public programs

Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art522 Congress Street, Portland, Maine 04101Gallery Hours:August: Wednesday through Saturday, lOam to 4pm.September: Tuesday through Sunday, 11am to 4pm.

. Thursday evening until 9pm.

Lecture by France MorinThursday, September 18 at 7:00pm at the ICA at MECA.

Symposium at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker VillageSaturday, August 9, 2:30 to 5:30pm.Reservations are required, (207) 775-5152.

The Shaker Museum and Store are open to visitorsMonday through Saturday lOam to 4:30pm fromMemorial Day to Columbus Day. Guided Tours recountingthe history of the Shakers are available.

To drive to Sabbathday Lake Shaker Museum, takeExit 11 from the Maine Turnpike onto Route 26.Shaker Village is eight miles north of Gray and eightmiles south of Auburn.

acknowledgments

This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Sister Ruth Perkins Nutter(1907-1997) who lived with us in the Trustees' Office during The Quietin the Land. Sister Ruth came to the Shaker community at Alfred, Mainein 1911 at the age of four and was educated in the Shaker School. Shecame to Sabbathday Lake in 1931 when the Alfred community closed.Sister Ruth died on March 6,1997. She was an inspiration to all of us.

The Quiet in the Land exhibition at the ICA at MECA would not havebeen possible without the cooperation, interest and enthusiasm of theSabbathday Lake Shakers and the participating artists. The organizersgratefully acknowledge the generous support of:

The LEF FoundationThe National Endowment for the ArtsThe Penny McCall FoundationTufts Health PlanLois and Richard Rosenthal FoundationPeter and Paula LunderCarole and Jay Cushman

The artist's projects and journals from The Quiet in the Land: Everyday life,contemporary art and the Shakers collaboration will be exhibited togetherwith historical objects representing the material culture of the Shakers atthe new Museum of American Folk Art in New York in 1999.

PhotographyDomenico de Clario at Aurelia's Falls. Photograph: Adam Fuss, 1996Wolfgang Tillmans, Winter rail, 1996Wolfgang Tillmans, Space between buildings, 1996Mona Hatou m, First Step, 1996, cri b, powdered sugar, (deta i I) Photograph:Melville D. McLean. Collection: Penny Cooper and Rena Rosenwasser.Wolfgang Tillmans, Bench, 1996

designed by Sagmeister I nc. edited by Ellen McBreen

the quiet in the land

Institute of Contemporary Art@ Maine College of Art

leA"vAugust 9 - September 21, 1997

Opening Reception, Saturday,August 9, lOam - 12pm

the shaker community atsabbathday lake:

Sisters Frances A. Carr,Marie Burgess, June Carpenter,Minnie Greene and BrothersArnold Hadd, Wayne Smith, andAlistair Bate

and artists:

Janine Antoni, Domenico de Clario,Adam Fuss, Mona Hatoum,Sam Samore, Jana Sterbak,Kazumi Tanaka, WolfgangTillmans, Nari Ward, andChen Zhen.

conceived and organized by

France Morin

exhibition at the ICA organizedwith Jennifer R. Gross and theMaine College of Art

EVERYDAY LIFE, CONTEMPORARY ART and THE SHAKERS

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

)$" ($ %"’ &"# !*

=IF JOEJWJEVBMTBU<BCCBUIEBZ5BLF BSFDBSSJFSTPGBSFMJHJPVTUSBEJUJPOUIBUEBUFTUPUIF &)UI DFOUVSZ$=IFJS GPVOEFS"6PUIFS+OO 5FF" B 6BODIFTUFSUFYUJMFXPSLFS"MFEB HSPVQPGGPMMPXFSTUP+NFSJDBJO &((’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’%" XIFO NPSFUIBOGJWFUIPVTBOE,FMJFWFSTMJWFEJO OJOFUFFODPNNVOBMWJMMBHFTGSPN7FX .OHMBOEUP8IJP BOE4FOUVDLZ$

=PEBZ" UIF <BCCBUIEBZ5BLF DPNNVOJUZNPWFTGPSXBSEXJUI UIJTUSBEJUJPO"BMUIPVHIUIF XPSMEPGUFOBTTVNFTUIBU<IBLFSJTNJTBTTUBUJDBTUIF IJTUPSJDBMSFMJDTPG IJHIMZ#DPMMFDUBCMFGVSOJUVSFXIJDI IBWFCFDPNFTZOPOZNPVTXJUI UIF <IBLFS OBNF$+T UIFMBUF<JTUFS;$ 6JMESFE,BSLFSNVTFE" XIFO 2 EJF"2GBJSMZFYQFDUUPCF SFNFNCFSFEBTB QJFDFPG<IBLFSGVSOJUVSF$ ,VU UIFTFLJOETPGNJTJOUFSQSFUBUJPOTEPOPUEFUFSUIF <IBLFSTGSPNUIFJSSFBMWPDBUJPO"BOEUIF TUSFOHUIPGUIFJSDPOWJDUJPOTDBOOPUCFNFBTVSFEJOUFSNTPGUIFJSOVNCFS$

The Quiet in the Land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ewitched by Cold Water Well.@BSEVODPWFSFEJOGPSNBUJPOPO ;FCFDDB3BDLTPO"UIF +GSJDBO#+NFSJDBO<IBLFS XIP GPVOEFEUIF9IJMBEFMQIJB<IBLFS DPNNVOJUZJOUIF &*UI#DFOUVSZ$

=IF JOUFOTFQFSTPOBMDPMMBCPSBUJPONBEF JUBMMCVUJNQPTTJCMFUP WJFX UIF <IBLFST UISPVHI UIFEJTUPSUJOHGJMUFSPG BO PGUFOSPNBOUJDJ[FE EFBE USBEJUJPO"PSUPWJFXUIFJSMJWFTBTBSUJDVMBUJPOTPGUIFTJNQMF"DMFBOBFTUIFUJDPG<IBLFS BSDIJUFDUVSFBOEGVSOJUVSF$=JMMNBOT!QIPUPHSBQITSFTJTUUIJTQPQVMBSDIBSBDUFSJ[BUJPO"PGIJTUPSJDJ[FEBOEBSDIBJD<IBLFST$1F QSFTFOUTUIF DPNNVOJUZBOEUIFJSTVSSPVOEJOHTJO VOVTVBMBOE VOFYQFDUFEHVJTFT"FTQFDJBMMZJOJNBHFTEFQJDUJOHUIF <IBLFSTJOUIFJSEBJMZBDUJWJUJFT$

2O SFTQPOTFUPUIJTMFHBDZ"NBOZPGUIF BSUJTUTIBWF JODPSQPSBUFEQIZTJDBMPCKFDUTGSPN<BCCBUCEBZ5BLF" BOEUIFJSQPXFSGVMIJTUPSZIBWFCFFOSFDZDMFEJOUIF DPOUFYUPG OFX XPSL$ 7BSJ @BSE!TThreshold BOEVertical Hold SFOFX<IBLFS NBUFSJBMTUIBU UIF BSUJTUVODPWFSFEEVSJOHIJT TUBZ$=IF

DSBEMFJO@BSE!TThreshold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erticalHold DPOTJTUTPGSFDVQFSBUFECPUUMFT"EVH VQ GSPN<IBLFS HSPVOET"BOEXPWFOUPHFUIFSXJUI ZBSO$+TXJUI IJT DSBEMF"UIFTF CPUUMFTBSF IPMEJOHWFTTFMTXIJDI CPUIQSPUFDUBOESFTUSBJOUIFJSDPOUFOUT$

+EBN /VTTGPVOENBOZPGUIF MBEEFSTIF DPMMFDUFEBUUIF ?JMMBHF#TPNF<IBLFS#NBEF" TPNF XPSO BOECSPLFO#UPCF QSPWPDBUJWFNFUBQIPST GPS UIFGVODUJPOBMTUSVDUVSFPGUIF <IBLFS GBNJMZUIBUIBTQFSTFWFSFEUISPVHI HFOFSBUJPOT$+MUIPVHI UIFDPNNVOJUZNFNCFSTBSFDFMJCBUFBOEEP OPUNBSSZ"UIFZ DPODFJWFPGUIFNTFMWFTBTB GBNJMZ"SFGFSJOHUPFBDI PUIFSBT,SPUIFSBOE<JTUFS$=IF <IBLFSTIBWF"

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

from their beginnings, lived and worked in an alternative social paradigm, which includes shared governancebetween its male and female members, and a fundamental belief in the dual nature of God as both Mother andFather. This alternate "coupling" is echoed by the symmetrical forms of the individual ladders, captured by Fuss onlife-sized silk photograms. Junine Antoni's mirrored photographic pairs of table settings and stairs, for example,evoke these coupled unions as well, but they also emphasize the community structures which tend to separate thegenders as well. Shaker Brothers and Sisters eat at their own designated tables, for example, and enter the MeetingHouse by separate doors. As with a Shaker family, Fuss's ladders and Antoni's photographs can be seen as theharmonious sum of its constituent parts.

THE EXPERIENCE OF EVERYDAY LIFE

A summer day at Sabbathday Lake is a busy, structured one. There are sheep to be fed, vegetables to he planted,repairs to be made, the Shaker store to be maintained and stocked with herbs, oval boxes, baskets, and otherShaker goods. The community is an industrious group, as they celebrate their founder's motto each day, "Handsto work and hearts to God." Physical labor is seen as an apt metaphor for spiritual labor, the daily and oftenmundane struggle to live by Christ's example. Daily activities are undertaken with this sense of spiritualintentness and presence; each act is understood as an affirmation of their belief in God and their endeavor forunion as a community. In this way, the everyday, the modest, and the prosaic, is redeemed. And so the fabric oftime seems to be woven more densely in this busy place, as even the transient, the ephemeral, and the laborioustasks that others may view as impediments to the enjoyment of life, are graced with patient deliberation.

The Shakers presented the artists with a list of tasks at the beginning of the summer. Every morning, the artistsand curator tended to individual chores in the barn and in the herb and oval box industry, or they assisted witha group project under the direction of project coordinator Tony Guerrero, such as restoring the fence in thefront of the Meeting House and Ministry Shop. In the afternoon, the artists were free to pursue their ownactivities, artistic or otherwise. Adam Fuss built a darkroom in the Trustees' Office, and Chen Zhen chose tocommunicate with the Shakers by drawing each of their portraits in pastel, included as part of his My Diary inShaker Village.

Artists followed the ordered existence of Sabbath day Lake. They lived adjacent to the Shakers in the Trustees'Office. Breakfast and lunch were shared together in the Dwelling House where the Shakers live, and onMondays, the artists, organizers and Shakers would come together for dinner. These eating rituals punctuateddays filled with work, and they provided the summer with a constant rhythm. So, too, did participation inworship. Artists attended the daily morning prayer, the Sunday service, and Wednesday night prayers as well.On Thursday evening, the groups came together for a weekly Meeting for Conversation, a 19th-centurytradition that was revived for the summer collaboration. These sessions provided an open, honest forum forintense discussions of theology, work, art, and gender.

Many of the artists felt deeply influenced by this structure of everyday life. Its complex simplicityengendered a more intense registering of time, which, as Kazumi Tanaka observed, seemed to pass "morecarefully" at the Village. Samore felt, too, that the structure allowed the less important things, thedistractions which too readily plaque secular city dwellers, lito fall away. II Domenico de Clario hoped tobring "some small continuity of the structure of this life" to his life after the Shakers.

This experience of everyday life with the Shakers is the subject of Tanaka's Communion, an installationwhich distills the artist's memory of meals in the Shaker dining room. The clock's watchful presenceconveys the peaceful regularity of that ritual. The table's individual plates are supported by the tension ofwater, with a placidity that evokes her experience of the clean, ordered passage of time. Twelve frameddrawings, part of the artist's journal, complete the room. Made of liquid coffee and milk, they havetransformed as their organic materials changed and molded over time.

Domenico de Clario's The Divers Clothes Lying Empty focuses, as well, on this ordered passage of time.The work consists of thirty small oil paintings, made each day during the month of June. For the artist,"the Shaker Village, the Lake, the fields and orchards, the sheep, the sky above it all, and the sevenShakers all exude a 'Shakerness' as any 'hody' might exude its essential nature." Each day de Clariowalked a spiral path of seven locations, designating the chakras, or energy-system of this hody. Thepaintings were made in those locations, with the color that characterized its particular chakra. Bypainting hlindfolded and with a Shaker basket over his head, de Clario could focus on the essence ofeach chakra, as he attempted to understand their Shakerness. In addition to the paintings, he alsoimprovised daily, blindfolded at the piano, after meditating on that particular day's chakra color. Thesounds produced complimented the color used in the painting that day. And on the evening of thesummer solstice, de Clario sat blindfolded at the piano again in the Meeting House, playing withoutinterruption until the following morning. The daily playing and the solstice performance constitutethe double CD that was produced as part of this project.

While these two artists have responded to the experience of everyday life at the Shaker Village,others have incorporated the artifacts of everyday life in works which encourage a reconsideration ofthings we have ceased to notice in our lives, much less consider. The materials used often seemunfamiliar to us because of their intense familiarity. Consider Mona Hatoum's rubbings on wax, for