Process is the Destination: Sampled review @ Hyperallergic
DETROIT — There seem to be two prevailing schools of thought among artists about process. On one side, you have those who cherish the illusion of seamless execution — the “zipless fuck” of art making, if you will — and as a result, go to great lengths to conceal their process. On the other side, you have process junkies, journey-is-the-destination types who revel in the making, with all its challenges, dead ends, and breakthroughs. Full disclosure: I am firmly in the second camp, and perhaps that is why Sampled, the new group show at Cave Gallery, resonates so strongly with me.
Sampled is the first exhibition by a working crit group, begun in December of 2014 by a several Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni with a common interest in contemporary fiber and textiles. The pieces on display are all works-in-progress, with their development aided and amended by regular critiques held at monthly intervals. These critiques include studio visits, conversations, and hardline responses within the group to the work of its eight members: Corrie Baldauf, Lynn Bennett-Carpenter, Annica Cuppetelli, Carrie Dickason, Jessica Frelinghuysen, Megan Heeres, Rod Klingelhofer, and Jeremy Noonan. (Full disclosure: the author will take park in a conversation in the gallery with all the artists and fellow critic Lynn Crawford on August 23.)