio-items/the-music-that-makes-us/