Freelance curator Rachel Higgins has taken the notion of the art market to its logical, yet ludicrous, conclusion. Having leased space in what is widely regarded, locally, as a “dead mall”, Birmingham’s slowly declining Century Plaza, Higgins has selectec a group of artists to utilize a retail space from December 20 to January 3.
On her website, http://www.rachelhiggins.com/EVERYTHINGMUSTGO.html, Higgins observes, “In an American landscape full of abandoned malls, EVERYTHING MUST GO is an attempt, not to revitalize these structures, but to embrace the playful fantasy that the empty mall offers as a social space.”
The exhibition will feature a total of twenty artists, most working solo in the space for a single day.
This follows in the tradition of Claes Oldenburg’s Mott Art store, Rikrit Tiravanija’s gallery as performance/serving space works, and a range of other historical precedents. What will be most intriguing is the response of the local audience, who, often removed from complex questions and issues of contemporary art, may find Everything Must Go precisely the manifestation of holiday cheer and economically depressed ennui that will make this season all the better.
For further information visit Higgins’ site, or follow her link to Ceci Moss’ recent article on Rhizome.org.
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