Rewilding: Alive in the Churn

Rewilding: Alive in the Churn is a collaborative, interactive installation curated by artist Kotone Deguchi and co-produced by PVD Young Makers (PVDYM) and Providence Public Library (PPL). The installation is located physically in PPL’s new 3rd floor Joan T. Boghossian Gallery and digitally on various platforms.

Now open and evolving through December 17, Rewilding: Alive in the Churn has transformed PPL’s exhibition gallery into an interactive biome for artists and experimenters, creating a physical and virtual space that is iterative, collaborative, and ever changing.  Join us to explore, experience, and experiment with ways of being in a world that’s in flux.

Members of the public and nine guest artists will continually transform the gallery space through visual art, performance, sound design, video projection, etc.

For this exhibition, rather than each guest artist having a period of time in which their art is showcased, then removed, with the space then reset for the next artist, each artist is instead asked to enter and respond to the space as they find it, with whatever thoughts and histories they bring with them, and, using whatever materials/media they choose, to leave whatever mark they will for the next artist. Each incoming artist is invited to alter the space, further developing the transformations that came before them, just as they must concede that their alterations may be further transformed after they leave. From this process develops a space of shared and layered history that continually builds upon itself, hour by hour, day by day.

On days when a guest artist is scheduled, that artist can choose to invite the public in to witness, participate, interact, etc., or choose to share their work another way. On the days that are not dedicated to the guest artists, members of the public are invited to create and interact with the space as well.  All art forms (visual, performance, sound, video, etc.) are welcome; materials will be available and guests can bring their own.

Embracing the realization that we do not create from a blank slate, that any potential for the future will be created and recreated from what has come before, this process-based exhibition offers a more deeply truthful experience of the way life, community, and history are built: all at once, all on top of each other, all in different directions, and with less time than we want.  It rejects the violent myth of the reset, and celebrates spaces that are built with the understanding and acceptance that they will be altered.  Rewilding: Alive in the Churn invites us to recognize and engage actively with today’s instability and ferment, acknowledges and honors the ongoing accrual of a longer history, and opens the doors to everyone to fully participate.

For more information about the installation and for schedule for public display days, please visit PPL’s exhibitions page, the exhibition website, or the Rewilding Instagram.