it’s all still here, on the black board
[05/17/24]
They’re all pointing at someplace, sometime earlier. The pedagogy, built and visual language, the filleted edges of early and primary childhood play? development? education? engendering? indoctrination? What does a return to play feel like when there is a return to these essential constructed materials of our institutional upbringing. Is a return to material liberating in play or does it constrict towards a nostalgia, an infantilization. Is our inner child bound inextricably tied to the surroundings of inner childhood? Nostalgia cults and infantilization have become highly integrated into contemporary western culture and capital, as otaku cultures have swept the western sphere. Often through the reboot in media, the reissue and the adult toy (PG) we see this manifest, yet these three artists approach what is-becoming nostalgic, the modes of play and object lessons through a (re?)visiting of the-thing-itself. These three collectors, practitioners, arrangers, approach material and a gesturing towards a nostalgic without skirting an engagement with capital, still collecting seeds on the ground. A new dialog, both a refusal and engagement with not/growing up is emerging that does not look like the commodified mode overtaking sections of Gen X and Millennials. At the center of this is play.Libby Boyd
Aidan Piper
Max Li
[05/17/24]
They’re all pointing at someplace, sometime earlier. The pedagogy, built and visual language, the filleted edges of early and primary childhood play? development? education? engendering? indoctrination? What does a return to play feel like when there is a return to these essential constructed materials of our institutional upbringing. Is a return to material liberating in play or does it constrict towards a nostalgia, an infantilization. Is our inner child bound inextricably tied to the surroundings of inner childhood? Nostalgia cults and infantilization have become highly integrated into contemporary western culture and capital, as otaku cultures have swept the western sphere. Often through the reboot in media, the reissue and the adult toy (PG) we see this manifest, yet these three artists approach what is-becoming nostalgic, the modes of play and object lessons through a (re?)visiting of the-thing-itself. These three collectors, practitioners, arrangers, approach material and a gesturing towards a nostalgic without skirting an engagement with capital, still collecting seeds on the ground. A new dialog, both a refusal and engagement with not/growing up is emerging that does not look like the commodified mode overtaking sections of Gen X and Millennials. At the center of this is play.Aidan Piper
Max Li
Aidan Piper
Libby Boyd, Leave it, 2024.
Chalk on adhesive residue.
Max Li, Untitled (blue board), 2022.
Oil Pastel on found board.
Libby Boyd, Weavings on found grid, 2023.
Cotton, acrylic, and handspun wool yarns on found metal lattice.
Libby Boyd, Easter Eggs, 2024.
Colored pencil on ledger paper.
Aidan Piper, Untitled (red), 2024.
Assembled on site objects.
Libby Boyd, Stone cutout, 2024.
Ledger paper cutout of small stone, pushpin.
Aidan Piper
Libby Boyd, Never Eat Soggy Waffles, 2023.
Colored pencil on matte board with window, pushpin.
Aidan Piper, Untitled, 2024.
Arranged encountered on site objects.
Max Li, Untitled, 2022.
Lego
Max Li, Untitled, 2022.
Cereal box, blue tape, marker.
Aidan Piper, Untitled (the Children’s Bible), 2024.
Encountered book, Lisa Frank stickers.
Libby Boyd, Blue Purse 2023.
Plastic sewing kit, wooden handle, screws.
Libby Boyd, Easter Bunnies, 2024.
Ledger Paper cutout, pushpins, found cork board.
Max Li, Untitled (white board), 2022.
Marker on whiteboard.
Libby Boyd, Poolside, 2024.
Letters from childrens toys, retention ring.
Libby Boyd, Someone left these, 2024.
Blue, red and green wooden blocks.
Libby Boyd, The Ladder, 2024.Chalk tracing of found object.
Aiden Piper is a Chicago born artist creating ephemeral, site based colleges, totems and monuments from found objects, integrating their photographic practice as a way to sustain what is otherwise impermanent. Piper explores and attempts to discern the quiet yet often violent restructuring of Chicago’s urban fabric seen throughout their life. Returning to site time and again, a relationship with spaces of so-called urban decay and renewal becomes one of intimacy. (@bescordina)
"No, David! Put your toys away!""David, don't scribble on the walls!"-David Shannon
Max Li is an interdisciplinary artist who comes from China, he currently lives and works in Chicago. Driven by interests in rites, language, and memory, Max embraces chance as a part of his artistic process. He makes pictures, spaces, objects, and time-based situations. His works are lyrical and gestural, often composed of materials such as language fragments, moving supplies, found objects, products, and toys. (@omaxlgzo)
“He made a long straight path so he wouldn’t get lost. And he set off on his walk, taking his big purple crayon with him.” -Crockett Johnson
Libby Boyd is an artist from metro-Detroit based in Chicago, IL. Her art practice is equal parts collecting, learning, and recording. She states “As I explore my interests in pattern, color, language, and numbers, I take note of my findings and better understand the world around me. I'm constantly collecting scraps, shapes, and phrases that catch my attention and work their way into my art. Using drawing, printmaking, writing, and arrangement of found objects, I am able to quietly direct other people's attention to my findings; a quietness I cherish as someone who doesn't always want to talk but nonetheless craves attention.” (@libbyboyd)
“She didn’t want to miss the first day of school, but she was afraid of what the other kids would say. And she had no idea what to wear with those crazy stripes.” - David Shannon