We began to create projects to bring focus to the AIDS pandemic over 20 years ago. Born out of feelings of loss and rage, these projects challenged us to abandon our long held beliefs about art. Rejecting notions of artist personality and artwork as commodity, we gave away our objects to help refocus the attention of our audiences from art as an investment to art as an agent of social change. This is a photo document from our Forget Foucault project of 2011.
As time went on, this provocative stance informed many of our projects at the ICI. The untethered voice is often the loudest, the clearest and the most honest. When an artwork is given as a gift, with no artist’s name or price tag attached, the interchanges it creates can open doors to hidden or forbidden realms. These sites have become our most favored playgrounds.