Never Not Broken

 

"In the end, everything is resolved, except the difficulty of being, which is never resolved." -Jean Cocteau

 

The circumstances of life are such that at one point or another something will break us.  The loss of a life, a love, a job, a home, will shake our foundation and we will inevitably crumble.  We then consider ourselves defeated; disheartened and utterly broken.  But there is power in the acknowledgement of brokenness.

 

Never Not Broken is taken from the Hindu Goddess Akhilanda or the 'Always Broekn Goddess'.  Akhilanda derives her power from being broke:in flux, pulling herself apart, living in different selves [and states of being] at the same time. from never becoming a whole that has limitations" *(1)

 

"Fluid connections, the celebration of ambiguity and a sense of ritual in chaos... deeply invested in the notion of complexity, this work will explore the arena of [brokenness] as an entree to rapture.  Artists working in this mode push the deconstruction and dissolution of centre, definitions and boundaries to reach the sublime terror [and beauty] of placelessness [and brokenness]." *(2)

 

Brokenness is not indicative of weakness or inability, but rather can be a strong driving force towards creative output as a means of analysis, internalizing, and coping for many artists.  This show seeks work that was created from a state of, and aknowledges our, Never Not Brokeness.

 

 

*(1) Excerpt from the online artticle 'Why Lying Broen in a Pile on Your Bedroom Floor is a Good Idea' by Julie Peters, Elephant Journal

 

*(2) Excerpt from the Essay 'Beneath the Remains' by Shamin M. Momin, The Gothic: Documents of Contemporary Art

 

 

 

Show Info

 

March 11- March 26, 2016 at The Ann Arbor Art Center 117 Gallery

 

Opening Reception & Award announcement: Friday March 11, 6-9pm

 

Special screening of Lis Rhodes 'Light Music', March 18th 3:00pm in conjunction with the Ann Arbor Film Festival

 

$200 Best in Show (Public and Jurried Vote)