decentre is a book about artist-run culture that hopes to describe the breadth and quality of artist-initiated programs, projects and events, the issues we face in this milieu and how effectively we deal with them, that aims to both celebrate artist-run culture and demonstrate the vital role artist-initiated activity plays in the larger cultural scene.
A group of us working in the artist-run milieu instigated what we hope will become a wide-ranging discussion. Many people contributed short texts about the things they feel are most interesting about artist-run culture, the issues we face and the future.
Below are some questions that we gave them to start the process, help frame the discussion:
1. What interests you most about artist-run culture today?
2. What is the most innovative program or event you have seen lately?
3. What is the greatest challenge facing the artist-run milieu today?
4. Has the concept of "artist-run" outlived its usefulness? If not, why not?
5. Where does the real strength of artist-run culture lie?
6. How does artist-run culture affect the larger cultural sphere?
Contributors include:
Hans Abbing NE, Danyèle Alain, Heather Anderson, Sylvette Babin, Bruce Barber, Gerald Beaulieu, Nathalie de Blois, Brett Bloom US, AA Bronson, Michelle Bush, Paul Butler, Jean-Pierre Caissie, Candyland SE, Ian Carr-Harris, Elaine Chang, Herménégilde Chiasson, Mark Clintberg, Timothy Comeau, Rebecca Conroy AUS, Jo Cook, Sylvie Cotton, Nina Czegledy, Sigrid Dahle, John Everett Daquino, Ade Darmawan INDO, Jennifer Delos Reyes, Joseph del Pesco US, Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan, Carolyn Doucette, Martin Dufrasne, Peter Dykhuis, Michael Fernandes, Jocelyne Fortin, Vera Frenkel, Karen Gaskill UK, Annie Gautier, André Gilbert, Bastien Gilbert, Barr Gilmore, Marc Glassman, Chris 'Zeke' Hand, Jamelie Hassan, Janet Hawtin UK, Jens Hoffmann US, Michelle Jacques, Marisa Jahn US, Geoffrey James, Brett Jones AUS, Michelle Kasprzak, Heather Keung, Eleanor King, Robert Labossière, François Lachapelle, Tommy Lacroix, Guylaine Langlois, Marie-Hélène Leblanc, Gordon Lebredt, Tom Leonardt, Chris Le Page, Chris Lloyd, Patrice Loubier, BrianLee MacNevin, Pamila Matharu, Cathy Mattes, Ingrid Mayrhofer, Robin Metcalfe, Jodi McLaughlin, Jonathan Middleton, Aleksandra Mir SE/US, Vicky Moufawad Paul, John Murchie, National Bitter Melon Council US, Marc Niessen NL, Anne-Marie Ninacs, Andrew James Paterson, Demian Petryshyn, Garrett Phelan, Kristina Lee Podesva, Craig Francis Power, Jeanne Randolph, Kathleen Ritter, Jocelyn Robert, Clive Robertson, Sadira Rodrigues, Gilles Sénéchal, Chandra Siddan, Haema Sivanesan, SKOL, Ho Tam, Jeff Thomas, Carl Trahan, Jon Tupper, Tobias C. van Veen, Juliana Varodi RO, Emily Vey Duke, Jean-Yves Vigneau, Kate Warren AUS, Leung Chi Wo, Paul Wong, Jacob Wren, Yoke + Zoom UK, Wayne Yung
