Driven by a powerful belief in the value of free expression, Sheryl Oring has for more than a decade been helping people across the United States voice concerns about public affairs through her 'I Wish to Say' project. This book uses that project as the starting point for an exploration of a series of issues of public interest being addressed by artists today. It features essays by contributors ranging from art historians and practicing artists to scholars and creators working in literature, political science and architecture. All the contributors offer a different approach, but they share a primary goal of sparking a dialogue not just among makers of art, but among viewers, readers and the concerned public at large. The resulting volume will be an essential resource for politically engaged contemporary artists searching for innovative, cross-disciplinary ways of making and sharing art.
'Walter Benjamin famously asserted that mechanical reproduction would emancipate works of art from ritual, never anticipating the coming age of compulsive Instagam sharing, ritualized text messaging, and overall information-overload. In a counter-intuitive move artist Sheryl Oring improbably dusts-off antiquated slow-technology (the typewriter) in order to resurrect the declining art of non-digital communication (also known as composing a letter to your political representative). The unhurried, heart-felt messages generated by Oring’s I Wish to Say project calmly testify to the significance of her rescue plan for a society bedeviled by pixilated manias and the allure of electronic display screens. '
— Gregory Sholette, author of Dark Matter: Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture (Pluto Press, 2010)
Sheryl Oring is assistant professor of art at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, as well as a practicing artist.
Acknowledgments
Preface - Sheryl Oring
Taking a Moment to Have a Say - Corey Dzenko
“I WISH TO SAY:” 2004
Part I – Ruminations: The Artist’s Perspective
Ruminations: The Artist’s Perspective - Sheryl Oring
The Typewriter: An Ode to Its Smells, Sounds, and Tactile Responses - Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
The Look: Patty and Her Avatars - Santiago Echeverry
The Question: The Door to What We Most Want to Know - Chloë Bass
The Camera: Coming to Terms with Photographing People - Dhanraj Emanuel
The Digital Archive: Maintaining Privacy by Giving It All Away - Hasan Elahi
The Paper, the Game, and the City Park: Places for Things to Happen - Lee Walton
The Street: Fleeting Situations and Doings - Ed Woodham
The City: The Political Equator and the Radicalization of the Local - Teddy Cruz
The Road: Stories From the Navajo Nation - Stephanie Elizondo Griest
Dissent: American Style - Ricardo Dominguez
“I WISH TO SAY:” 2008
Part II - Frameworks: Scholarly Views
Frameworks: Scholarly Views - Sheryl Oring
Toward a Sociability of Objects - Edward Sterrett
Socially Engaged Art, Photography, and Art History - Bill Anthes
Activism’s Art: A (Very) Brief History of Social Practice and Artist - Books Miriam Schaer
Free Speech in a Digital Era - David Greene
Efficacy, Trust, and the Future of Civic Engagement - David B. Holian
“I WISH TO SAY:” 2010 TO 2016
Part III - Conclusion: Listening and the Power of Small Acts
Conclusion: Listening and the Power of Small Acts - Sheryl Oring
Turning Strangers into Neighbors - Kemi Ilesanmi
Let It Linger - George Scheer
Small Acts, Forlorn Practices - Radhika Subramaniam
Part IV - Postscript: An Activist’s Discourse
Postscript: An Activist’s Discourse - Sheryl Oring
Q&A: Sheryl Oring and Svetlana Mintcheva
“I WISH TO SAY:” SEQUELS
“I WISH TO SAY:” Chronology and Credits
Endnotes
Bibliography
About the Contributors