Proposal submitted

...but neither of us read the FAQs about about the exhibition having at least three artists.
I tweaked the proposal as best I could, but we may be disqualified simply because the work is mainly about our projects...
Can we send the proposal to the space as well?
xo

Tereza Swanda and Angela Rose Voulgarelis’ proposed exhibition works with the history of Pradelna Bohnice, a contemporary project space located 5 km north of Prague's city center, as a way to speak about the ramifications of marginal ways of thinking, using art as a tool for transformation. They intervene on materials of a laundry mat – carving into bars of soap and embroidering onto hundreds of flat white sheets hung from laundry lines – to shift the focus from the authorship of the artists to engagement with the public as social sculpture. Conversations become part of each work; story telling will be a shared exchange. Chance and synchronicity invite the general public to be the third participating artist in the show. 

Set on the grounds of the largest psychiatric ward in Czech Republic, Pradelna Bohnice was a laundry facility for the Institution. (Pradelna means Laundromat). Within its walls one feels the working conditions of thousands of women who washed the laundry for almost a century, from 1909 to 1993, concealing the hierarchy between those institutionalized and the Institution. This art space currently sits on the grounds of a fully functioning hospital with roughly 1300 patients and 1000 employees. The past is very much present.

In Mutual Cleanse, Swanda, born and raised in CZ, carves and paints individual portraits into bars of soap. As a response to portraiture reserved for the elite, clergy, or politicians, Swanda’s portraits will be of the cleaning women who collect change and clean Prague’s public restrooms. She will use her grandmother’s collection of 120 bars of soap that she ‘skladovala’ (meaning stored, stacked with care) in the walls of her one bedroom apartment in Czechoslovakia during Communism. The soap will be functional, and will be placed in holes and missing tiles throughout Pradelna Bohnice. Gallery viewers will be asked to participate by using one bar at a time for their bathroom experience, and replace the used soap back into the exhibition. 

Airing Dirty Laundry is an ongoing collaborative performance installation in which Voulgarelis sits among hundreds of folded flat white sheets and embroiders a single line of text onto one at a time. She hangs them from laundry lines in public space like Pradelna Bohnice. She offers passersby a phrase card with the text,  “I Should…”, “Don’t Be Too…”, “Don’t…”, or “Not Enough…” and invites them to complete it as well as to embroider alongside her.  She asks each person to consider the notion of “airing dirty laundry”. The pencil used to fill out the card is offered in exchange.  Embroidery, as a central visual element, reveals connection between meditation and everyday actions and collapses the hierarchy between “High Art” and domestic labor.

thinking

The same thought forms create separation between ourselves and nature.
The father that beats the child was probably beaten himself.
Compassion and sympathy in men is often seen as weak and "womanly".
So, what other options are there? Aggression, violence, and domination...?
The father that beats the child also chops down the 1,000 year old tree without realizing he's cutting himself down.

I wasn't raised religious, but it seems to me that harming one's own child and partner and environment can stem from the ways of thinking promoted by organized religion (specifically Catholicism). If "God" created all things, and put Man in His image, then everything else is secondary: Man reigns supreme. This model doesn't bode well for women, animals, plants, and the Earth in general. I know I don't hav to re-tell you this, but for thousands of years this male-dominated religious view has been maintained by hundreds of millions of people world-wide. I don't get it; I think that we created God, not the other way around.

Hyperallergic just updated their post that the monuments that ISIS destroyed were actually replicas.
Although I'm relieved that the actual statues may still exist, the actions of violence against art feel like crimes against humanity.

498 words

I tried to clarify what it was that we are proposing.

After reading our statements, I didn't think that "creating subtle spaces for catharsis" was necessarily the strongest sentence. I also brought in a consolidated list of what it is I think the work is actually going to do. What do you think? Also, the description of your word got changed around a little bit - hope you don't mind. 

I am free until 3pm today. I also think we can cut the entire second paragraph (bars line the windows). it's overkill...? Let's talk...?

Pradelna Bohnice is a contemporary project space located 5 km north of Prague's city center. Set on the grounds of the largest psychiatric ward in Czech Republic, it was a laundry facility for the Institution. (Pradelna means Laundromat). Within its walls one feels the working conditions of thousands of women who washed the laundry for almost a century, from 1909 to 1993, concealing the hierarchy between those institutionalized and the Institution. This art space currently sits on the grounds of a fully functioning hospital with roughly 1300 patients and 1000 employees. The past is very much present.

Bars line all windows. The central entrance has high ceilings that dwarf the visitor and is similar to the entrance of a cathedral. The interior feels cold and grey. Holes and missing tiles are seen throughout the building, as are randomly placed cement slabs where laundry machines and tables were arranged. Sound echoes, especially high heeled shoes on tile.

Tereza Swanda and Angela Rose Voulgarelis’ proposed exhibition uses the history of Pradelna Bohnice as a point of departure to speak about the ramifications of marginal ways of thinking, collective experiences of art in a non US-based context, and art as a tool for transformation. They intervene on materials of a laundry mat – carving into bars of soap and embroidering onto hundreds of flat white sheets hung from laundry lines – to shift the focus from the authorship of the artists to engagement with the public as social sculpture. Conversations become part of each work; story telling will be a shared exchange.

In Mutual Cleanse, Swanda, born and raised in CZ, carves and paints individual portraits into bars of soap. As a response to portraiture reserved for the elite, clergy, or politicians, Swanda’s portraits will be of the cleaning women who collect change and clean Prague’s public restrooms. She will use her grandmother’s collection of 120 bars of soap that she ‘skladovala’ (meaning stored, stacked with care) in the walls of her one bedroom apartment in Czechoslovakia during Communism. The soap will be functional, and will be placed in holes and missing tiles throughout Pradelna Bohnice. Gallery viewers will be asked to use one bar at a time for their bathroom experience, and replace the used soap back into the exhibition. 

Airing Dirty Laundry is an ongoing collaborative performance installation in which Voulgarelis sits among hundreds of folded flat white sheets and embroiders a single line of text onto one at a time. She hangs them from laundry lines in public space like Pradelna Bohnice. She offers passersby a phrase card with the text,  “I Should…”, “Don’t Be Too…”, “Don’t…”, or “Not Enough…” and invites them to complete it as well as to embroider alongside her.  She asks each person to consider the notion of “airing dirty laundry”. The pencil used to fill out the card is offered in exchange.  Embroidery, as a central visual element, reveals connection between meditation and everyday actions and collapses the hierarchy between “High Art” and domestic labor.

What makes anyone think:

  that any mental, physical, emotional action

     is okay to use on another human being?

Father to a child "Stop! Pull down your pants and I will beat you."
Husband to wife "Why is not lunch ready?" Slap.
Nurse to a toddler "Just hold him down!"
Mother and nurse restrain toddler physically.

How do we not see the other in each other's eyes?

I couldn't look at my sons tears as I clamped his body down, so that the doctor did her job.

With Mind Marrower's advice- 494 words

Angela Rose Voulgarelis and Tereza Swanda’s two-person exhibition speaks to the compounded issue of the silencing of marginalized voices, specifically those of women within global patriarchy. Swanda approaches the theme from an economic and political angle while Voulgarelis draws upon social exchange. The planned projects quietly create subtle spaces for catharsis. Conversations become social sculptures; Story telling becomes a shared exchange.    

In Mutual Cleanse, Swanda, a native of Czech Republic, carves and paint portraits into soap. Portraiture usually reserved for the elite, politicians or clergy is dedicated to the cleaning women collecting spare change all throughout Prague’s public restrooms. Swanda paints their visage into her grandmother’s collection of 120 bars of soap that she ‘skladovala’ (which means stored but more so, stacked with care) in her one bedroom apartment in Czechoslovakia during Communism. Swanda brings the soap back to a functional state.  Gallery viewers will use one bar at a time for their bathroom use replacing the washed soap back on exhibition. The piece is about un-labeling, erasing, disintegration, and disappearance. Swanda explores and demonstrates one’s effect on another. 

Airing Dirty Laundry is an ongoing collaborative performance installation in which Voulgarelis, a native New Yorker, and Swanda’s collaborator of 7 years, sits among hundreds of folded flat white sheets and embroiders a single line onto one at a time. She hangs them from laundry lines in public space. She offers passersby a phrase card with the text,  “I Should…”, “Don’t Be Too…”, “Don’t…”, or “Not Enough…” and invites them to complete it as well as to embroider alongside her.  She asks each person to consider the notion of “airing dirty laundry”. The pencil used to fill out the card is offered in exchange.  Embroidery, as a central visual element, reveals connection between meditation and everyday actions and collapses the hierarchy between “High Art” and domestic labor.

Pradelna Bohnice, is a contemporary project space located 5 km north of Prague and part of the largest psychiatric ward in Czech Republic. As its name alludes, (Pradelna means Laundromat), it was a laundry facility washing the whole of the institution’s linens from 1909 to 1993. Within its walls one feels the working conditions of thousands of women who scrubbed laundry for a century, concealing the hierarchy between those institutionalized and the institution. This art space sits on the grounds of a fully functioning hospital with roughly 1300 patients and 1000 employees—the past is very much present.

Bars line all windows. The central entrance has very high ceilings which dwarf the visitor but is similar to an entrance of a chapel. The interior is poorly lit, cold and grey. Holes where piping used to run and missing tiles are throughout, as well as randomly placed slabs of cement where machines and tables were arranged. Sound echoes, especially high heeled shoes.

We intervene on the materials of a laundromat, on bars of soap, and hundreds of flat white sheets hung from laundry lines. However we switch the paradigm.

Peer review

Just emailed our lovely Mind Marrower the proposal to review.
Let's see what she says.
xo
A

477 Words

Pradelna Bohnice is a contemporary project space located 5 km north of Prague's city center. Set on the grounds of the largest psychiatric ward in Czech Republic, it was previously a laundry facility for washing the whole of the institution’s linens. (Pradelna means Laundromat). Within its walls one feels the working conditions of thousands of women who washed the laundry from 1909 to 1993, concealing the hierarchy between those institutionalized and the institution. This art space currently sits on the grounds of a fully functioning hospital with roughly 1300 patients and 1000 employees—the past is very much present.

Bars still line all windows. The central entrance has very high ceilings which somewhat dwarf the visitor but is similar to an entrance of a chapel. The interior is still poorly lit, and feels cold and grey. Holes and missing tiles are everywhere, as well as randomly placed slabs of cement where machines and tables were arranged. Sound echoes, especially high heeled shoes on tile.

Our work speaks to the compounded issue of the silencing of marginalized voices. The planned works quietly create subtle spaces for catharsis. We intervene on the materials of a laundry mat, on bars of soap, and hundreds of flat white sheets hung from laundry lines. Conversations will become social sculptures; Story telling will be a shared exchange. Nothing will be for sale.

In Mutual Cleanse, Swanda, a native of CZ carves and paint portraits into soap. Portraiture usually reserved for the elite, politicians or clergy is dedicated to the cleaning women collecting spare change all throughout Prague’s public restrooms. Swanda paints their visage into her grandmother’s collection of 120 bars of soap that she ‘skladovala’ (which means stored but more so, stacked with care) in her one bedroom apartment in Czechoslovakia during Communism. Swanda brings the soap back to a functional state, placing it in holes and missing tiles, the nooks and crannies, of Pradelna Bohnice. Gallery viewers will use one bar at a time for their bathroom use replacing the washed soap back on exhibition. The piece is about un-labeling, erasing, disintegration, and disappearance. Swanda explores and demonstrates one’s effect on another. 

Airing Dirty Laundry is an ongoing collaborative performance installation in which Voulgarelis sits among hundreds of folded flat white sheets and embroiders a single line onto one at a time. She hangs them from laundry lines in public space like Pradelna Bohnice. She offers passersby a phrase card with the text,  “I Should…”, “Don’t Be Too…”, “Don’t…”, or “Not Enough…” and invites them to complete it as well as to embroider alongside her.  She asks each person to consider the notion of “airing dirty laundry”. The pencil used to fill out the card is offered in exchange.  Embroidery, as a central visual element, reveals connection between meditation and everyday actions and collapses the hierarchy between “High Art” and domestic labor.

358 words

Pradelna Bohnice is a contemporary project space located 5 km north of Prague's city center. Set on the grounds of the largest psychiatric ward in Czech Republic, it was previously a laundry facility for washing the whole of the institution’s linens. (Pradelna means Laundromat). Within its walls one feels the working conditions of thousands of women who washed the laundry from 1909 to 1993, concealing the hierarchy between those institutionalized and the institution. This art space currently sits on the grounds of a fully functioning hospital with roughly 1300 patients and 1000 employees—the past is very much present.

Bars still line all windows. The central entrance has very high ceilings which somewhat dwarf the visitor but is similar to an entrance of a chapel. The interior is poorly lit, and feels cold and grey. Holes and missing tiles are everywhere, as well as randomly placed slabs of cement where machines and tables were arranged. Sound echoes, especially high heeled shoes on tile.

Our work speaks to the compounded issue of the silencing of marginalized voices. The planned works quietly create subtle spaces for catharsis. We intervene on the materials of a laundry mat, on bars of soap, and hundreds of flat white sheets hung from laundry lines, Conversations will become social sculptures; Story telling will be a shared exchange. Nothing will be for sale.

In Mutual Cleanse, Swanda, a native in CZ carves and paint portraits into soap. Portraiture usually reserved for the elite, politicians or clergy is dedicated to the cleaning women collecting spare change all throughout Prague’s public restrooms. Swanda paints their visage into her grandmother’s collection of 120 bars of soap that she ‘skladovala’ (which means stored but more so, stacked with care) in her one bedroom apartment in Czechoslovakia during Communism. Swanda brings the soap back to a functional state, placing it in the holes and missing tiles, the nooks and crannies of Pradelna Bohnice. Gallery viewers will use one bar at a time for their bathroom use replacing the washed soap back on exhibition. The piece is about un-labeling, erasing, disintegration, and disappearance. Swanda explores and demonstrates one’s effect on another.  

process of proposing, (letting it all hang out)

Apex Art Franchise Program Proposal- NEJHORSI BYLO ZE SE NESTALO VUBEC NIC- The worst was, that nothing happened, implying consequence (A sign hanging in the second photograph of the space on our blog)

Pradelna Bohnice is a contemporary project space located 5 km north of Prague's city center. Set on the grounds of the largest psychiatric ward in Czech Republic, it was previously a laundry facility for the hospital’s linens (washing the whole of the institution’s linens- we want to stress the magnitude as it is a very large space) as its name implies (Pradelna means Laundromat). Only female patients worked there under the intense and often strict supervision of male Physicians. I’m not sure if this is true and if we need it in our proposal.) Immediately Within its walls one feels and can imagine the working conditions for hundreds if not of thousands of women who washed (scrubbed) the laundry from 1909 to 1993, and the mechanized way the Institution concealing the hierarchy (between female patients and male Doctors,) between those institutionalized and the institution. This contemporary art space currently sits on the grounds of a fully functioning hospital with roughly 1300 patients and 1000 employees—the past is very much present.

I’m not sure I want the space associated with the female/male paradigm- I think it isinherent in the space and more about those that are marginalized (yes mostly women, but) I’m not sure we have to oversate it in the first paragraph.

Bars still line all windows. The sites and smells that linger in the Institution are still palpable.  I think we either spell out the sites and smells or not mention it. The central entrance has very high ceilings which somewhat dwarf the visitor but is similar to an entrance of a chapel. The interior of the building is still poorly lit, and feels cold and grey. Holes and missing tiles are everywhere, as well as randomly placed slabs of cement where machines and tables were arranged. Sound echoes up, especially high heeled shoes on tile. One feels small here, forgotten. I don’t think I felt that way

Since the collapse of Communism in the Czech Republic, and with the influx of new political systems, more moderate attitudes about women have formed. But what happens with the memories of such a loaded location? How does one reconcile with an inherited past of silence and domination? How can art be a tool for systemic transformation in a place that denied women the opportunity for change for so long? I’m not sure this was the case. Communism tried to erase gender where it could. It saw everyone as potential worker.

Our work speaks to the compounded issue of the silencing of women’s marginalized voices without using a bullhorn. We’re not burning our bras or proposing to paint on canvas with our used tampons. Is it silly that I want to leave the gender open? I know that women as much as men have had a hand in silencing, and following the plans of an institution, I’m thinking of the many nurses that work in hospitals. The planned works quietly create subtle spaces for catharsis. We intervene on the materials of a laundry mat, such as carving portraits of the women inmates on hundreds of on bars of soap, and embroidering inner criticisms on hundreds of flat white sheets hung from laundry lines, as a way to process the inequities of the past and at the same time publicly open a space for intense emotional experiences. Conversations will become social sculptures; Story telling will be a shared exchange. Nothing will be for sale.

419 words

getting closer I hope.
Here's a draft version, from our conversation earlier.

Apex Art Franchise Program Proposal

Pradelna Bohnice is a contemporary project space located 5 km north of Prague's city center. Set on the grounds of a psychiatric ward, it was previously a laundry facility for the hospital’s linens as its name implies (Pradelna means Laundromat). Only female patients worked there under the intense and often strict supervision of male Physicians. Immediately one feels and can imagine the working conditions for hundreds if not thousands of women who washed the laundry from 1909 to 1993, and the mechanized way the Institution concealed the hierarchy between female patients and male Doctors. The past is very much present.

Since the collapse of Communism in the Czech Republic, however, its misogynistic associations have begun to fade.  With the influx of new political systems, more moderate attitudes towards women have been able to form, but what happens with the memories of such a loaded location? How does one reconcile with an inherited past of silence and domination? How can art be a tool for systemic transformation in a place that denied women the opportunity for change for so long?

Even though currently the space houses a gallery, bars still line all the windows. The sites and smells that linger in the Institution are still palpable. The interior of the building is still poorly lit, and feels cold and grey. Holes and missing tiles are everywhere, as well as randomly placed slabs of cement where machines and tables were arranged. The central entrance has very high ceilings which somewhat dwarf the visitor but is similar to an entrance of a chapel. Sound echoes up, especially high heeled shoes on tile. This tiling continues half-way up the walls; presumably there must have been gallons of water pouring in and out of this space at one point.

Gender inequality and the silencing of women’s voices is unfortunately an ongoing global issue. Our work addresses the pressing need for women’s stories to be told by women themselves, and advocates for a positive re-claiming of communal female history. What better way to begin than at such a loaded location? Tereza, perhaps here is where you mention that you are actually from Prague…?If not, it could be read as a bit colonial...?

Our work speaks to this compounded issue without using a bullhorn. We’re not burning our bras or proposing to paint with our used tampons. The planned installation quietly creates subtle spaces for catharsis. We intervene on the materials of a laundry mat, such as carving portraits of the women inmates on hundreds of bars of soap, and embroidering inner criticisms on hundreds of flat white sheets hung from laundry lines, as a way to process the inequities of the past and at the same time publicly open a space for intense emotional experiences. Conversations will become social sculptures; Story telling will be a shared exchange. Nothing will be for sale.

Cleanse description here?

Airing Dirty Laundry description here.

Closing paragraph or sentence here.

continued thought pattern

The associated memory of this space and its correlation to women's unwilling imprisonment is where we propose our collaborative installation. The sites and smells that linger in the institution almost 100 years after it was closed are still palpable. We will literally open up the space to re-examine old wounds, respond with our own voices, and re-assert a positive reclamation of female history. The public will be encouraged to become participants in the work, washing, "airing dirty laundry", etc.  

The actions and noises of hundreds if not thousands of women washing (away their sins?) are actions we want to respond to. Even today, although this particular facility is closed, women's voices are being silenced all over the world. Erased. Our work addresses the urgent need for continued advocacy.


The inherited shame of women doing the dirty work of laundry combined with the male-dominated hierarchy of care, "curing" women inmates of their purported ailments, are themes that we feel the continued need to respond to.

address

bring to light

bring to the fore

articulate

respond to

Association

Invocation of memory as a space for catharsis

Invocation of memory as a space for catharsis

Red library – theme of reclaiming identity – empowering women to tell their own stories in positive feminist way

Reclamation of history spoken through the works/experiences of women

Reclamation of history – intervention on domestic objects to reveal un-spoken histories

To reveal the unspoken other side of history, shadow side

?transformation of space?

Space for catharsis as a response to, as a way to reclaim as opposed to space for imposed institutionalization or forced cleaning.

Conversations as spaces for catharsis

Initiation of conversations through the artwork as a way to mediate past trauma with contemporary identitiy.

Art works are tools of instigation/ for conversations

By creating these works, space of exchange is created

Feminine experience of sharing while working

Story telling as shared exchange

Not hidden! Stories are experienced and revealed in real time.

Space to run through

X is the site of a former mental institution/industrial laundry facility for women inmates (?) TS and ARV propose a monetary –free intervention as a space for collective catharsis. Site-specific intervention as a response to the silenced history of women. Using the concept of the Red Library (description here) as the center around which the work revolves, and responding to the location’s torrid past, the artists will open up a space to re-examine old wounds, respond with one’s own voice, and re-establish women’s history in the context of the location.

Commodity-free exchange. Viewers will become participants. Chance operations.

Intervention on domestic objects as a way to intervene on notions of “everyday”. Invoking the untold memories of women to create a space for catharsis. Viewers become participants.

Gender inequality and the silencing of women’s voices from within institutional walls, is unfortunately an ongoing issue. Our work address the urgent need for advocacy, and asserts a positive reclamation of Feminist-based history.

From antiquity, women have been considered second-rate, and women’s bodies have been considered shameful. The inherited identity of this shame is pervasive. We address this history front and center in a location that systematically reinforced the silencing of women’s voices. 

School

I walked by a classroom on my way to teach this evening.

These were inside 

xo

Second of seven days alone

Thinking about our application a lot.

I will chime in tomorrow ...

I was in the city Sunday and Monday, sourcing materials for Conscious Object, and also getting Pudica fabricated again for the show in LA. Today I woke up in my bed alone, in a quiet house, and didn't speak to anyone for over three hours. It was heavenly. I started working on the mirror pieces in earnest - but getting familiar with a dremel is harder than I thought. The postcards are stand-ins, but the idea is to show two aspects of the same (story) in the same space. It's the backs, just not paintings of the backs of people. For our show, it could be interesting...here or somewhere else.  

I could be mistaken, but I think this is the location where Marina A. did a performance years ago. She may have been in Serbia, but the background looks very familiar. I love the space. Your description is really chilling. Can we work on it together tomorrow? Here is my very drowsy revision. It's a start.

Pradelna Bohnice is a contemporary project space located 5 km north of Prague's city center. Set on the grounds of a psychiatric ward, it was previously a laundry facility for the hospital’s linens as its name implies (Pradelna means Laundromat.)  In its current incarnation, is has been converted into a multi-functional space for visual and performing arts, with an emphasis on public works that engage Prague's ... (something about its population )

Bars line all the windows even though "cheerful" landscaping has been done to the grounds. The interior of the building is poorly lit, and feels cold and grey. Immediately one feels and can imagine the working conditions for hundreds if not thousands of women who washed the laundry from 1909 to 1993, and the massive amounts of mechanized cleaning hiding the stains of hierarchy between patient and doctor. (we need to clarify this...another sentence perhaps linking this relationship). Holes and missing tiles are seen throughout the space, as well as randomly placed slabs of cement where machines and tables were arranged. The central entrance has very high ceilings which somewhat dwarf the visitor but is similar to an entrance of a chapel. Sound echoes up, especially high heeled shoes on tile. This tiling continues half-way up the walls. (There must have been gallons of water pouring in and out of this space at one point.) 

Pisna Princezna- Proud/Spoiled Princess

Based on a 1952 story, Punished Pride, by one of CZ most beloved authors, Bozena Nemcova,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo%C5%BEena_N%C4%9Bmcov%C3%A1#mediaviewer/File:Bozena_Nemcova.jpg.

Fairy-tales are the undercurrent and folklore of CZ culture, at least for the last 100 years.

This is the only image I found of the scene where the princess, realizing her "proud nature" gone runs to tell the prince that she is back to her kind self. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcq13iou8jM- "When love comes, give it a chance," contemporary Slovak song, images from the movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgjG3XZjxFw- clip with shrouds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMWSRl_m08A- rozvijej se poupatko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1ll10WueRI- Karel Gott Poupatko- the most popular singer of last 50 years

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_BQOgqcQAQ- Karel Gott- contemporary- 2014

Grandma listens to this every day and talks to Gott as she does not realize the illusion of television.

First paragraph- about half way there

The gallery lies within a gated complex, the biggest psychiatric hospital in Czech Republic, in a district north of Prague, Bohnice, 5 km from city center. Bars line the windows. Central space has very high ceilings, which somewhat dwarf the visitor, but is similar to an entrance of a chapel. Sound echoes especially high heeled shoes on tile. This tiling continues half-way up the walls. (There must have been gallons of water pouring in and out of this space at one point.) Holes and missing tiles are throughout as well as random slabs of cement where (I suppose) machines and tables were arranged. The day I visited the space, it was particularly cold, gray and poorly lit. One could feel/imagine the working conditions for hundreds if not thousands of women who washed the laundry for a century from 1909 to 1993—the massive amounts of mechanized cleaning hiding the stains of hierarchy between patient and doctor.

Pradelna Bohnice, is an alternative, contemporary space. Set on the grounds of a psychiatric ward, it was previously a laundry facility for the hospital’s linens as its name implies (Pradelna means Laundromat.)  It is a multi-functional space, for visual, contemporary, “live” works, that confront the public.

Notes:

The biggest psychiatric Hospital in Czech Republic, more than 1200 in-patients, covers all psychiatric subspecialization. 100 docs, 30 psychologists, 300 nurses, 500 health care stuff. Almost 1200 employees. 
Goal on linkedin: Big challenge is to find a good, wise way of change - In 1992 we founded BONA foundation, which provides sheltered housing. In 2012 we began assertive community treatment in Prague 8 region. 
We will continue.

·         Founded

1909

Facility website-

http://www.bohnice.cz/

first image on left- administration building, chapel, and one can see the steeple of the laundromat/gallery in far right of the image

"Wife: or slave which is worse."

-quote from yesterday's reading

the setting

The central space has very high ceilings, which somewhat dwarfs a visitor, but is similar to an entrance of a chapel. The floors are tiled and this tiling continues half-way up the walls. (There must have been water pouring through this space at one point.) Holes and missing tiles are throughout as well as random slabs of cement where (I suppose) machines and tables were arranged. The day I visited the space, it was particularly cold, gray and poorly lit.

We can play with this setting. Smell, sound, color, temperature, should all be considered. I am emailing the organizers/curators of the space about the history and why/how it became a contemporary art space and also to introduce them to our work. 

my apologies for misspelling- Pradelna Bohnice

Red Library

The Red Library, or Cervena Knihovna, was an edition of romantic fiction bound by red cover targeting a female audience at the turn of last century in Swanda's native Czech Republic. The books were formulaic usually with misogynistic content whose aim was to shape feminine stereotypes. In this show we intend to flip, play with and dismantle those stereotypes. 

Pradelna Bohnice, is an alternative, contemporary space in Prague, CZ. Set on the grounds of a psychiatric ward of the town Bohnice, a suburb of Prague, it was preciously a laundry facility for the hospital’s linens as its name implies (Pradelna means Laundromat.)  It is a multi-functional space, for visual, contemporary, “live” works, that confront the public with the concepts of today’s artists. The goal of the program is to support specific, quality, multi-media projects and to open up dialogue with the public.

In looking at their past shows, I found that in 2013 there was a show titled, “The psychoanalysis of one space,” that of the gallery.  It talked about how till 1993 the laundromat was used to wash all the laundry of all those hospitalized.  It talked about the role this space,  where massive amounts of mechanized cleaning hid the hierarchy between patient and doctor. (It even has images of women working at the facility! This space is perfect for our show!)

http://www.pradelnabohnice.cz/?p=256

We need a short paragraph on Airing Dirty Laundry, and if you could tie it into your statement that would work well. I’ll do the same with Mutual Cleanse and my intention within this context. I think we have ourselves a proposal!

Feminist Sex Shoppe

Deadline is TODAY!
Want to make use of a snow day and apply?
On The Ground Floor

"The Feminist Sex Shoppe" is a group art exhibition showing On The Ground Floor (OTGF) - March 28th through April 11th, 2015 in Los Angeles, CA. We seek new works that explore concepts of sex-positive feminism including pleasure and desire, repression and repulsion, taboo and fantasy, body image and biology, love, lust, eroticism, and kink. We welcome works that address sexual health and well-being and reflect the influence of family, religion, culture, politics, education, and the economy on women and their sexuality. We invite both national and global perspectives. This call is not gender-specific. Open to all media. Online submissions only through our link with Submittable.

On The Ground Floor organizes exhibitions that unite emerging artists with fresh audiences, collectors, curators and gallerists. Our artist-run space is located on the ground floor of a two-story residence in the View Park district of Los Angeles, CA. 

Established in the spring of 2014, OTGF hosts art shows, talks, performances, and workshops that seek to foster meaningful conversations about the arts, create organic connections for artists, and preserve space for artistic experimentation and exploration. 

Have additional questions? Feel free to email art@onthegroundfloor.co

Entry Fee: $25     Submissions Deadline: 2/9/15     Final Notification Date: 2/20/15 

Why Prague?

...other than being your birth country, I also have a connection, albeit a more material one: beads!

I've been working with Czech glass beads since I started making Conscious Object necklaces 10 years ago. They are the best. It would be interesting to go to the source country and see how they're made, where they're made, under which conditions they are produced. Below is a thought form about how it could work...?

Also, I feel strongly about including painting, at least one from each of us. The one of yours with the red book in it, and this one from me. Let's talk about this - I know I'm jumping from written proposal to exhibition layout, but this is what I'm thinking...

Red Library Thoughts

Red Library, thoughts from our conversation yesterday:

For Apex Art (words only)
Using the idea of The Red Library as the center, to which our work responds, around which our work revolves.
-Trashy novels written by men, to be read by women as to how they "should" behave, etc. When you first told me about this, I was fascinated. What a great concept to intervene with!

-How do we as artists respond?
-As women, artists, mothers - what in our own stories has created similar conditions to which we respond? Initially I felt anger - like, here it is again, men trying to manipulate how women think of themselves. It's so insidious and pervasive - there is so much to address.

-For me, it began with (what I'm calling "inherited") negative body issues based on the media's manipulation of women. Inherited shame of not conforming, of not "fitting in" - led to the piece Airing Dirty Laundry. Finally working with the problem right in front of me rather than trying to suppress it. I could see doing a larger installation of this piece in the gallery in Prague, in English and Czech.

-Calling out the idea of women's shame, and realizing it was a man made word (probably created by men!)- led to the "conversation piece" Pudica. Thanks Dale Spender and Rosalind Krauss! Using the form of a name plate necklace, but using a different name - created a situation where people would ask me what that word meant. I'd tell them what I knew, and a great conversation would usually happen.

Your soap pieces and the idea of "cleanliness". Another aspect of what women "should" be. Thinking of Madonna or the whore. Using the images of Czech cleaning women, personal - not general but specific - to be washed away and slowly transformed over time. Could be really powerful. 

There is another work that was generated by the idea of the impossible position I put myself in: "Don't" and "Not Enough". All are found images. 

Don't Speak First

Don't Be Too Angry

Don't Be Too Assertive

Don't Be Too Masculine

Don't Be Too Pretty

Don't Be Too Poor

Don't Know

Don't Blend In

Don't Not Know

Don't Reveal

Don't Stand Out

Not Enough Class

Not Enough Conviction

Not Enough Depth

Not Enough Conviction

-Also the idea of process, of time, of waiting. Seems appropriate as a way to engage with the viewer - perhaps to transform the public into participants? Faith's poem "Waiting" in relation to the idea of the Red Library is really interesting to me. The reality of a woman's life as she waits for everything to happen "to" her vs. the "ideal woman" as projected by the red library books. Hmmm..The idea of the sheets being embroidered upon during the show, slowly; the idea of the soaps being used over the course of the show; the idea of conversations generated with the idea of the Red Library in the center - all these things are very interesting to me. I'd like to bead "Waiting" as well. Can I have Faith's email?

What are your thoughts?