Merrill Watson in Conversation with Amanda Hughen & Jennifer Starkweather
San Francisco artists, Hughen/Starkweather, a collaboration of Jennifer Starkweather and Amanda Hughen, is in the midst of a monumental project in response to the pandemic and world-wide protests against racism and police brutality.
Standing: Amanda Hughen. Seated: Jennifer Starkweather.
Hughen/Starkweather have worked together since 2006, creating abstract work derived from locations and particular topics. A major theme in their work has been climate change and the effects of it on the natural environment. Every project involves months of research which includes analysing maps, conducting expert and community interviews, reading scientific data and future projections, and viewing old photographs for inspiration. Each project evolves as the artists delve further into the research, as they say on their website, “an unpredictable trail of information.” Their latest project, Threshold Spaces is no different. However this time they have reached out to a global audience and research base for data. They are asking people to describe a place of solace, real or imaginary in 25 words or less. From this they will create abstract artworks.
The project was made possible with an Individual Artists Commission Grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission. Proceeds from works sold will be donated to the San Francisco Marin Food Bank and the Southern Poverty Law Centre.
MADE IN BED’s Merrill Watson spoke to Amanda Hughen and Jennifer Starkweather about the project.
MW: When did you come up with this project? Had you thought about it before lockdown?
JS: This idea of narrative has been a consistent theme in our work, and talking to people and hearing their personal stories about a place always been a part of our research practice. This project stems from sheltering in place and the pandemic. When the pandemic hit there was a feeling of being overwhelmed. What will be the role of art in this new environment and what are the ways that we as artists can connect with what people are experiencing. The project also stems from collecting personal stories from individuals to create a sense of shared experience – a strategy that has long been an element of our work.
AH: I would also say, obviously, the pandemic changed everything for so many people. I think for most artists this time has shaken up the way they think about their work. There was an increased sense of urgency. For the first few weeks of shelter in place Jennifer and I were in emergency mode in our own lives. But then, there's always a need as an artist to get your arms around what's going on in the world. I feel our way of working is to reach out to other people, as Jennifer said, and find a common thread about how people are responding to this time -- people from many different backgrounds, many different places, many different ways of living. How can we reach out to people and bring in data and information about this unique time in history, fold that into our work, and respond to what's happening.
Hughen/Starkweather, Fresh air without concern, 14” x 9”, pencil, ink, and gouache on paper, 2020.
TEXT USED TO CREATE THE ARTWORK:
“Northern reaches of the city provide windy isolated outdoor spaces for walking, reflection and fresh air without concern for contacting people not wearing masks.” — C.W., middle school director, San Francisco
MW: In comparison to your work on your previous projects, how does Threshold Spaces relate to previous projects and your goals? Jennifer, you mentioned narratives. Do you think this project has progressed from that and is more personal than your previous projects have been?
JS: You know, a few weeks before we were thinking about this project, I spent a lot of time outside; I just needed to be out. I would go for bike rides and runs, and I was trying to think about how the landscape and certain natural environments have, at least for me, provided a place of solace. Thinking about these particular areas in San Francisco, it seemed the natural world was abundant at that time, and everything else in the world was falling apart. I think it was from this idea of landscape that initially we came up with the prompt about a person’s physical space in the landscape. But the project evolved, and as the prompt evolved, it’s deviated from our previous projects. I think this idea of narrative is a common link. We’re still interested in this idea of place, but maybe for many people who are interpreting it, the prompt is not simply a physical place.
AH: Our work is almost always about place. It's generally site- or topic-specific, based on landscape. It incorporates oral history. Interviews are always a critical part of our process. As Jennifer was saying, this project has evolved from the first idea of finding out from people how people are experiencing the pandemic, then expanding with the protests. At first, with the pandemic, we were interested in how people were finding a feeling of calm or safety. Then as the protests began to happen, we realised that many people are more engaged in the world right now, but in different ways than before the pandemic. This project invites anyone who wants to participate to spend time thinking and writing, on a very personal level. Asking themselves, ‘What is my place of solace right now? Is it a video game? Is it a national park I can’t get to right now? Is it the hill above my home which has fresh air for the first time in 10 years because vehicle emissions are lower because no one is going into work?’ For us as artists, this is a data-gathering project. But for the participant, we wonder, does contemplating these questions make them more aware of what brings them peace or engagement in the world? Could this contemplation then lead to an increased interest in a person wondering, ‘How can I save that place or that special time I have given myself, or that community?’ ‘How can I keep the air fresh?,’ ‘How can I spend more quality time in this video game?’
JS: Some people may not be finding solace in a landscape; maybe they are finding solace online.
AH: In the past our projects have been site-specific or topic-specific, and our process includes extensive research as we dive into one place or one topic for a certain amount of time. It could be for years; it could be a couple months. This project is different because we're are collecting a much wider amount of data based on people’s responses describing places that are virtual, real, imagined, past, present, or future. All of the people who are responding to this project by writing, they are our collaborators. Instead of having multiple types of source materials about one specific place or topic, as we have done in our past projects, including maps, articles, scientific data, interviews, etc., with this project we have only the 25 words written by an individual. From this little bit of information we're abstracting it to create a work. There is something about the immediacy of this project that is exciting.
Hughen/Starkweather, Warm showers have served, 15” x 8”, pencil, ink, and gouache on paper, 2020
TEXT USED TO CREATE THE ARTWORK:
“During this time, warm showers have served as a quiet sanctuary for me. A short rest for my mind and body.” — F.W., student, Palo Alto.
MW: Do you find that more challenging than the data collection of the past as it is so abstract?
JS: Yeah. In our other projects, we start by gathering research source materials. Because the personal responses in Threshold Spaces are more elusive and in some cases more poetic, it can be harder to kind of ground that into a specific visual source. It is a very different process than what we've done before.
MW: I know you’ve been in your art careers for a while, but do you feel that the more abstract element of this project is helping you grow as artists as well?
JS: I hope so. This project is still in the early stages, but I imagine that it will. One thing this project will do is by necessity grow and broaden our vocabulary of images and mark-making. We have a specific way that we work, and even though there's a lot of variety in our projects, we have a definite aesthetic sensibility, and it would be interesting to push that in another direction.
AH: This project is more difficult that past project because we don't have this huge amount of source material. Frequently in fact, people do not tell us the specific place they are talking about. However, this project does give us more leeway as artists because it is a more poetic project. 25 words or less: that's sounding like a poem. People have to think through their words because they have to choose carefully what they will write. Hughen/Starkweather has done several projects about climate change, and the pandemic is strongly connected to this, both in how the pandemic is impacting the climate, and how the pandemic stems from issues exacerbated by climate change. Most prognostications say the earth is in for dramatic change in the future; things are going get more difficult for all of us, no matter where we live. There is going to be more disruption in the future. People will need spaces to bring them solace, which for some people means being engaged doing something makes an impact, and for others withdrawing. So, it feels like this project even though it started with the pandemic, is something that folds into our work around climate change and we can work on for quite a while.
MS: There is a certain irony in your project which makes it even more interesting. There's a global pandemic, global climate change, global protests, and, yet, what you're doing is taking that and making something so individual and personal. Even though you're asking people for their own personal places, do you sense do you a feeling of community or is it about their little world or place of solace?
JS: I in the responses we have received so far, what I'm seeing is that they're not that far off from each other. Most of what we have received so far are descriptions of places that feel somewhat similar: a backyard, a park, a place of quiet and peace, of solitude. Community is too ambitious of a word. But it is early in the project and as the world continues to change, the responses are changing.
Hughen/Starkweather, I jump into the cold, 10” x 14”, pencil, ink, and gouache on paper, 2020
TEXT USED TO CREATE THE ARTWORK:
“I jump into the cold water at ocean beach, right across from my house. It makes me ecstatic.” — J.D., artist, San Francisco
MW: It sounds like there are some similarities in the responses. With that in mind, how will you respond to the similar themes? I assume the works will have a connection as a project, but how will you create each one with individuality, as individual as the places they represent?
AH: Some of the written responses will be published on our website with the person's initials, their place of residence, and their occupation. We are hoping to gather writing from people from all over the world, and from many different walks of life. We will be using some of the written responses to create abstract artworks based on the responses, and we are working towards how to incorporate the written words directly into the artworks, including as a possible larger installation and/or fabric as we did on a recent site-specific project about flooding in Miami.
MS: Thank you both for your time. Good luck with the project!
Hughen/Starkweather invites you to write about your place of solace in 25 words or less. Their visual interpretation of your idea may end up as an artwork. Please go to the Threshold Spaces website (link to https://www.hughenstarkweather.com/about-threshold-spaces) to learn more or participate in the project.
Merrill Watson,
Contributor, MADE IN BED