Article by Nicole Gurgel (Albuquerque, NM); Photo by Doobious.org (Atlanta, GA)
2014 marked the beginning of Alternate ROOTS’ three-year initiative, A Call to Action, in which we will be deeply reflecting on our work as artists and cultural organizers. Each year of this initiative is focused on a particular element of arts activism; in 2014 our focus was on Aesthetics, followed by Transformation in 2015, and Emergence / Organizing in 2016. Our exploration of aesthetics took many forms. Some we were able to document; many more were ephemeral. We’ve gathered the former here as an archive of our year of aesthetics (albeit an incomplete one, as all archives are). We look forward to diving into Transformation with all of you in 2015!
- This video on Aesthetics, produced by Doobious.org:
- A Need to Make Something: Opening Up a Year-Long Exploration of Aesthetics, a panel discussion among four ROOTS members: Ashley Minner (Baltimore, MD), Ebony Golden (Harlem, NY), Gwylene Gallimard (Charleston, SC), and Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier (Atlanta, GA)
- Alternative Thinking: Presenting a Different View of the World, a dialogue between D. Patton White (Atlanta, GA) and Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier (Atlanta, GA)
- Route and Wing: Urban Interventions in Montreal, an article by Ebony Noelle Golden (Harlem, NY)
- Documentation and Communication for Ending Oppression: Claiming Aesthetics, a reflection on the Aesthetics and Documentation Learning Exchange, by Mark Kidd (Whitesburg, KY)
- Aesthetics is a Verb: The Aesthetics and Documentation Learning Exchange, Transcribed, a full transcript of a ROOTS Week Learning Exchange facilitated by Bob Leonard (Blacksburg, VA), Jan Cohen Cruz (New York, NY), Cristall Chanelle Truscott (Houston, TX), Nick Slie (New Orleans, LA), Linda Parris-Bailey (Knoxville, TN), and Mark Kidd (Whitesburg, KY)
- Exploring the American Dream Mythology through Performance Art Workshops, an article by José Torres-Tama (New Orleans, LA)
- The Aesthetics of Valuing Difference: Art and Movement Building in the 21st Century, an article by Collette Carter of Project South (Atlanta, GA)
- What is Beauty without Justice, an article by Carlton Turners, ROOTS’ Executive Director (Utica, MS), published on Americans for the Arts’ ARTSblog
- Calling Out to the Old Radical Herbert Marcuse, an article by Bob Leonard, one of ROOTS Founding Members (Blacksburg, VA), published on Americans for the Arts’ ARTSblog
- Decolonizing Aesthetics, an article by Nicole Gurgel, ROOTS’ Content Developer (Albuquerque, NM)
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Nicole Gurgel is Alternate ROOTS Content Developer, as well as a writer, performance-maker, and educator living in Albuquerque, New Mexico.