Visual Arts Center of New Jersey to Host Artist Talk on Collaborative Practice

On Tuesday, December 8 at 7 PM, the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey (VACNJ) will host Ghost of a Dream, DARNstudio, and Hillerbrand+Magsamen for a virtual discussion about the process of creating art through collaboration. Each artist group will give a brief presentation of their work and will then participate in a conversation on their processes moderated by VACNJ Curator, Mary Birmingham.

Ghost of a Dream is the collaborative practice of artists Adam Eckstrom and Lauren Was. "Our work embodies the essence of opulence while being constructed of materials that typically end up in the trash," the artists said. "We mine popular culture, searching for discarded materials that people use trying to reach their goals. Whether it is a Hollywood film that transports the viewer into a dream reality, a travel poster promising a luxurious vacation, or a lottery ticket that gives the possibility of a future full of rich decadence, we use these remnants to both re-create people's dreams and portray the dreamer."

DARNstudio is a collaboration between artists David Anthone and Ron Norsworthy. "Our work investigates the built, designed, or otherwise manifested world we live in; breaks down its components; and uncouples them from their implicit and inherited meaning(s)," said the artists. "We then re-assemble in a way that disrupts its original function. Our work encourages alternative ways of understanding objects, ideas, and structures through a process we refer to as 're:meaning'."

As the collaborative artistic team of Hillerbrand+Magsamen, Stephan Hillerbrand and Mary Magsamen draw upon the Fluxus practice of incorporating humor, performance, video, and everyday objects in order to have a conversation about family dynamics, suburban life, and American consumer excess. "By using our home as a stage set and our family as the actors, we attempt to fuse familial roles with tropes from Greek legends and Shakespearean dramas," said the artists. "Our work simultaneously buys into and reveals the theatrics and spectacle of the world we live in. In addition to drawing parallels between storytelling and mythology, our work inherently comments on politics and privilege. By deconstructing our iteration of the nuclear family, discussions of consumerism and stereotypes lead to larger themes of race, class, and gender roles in contemporary American life."

On Collaborative Practice is free and open to the public but registration is required and donations to VACNJ are accepted. Visit artcenternj.org to reserve your ticket.