This is a gritty scene run by young people who want to do it themselves. The artists know each other and often do collaborative programming; they look to each other for inspiration and advice. It's a collegial and competitive community, but not cutthroat. What's common to these groups is their sense of spontaneity, of operating by the seat of the pants and without a net.
It takes a village
Little Berlin's "The Western Lands" will likely be the city's most radical exhibit this month. The show, which opens Nov. 12, was organized by member Tyler Kline, a longtime skateboarder with a streak of Southern gothic (he grew up in a small town near Atlanta) and a 2011 MFA graduate of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
The show's title is a reference to the third book in William S. Burroughs' apocalyptic "Red Night" trilogy. The collaborative's installation by 15 artists will create a kind of village within the gallery's larger building in Kensington, according to Kline. "It's parallel to Occupy Philly but less utilitarian and more arty, for lack of a better word."
Kline invited artists he knew, or knew of, to submit work for the show. He is using cardboard and tarp to create a maze of walls onto which street art - posters and stickers - will be pasted. Among the displays will be Tim Eads' mechanical painting machine, Danielle Payne's psychedelic videos and Jennifer Wingford's non-edible baked goods. There will be live music and video projections at the opening by Justice League of Adversaries. The work will be installed in a spirit of collaboration with ownership of works remaining fluid in the arty village.
