Alabama Contemporary Art Center: SOMETIMES THEY LISTEN

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Date/Time
Date(s) - December 24, 2022
All Day

Location
Alabama Contemporary Art Center

Categories


SITE-SPECIFIC INSTALLATION BY AKIKO ICHIKAWA

Since July 2018, I’ve been collecting all of the un-recyclable, non-biodegradable stuff (usually of plastic but also the hybrid material that lids and covers are made of) that encases the food, art, and other products I buy to maintain my life and art practice in Brooklyn. Entitled Sometimes They Listen, for the ongoing action, I have been mailing tailored letters to these manufacturers and distributors, asking them to replace their current packaging, which now includes “recyclable” #1 and #2 containers and plastic as in practice they are not recycled except in places like San Francisco. I often times give concrete suggestions, while performatively pushing a polemic via the recently lost craft of personal correspondence while providing a social service and supporting the U.S. Postal Service. I use art to shed journalistic light on specific companies, plastic’s use in advertising, the names of cities and towns most have never heard of, and which states/provinces produce this kind of trash (it is hardly limited to red states).”

– Excerpt from Proposal, Akiko Ichikawa, 2020