ROOT DIVISION PRESENTS: Second Saturday January 2014 - The Tools

ROOT DIVISION PRESENTS: Second Saturday January 2014

The Tools
Curated by: Nora Rodriguez
Second Saturday Reception & Event: January 11, 2014, 7-10 pm

SAN FRANCISCO, CA- Root Division presents

The Tools is a look through the wrong end of the telescope, examining art as apparatus and instrument. The show contains tools artists have constructed in view of executing their work, along with work that itself functions as a tool. What kinds of devices do artists create in the process of making? And how can the work itself become a tool for critique, education, or expression?

The Tools functions in two parts: In the first, utensils, models, and devices that artists have crafted specifically for their working process. How does preparation for work become part of the piece itself? How are aesthetic concerns manifest even before an artist touches the “final” piece?

The show’s second part turns the concept of tool on its head, presenting work that is in dialogue with the function or aesthetic of tools. These works blur the line between objects made and objects made to make, object as ends and object as means.

The show pushes against the notion of tool as a primarily physical aid. In the words of Robert Irwin, “The act of art is a tool for extended consciousness.” In some sense, then, all art is a metaphysical tool. From here, the challenge may be finding a big enough toolbox.

Artists
Evan Barbour*
Josh Blackwell
Brad Brown
Anna Craycroft
Marshall Elliott
Ruben Gutierrez
Phyllis Ma
Rachel McFarlane
Mie Horlyck Mogensen*
Michael & Rosie O’Gorman
Jeana Poindexter
Zin Taylor
* Root Division Studio Artist

Opening Reception: Saturday, January 11, 7 – 10 pm
Including CREATIVE STATION, free all-ages art activities in our Studio 2 Classroom
Exhibition Dates: January 8 – 25, 2014
Gallery Hours: Wednesday- Saturday, 2–6 pm (or by appointment)