CONNECTING THE LINES: COLLABORATION IS THE ONLY WAY FORWARD (2022) is a sculptural drawing installation of letters, numbers, and symbols connecting two parlor rooms in the David Ireland House at the 500 Capp Street Foundation in San Francisco’s Mission District. Inspired by the prominent and abundant insignia of David Ireland’s initials found in artworks he made and objects in his collection, the work reassesses the singularity, ego, and id that Ireland explored in his signature works but through frameworks of community, collaboration, fluidity, and mutual support at architectural scale.
Visually mimicking and bisecting the historic pocket doorway opening in the dividing wall between front and back parlor rooms, CONNECTING THE LINES: COLLABORATION IS THE ONLY WAY FORWARD acts as a revolving door/wall, a threshold, and a facilitator for movement between both rooms as a metaphor for interconnectedness and reciprocation.
This work was developed during a residency for the solo exhibition AS ABOVE SO BELOW, and principally embedded throughout the 2x4 lines is recognition for the folks who generously labored with me throughout the year-long research and two-week-long live-in residency periods:
-A “500” for the folks at 500 Capp Street Foundation whose empathy, collaboration, and trust not only generated momentum for my works but also stewards Ireland’s legacy forward in new and interesting ways
-An “LR” for Lindsay Rio, an “M” and “N” for Marcius Noceda, an “LL” for Lian Ladia, a “CM” for Cait Malloy, a “JN” for Justin Nagle, an “AK” for Ava Koohbor, an “OT” for Owen Takabayashi, a “CT” for Charlene Tan, a “V” and “S” for Victor Saucedo, a “D” and “G” for Drew Grasso, an “R” and “D” for Rico Duenas, and a “D” and “A” for Dan Ake
-An upside-down triangle to symbolize the structure of inverted power hierarchy that the artist-driven 500 Capp Street Foundation staff maintains and showed me
-An arrow pointing down referencing the exhibition title “As Above So Below” but also pointing back to the source of inspiration for David Ireland and my research: “The Grotto” basement
-Lastly, an “SR” and “DI” are also embedded in the community of symbols.
The artwork was built on-site by Sherwin Rio. Found lighting installed by David Ireland. Photographs courtesy of Sherwin Rio.