Abstract
A prequel to the paper presented by this author at the 2020 Arts in Society Galway conference (“The democratic praxis of AiOP), this study is the first academic profile of the obscure but seminal Atlanta arts collective, 800East. Based on participant observation, interviews, and archival research, this ethnography presents a case study of negotiating the local in the global. Established on a sketchy dead-end street in Atlanta’s old fourth ward in 1990, 800East became the premier underground visual and performance arts space in the city for most of the 1990s and an open laboratory for a generation of artists to investigate the nexus of art and life. Working off the grid, with no official status or sponsorship, the collective -by necessity and then conviction- engineered a DIY aesthetic, leveraging goodwill, creative vision, and the hunger of Atlanta’s socially and artistically marginalized communities to create and sustain a safe space for creative expression. Despite its hardscrabble beginnings, the collective was prolific, producing monthly, large scale visual and performance art exhibitions from 1990-1998, as well as a variety of offsite initiatives. Over its eight-year tenure, hundreds of artists exhibited and performed in the space and tens of thousands passed through its gates. By renegotiating local space, responding to local needs, and leveraging local resources, 800East developed a praxis of artistic vision and community engagement with global implications. 800East was truly a “voice from the edge” and has lesson plans for negotiating the local in the global.
Presenters
Michael KilburnProfessor, Politics and International Studies, Endicott College, Massachusetts, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2021 Special Focus - Voices from the Edge: Negotiating the Local in the Global
KEYWORDS
Art, Underground, Visual, Performance, DIY, Collective, Community
