Image courtesy of the Print and Picture Collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia

 TESTING SOME BELIEFS with GREGG BORDOWITZ

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28th, 6pm

TEMPLE GALLERY 

Gregg Bordowitz writes, "I believe that art can change the world. I believe that art and freedom are necessarily related. There are no facts to support these claims. Still, I carry these beliefs formed decades ago.  How do some beliefs remain and what do I gain by believing?  At risk of sounding ridiculous, I will try to explain.” 
 

With these themes in mind, Bordowitz will present an extemporaneous talk that responds to both the audience and the specifics of the context. For this performance, Bordowitz has selected ten pieces of art to be exhibited in the gallery. These works, on loan from the Print and Picture Collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia, were produced and supported by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930’s. 

 Testing Some Belief's is an ongoing series of performance/lectures by Gregg Bordowitz. The artist talks about inherited ideas concerning art and politics in a public forum to weigh their current value and relevance. In this iteration of the performance, Bordowitz will talk about the assumption that artistic labor is not distinctly different from other kinds of work among the general modes of production under Capitalism. The artist will use his own experiences as an AIDS activist, artist, and writer to consider how deeply entrenched beliefs may or may not survive scrutiny.

In relation to the upcoming 30th anniversary of AIDS, Temple Gallery is doing a series of programming discussing the disease, its perception in society, and its presence in art. In part, the program will continue the conversation from last semester surrounding the censorship and art historical relevance of David Wojnarowicz's A Fire in My Belly.

Gregg Bordowitz is an artist and writer and is currently the Chair of the Film, Video, New Media, and Animation Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and he is on the faculty of the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program.

This event is supported by Temple University's Departments of Film and Media Arts, and Art History, as well as the Pennsylvania Council On The Arts and Video Data Bank.