This Thursday at 6:30pm is the opening reception/performance of Nica Ross’ thesis show.
The ICP Library has two works by Ross.
The cataloged one is an artist book called “Porn : potentially dangerous individuals getting into porn handbook” that was offered at last autumn’s Art Book Fair at PS1. It is terrifically popular…because of its no-nonsense title; PORN, and its contents; the ubiquitous QR codes [square barcodes that can be scanned by the built in camera of mobile phones and tablets] that are now a part of our visual landscape. Interactive artist books are ever-popular, and this one all the more so.
If you would like to come and take a look, its call number is TR179.5.R676 .P67 2011
Not yet cataloged is a work that Nica made last year and presented as a final assignment for a class in the library. It is titled “Mine/Not/Yours” and is three flash drives. On the first, “Mine,” is a film of Nica as a small child being questioned by an off-camera parent. On the second, “Not,” is another small child being questioned in a similar fashion by an off-screen parent, who, it so happens, is the late Michael Jackson, and the third, “Yours,” is blank for you to contribute your own.
It is very satisfying to receive items into the library that seem to “interrogate” or “unpack” the very nature of what we do and have, especially the relationship between the “reader” and the library site. The library as a big chalk board for artists to work out formulas is another way of looking at it.
We are looking forward to seeing Nica’s show, and, particularly because we read that she is producing a little blue manifesto with it.
For an interview with Nica, press here.
Monsters & Madonnas 