CONNECTED // CONNECTING // ALWAYS AND ESPECIALLY NOW // DAY 3

charlotte caldwell ·

A Thought:

“When night has fallen, and you remain alone in your room, sit down at your desk, turn out the light, and turn your desk lamp so that it illuminates only one small part of the desk, it can be one of its corners…. And you will quickly see how suddenly a new mysterious world emerges, which you couldn't have anticipated before. Ordinary things: a note pad, a pen, a ruler, a box of paper clips, an eraser which during the days were lying on your desk, will acquire roles in this magical circle of light that are unexpected and unfamiliar to you. But most of all, you yourself will change. In a strange way and without any particular effort, you will begin to shrink and soon you will become very tiny amidst these enormous, strange and incomprehensible objects. This journey of yours begins at that moment; very slowly, not rushing, you begin to walk around each of them, carefully examining them, concocting all kinds of guesses about the purpose of each of them and about what is written or drawn on them.”

- Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, The Palace of Projects: Night Journey, 1998


An Action:

ASSIGNMENT #50-ish: TAKE A FLASH PHOTO UNDER YOUR BED (PT 1) ✔️
Write the Story of your Journey (PT 2)

With your photo from the previous assignment in mind, imagine yourself shrinking, shrinking. The space you are peering into is no longer recognizable as the underside of your bed. It is an unfamiliar landscape. This is where your journey begins…

In one page, write the opening scene of your journey. It may take the form of a poem, prose, or play. If you’d like, include illustrations; it could be a comic strip or a page out of a graphic novel. Try to get as many details in as possible. And, if you feel so inspired, take it further, write the novel! No one’s gonna stop you.

Send the file to friends@stoveworks.org

.pdf, .docx, google doc, .jpg preferred.

ASSIGNMENT: #2 : Under My BEd

Connected // Connecting // Always and Especially Now // DAY 2

charlotte caldwell ·

A Thought:

“We don’t need to see anything out of the ordinary. We already see so much.”
- Robert Walser, A Little Ramble, 1914

This assignment is in two parts. The first originated with LTLYM and the second (revealed tomorrow) will be inspired by your image today. It calls us to focus our attention on the intimate spaces—in this case, an oft forgotten one— within our home, the spaces that we move through and around, the spaces we usually assign tasks: clean, dust, mop, and on. It asks us to consider them differently and to consider them at all.

An Action:

LTLYM Assignment # 50: Take A Flash Photo Under Your bed (PT 1)

“Don't vacuum or alter anything under your bed beforehand. Take a photo under there with a strong flash, preferably with the camera sitting on the ground. Make sure your photograph is in focus! We are looking for photos that depict the space between the bottom of the bed and the floor, please do not send us photos if your bed is flush against the floor or if it is a loft bed.”

Email us the photo with your name and location: friends@stoveworks.org ;)

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Under My Bed

Charlotte Caldwell, Chattanooga, TN

Photo gallery: #1 : Make a Banner

Connected // Connecting // Always and Especially Now

charlotte caldwell ·

A THOUGHT:

"The very last thing we need right now is a mindset of mutual distancing… We actually need to be thinking in the exact opposite way. Every hand that we don’t shake must become a phone call that we place. Every embrace that we avoid must become a verbal expression of warmth and concern. Every inch and every foot that we physically place between ourselves and another must become a thought as to how we might help that other, should the need arise."

-Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky, in Forward

An Action (For the Assignment, scroll a little further):

In an effort to remain connected in an environment where the healthiest and safest action we take towards each other is to keep our distance, we’re calling forth the internet of times past.  Back in the mid-aughts, Miranda July created a website that posted amusing, endearing, and occasionally heart-string-pulling assignments for us all to complete: Learning to Love You More (LTLYM).  Sadly, the site ceased operating in 2009.

Over the next 14 days, we’re reassigning some of the classics (and perhaps some newbies) that you can do from home. 

Every morning we’ll post a new “assignment” on our blog and to Facebook. All you will have to do is complete the assignment and send your documentation to friends@stoveworks.org and we’ll post it with the next day’s assignment! 

FIRST Assignment: LTLYM’s Assignment #63

“Make an encouraging banner.

Think of something encouraging you often tell yourself. For example: Everything will be ok. Or: Don't listen to them. Or: It'll blow over. Now make a banner, making sure to follow these instructions:

1. Draw each letter of the sentence on a large piece of colored construction paper or big squares of fabric. One letter per piece. Draw them blocky so you can cut them out.
2. Cut them out.
3. Glue each one onto a piece of construction paper or fabric that is a contrasting color.
4. Then glue the edges of all the pieces of paper or fabric together to make a banner.
5. Hang the banner in a place where you or someone else might need some encouragement, for example, across your bathroom. Or between two trees so that you and your neighbors can receive encouragement from it. Or in a gas station.  

D O C U M E N T A T I O N >  Take a picture of your hung banner and send it to us (friends@stoveworks.org). After it has been up for awhile, take it down and roll it up and put it under your bed or another safe place. We might very likely contact you wanting to exhibit your banner in a show someday.”

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Holly Robinson

Of Portland, OR from LTLYM’s original Banner (#63) open call. To see more click here.

Note from the Director

charlotte caldwell ·

The path towards launching Stove Works in its permanent home has been circuitous and challenging; writing this note feels similar. Stove Works’ programs weave in and out of each other, into the community and beyond our region. Creating a singular, linear narrative for our work is challenging, as our Exhibitions, Education, and Residency programming are designed to build on and overlap with one another.

For 13 years, I have been working towards this moment. Stove Works, the idea, was born from conversations, pop up shows, and DIY events in Nashville, TN. Conversations with artists and administrators identified a need for more spaces that support, show, and inspire both artists working in contemporary practice and those curious for alternative vehicles for engagement and reflection. Stove Works is an amalgamation of my experiences working with small, ambitious nonprofits whose missions whole-heartedly embrace the importance and intersection of art, artist, audience, and place. Stove Works was signed into existence on April 10, 2017, and since has responded to and been informed by the input and experiences of our staff, Board and collaborating artists, without whom I would be hopeless. 

WE choose to do this work because we believe it is important. WE do this because we believe that the arts are ESSENTIAL to a healthy, striving community. Art, whether through the act of making or experiencing, is core to developing empathy, creative problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and many of the foundational elements of a community of people who are growing together. 

Thank you for believing with us. Thank you for believing in us.

With care,

Charlotte

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