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Fall 2024 Exhibiton
Don't mind if I do
September 10 - November 27, 2024
Don’t mind if I do is an experiment in more deeply collaborative exhibition-making, demonstrating how even temporary changes in power structures create pathways of access for visitors, artists, and staff.
Grounded in a longtime fantasy of artist Finnegan Shannon – an idea of an exhibition setup that would lavishly meet their access needs – this project developed around a conveyor belt. Embraced for its efficiency and mechanized transport of goods (even sushi), this equipment is reappropriated here as a vehicle for cultivating a more relaxed museum-going experience. The conveyor belt brings artwork to audience members, who are invited to sit on comfortable furniture and engage with a parade of objects through any combination of touch, sight, and sound.
Sharing the work of eleven artists who have influenced Shannon’s practice, Don’t mind if I do destabilizes rigid ableist and exclusionary museum “best practices” like sparse seating, untouchable objects, dense wall labels, and guards who protect rather than invite engagement. It is a project built upon a framework of flexibility. By welcoming glitches, inviting informality and messiness, and unsettling the hierarchy of objects, Don’t mind if I do prioritizes people over artwork and makes more room for us to show up as our full selves.
Don't mind if I do is organized by artist Finnegan Shannon and curator Lauren Leving. The project originated at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland with generous support provided by the Ford Foundation.
An audio desciption of the exhibit can be found here.
IN CONVERSATION:
Finnergan Shannon with curator Lauren Leving
Thursday, September 12, 4-5:30 PM
Hinde Auditorium, University Union
EXHIBITION RECEPTION:
Thursday, September 12, 5-8 PM
University Library Gallery
