Moving on up

Few of us actually qualify as social climbers. Rather than ambitiously propelling ourselves upward through social strata, most of us are engaged in a slow series of lateral movements—small, often imperceptible adjustments made to our lives in a perpetual search for meaning. Ideas shift in and out of our sphere of consciousness; people and things are added and removed from our physical world—all in an effort to construct a context in which life makes sense and to maximize the relevance of our existence.

That’s the idea behind Social Climbing, a two-part exhibition at Seminal Projects (2040 India St., www.seminalpro
jects.com)—the first of which, Part 1: On the Move, opens Aug. 8. Those led by the title to expect a dose of caustic social commentary will be surprised to find that show curator and Seminal Projects founder Luis De Jesus has created a subtle meditation on the ways in which movement and positioning affect the meaning of art.

On the Move, which will showcase more than 20 local artists, found its inspiration in legendary gallerist Paula Cooper, a New York pioneer who was the first to set up shop in SoHo in the late 1960s. “She would put on these long-running group shows with young artists like Carl Andre and Donald Judd,” explains De Jesus. “But then she would rotate the works every two or three weeks, looking for new connections. The movement was about making comparisons, finding new differences and similarities between the work.”

Ironically, it was Judd, an oft-described “minimalist” sculptor who rose to acclaim in the ’60s, who offered the critique of gallery culture that Cooper hoped to offset. Judd thought temporary exhibitions, designed by curators for public consumption, were by their very nature degrading to art. In an exhibition, the art became secondary to the context in which it was presented (the gallery), and its meaning, filtered to the public through curators, was often misunderstood, manipulated or obscured. He came to prefer permanent installations, purchasing a five-story building in New York where his work could be displayed in a less transient setting.

But it is precisely the notion of transience that Cooper embraced as a way to plumb the depths of a work’s meaning. With On the Move, De Jesus will provide Cooper’s concept with a modern update, employing what he calls an “ad-hoc shuffle strategy” to dictate the movement of pieces. Throughout the course of the show, works will be continuously rotated and re-installed alongside different works, allowing for the impact of a piece to evolve within a variety of different contexts. A work may suddenly be replaced with another piece by the same artist or by an “unscheduled, spur-of-the-moment” surprise.

“I’m interested in the interplay of pieces,” says De Jesus, “in constantly rotating to find interesting juxtapositions. That’s really the crux of it.”

Moya Devine, an Encinitas artist whose multimedia works will be included in the exhibition, sees On the Move as having potential on a few levels. “I show in a lot of group shows,” she explains, “and I think it’s a format that really enhances your ability to see things differently.” But the constantly shifting landscape of On the Move will allow not only for interplay between works, but also between the art and the gallery space itself. “Work impacts an environment in the same way that an environment has impact on work.”

Time adds yet another dimension—a work’s meaning and significance can be just as affected by its position on the continuum as its position on the wall. When Marcel Duchamp unveiled “Fountain” in 1917, the readymade was summarily rejected by the exhibition for which it was created. A urinal bearing a signature, decreed the judges, did not qualify as art. Eighty-seven years later, “Fountain” was voted the most influential artwork of the 20th century. Time, in other words, can change things.

“I wanted to present this show in such a way that the works could be up for a long time,” says De Jesus of On the Move, which will run through Dec. 5. “The more time people have to spend with the art, the more time they have to engage with it and to perceive it in different ways.”

The idea that meaning could expand and evolve over time is something that extends not only to the viewing public, but also to the artists themselves. Andy Ralph, whose wall-mount sculpture “Monster Mouth” will be part of the exhibition, was in turn confused and fascinated by the premise.

“Wait, so you mean it’s always going to be changing?” asked Ralph, who in addition to being a visual artist also fronts the local indie band Writer. “Alright, well, that’s pretty awesome that Luis is going to be moving stuff all the time,” he said, seeing the potential behind the idea.

“Just as long as he doesn’t fuck up my piece.”