Living as Form suggests a reconsideration of recent social practice artworks that, while represented in museums and art venues, have a real life outside of those contexts. At large, they aren’t always so easy to pick out as art. Creative activism, conversation, organization, and occupations of public space challenge the assumed boundaries between art and life. In the words of lead curator Nato Thompson, “socially engaged art shares techniques and intentions borrowed from fields far beyond the arts. These cultural practices indicate... Read more

Living as Form suggests a reconsideration of recent social practice artworks that, while represented in museums and art venues, have a real life outside of those contexts. At large, they aren’t always so easy to pick out as art. Creative activism, conversation, organization, and occupations of public space challenge the assumed boundaries between art and life. In the words of lead curator Nato Thompson, “socially engaged art shares techniques and intentions borrowed from fields far beyond the arts. These cultural practices indicate new ways of life that emphasize participation, challenge power, and span disciplines ranging from urban planning and community work to theater, the visual arts, and civic-minded nonprofit organizations. These projects defy easy categorization, and raise contradictions regarding issues of authorship.”

Bringing together a wide range of international projects made between 1991 and 2011 and selected in collaboration with twenty-five curators from around the world, Living as Form (The Nomadic Version) also takes up new projects as it travels. Kadist Art Foundation is the first venue to host the exhibition, which is presented here as a series of screenings, talks, and participatory events that will add to the archive as it continues on to future venues.The exhibition will unfold over the course of the spring in a series of screenings, talks, and participatory events organized by independent curator Christina Linden.