Broadsides were first introduced in England, they became a prime means of communication and the most common form of printed material in the early days of the U.S. before newspapers. In addition to announcements, advertisements, and commentaries, broadsides also came to feature cartoons, poems, and song lyrics. A famous example is the Dunlap broadside, the first publication of the U.S. Declaration of Independence printed on the night of July 4, 1776 by John Dunlap of Philadelphia in an estimated 200 copies. Over time, artists and writers began to embrace the format and structure of the broadside, working with printers and publishers to create limited edition multiples of their work, oftentimes a short written piece accompanied by an illustration depicting the essence of the writing. During the 20th Century in the U.S., Harlem Renaissance, Concrete, and Beat writers all claimed the broadside as a below-the-radar way to get their work out onto the streets.

Intersection for the Arts presents

Broadside Attractions | Vanquished Terrains

a group exhibition that features twelve pairs of visual artists and writers creating new collaborative work that takes inspiration from the historical broadside and reflects on current events and contemporary culture using the theme of “vanquished terrains” as a point of departure.

As printed matter becomes more obsolete in our digital world, the broadside too has become outdated (today poetry broadsides can be purchased as limited edition artworks through venues such as City Lights Booksellers). Organized in collaboration with curators Megan Wilson and Maw Shein Win, this project is part of Intersection’s larger exploration of language, place, and storytelling that pays homage to the history of printed matter, highlights cross-disciplinary work between artists and writers, and demonstrates a 21st Century reinterpretation of one of the original forms of public communication.

Participating artists and writers were paired up to collaborate on this project. Each artist provided their collaborating writer three sources of information inspired by the theme of vanquished terrains: a piece of music, a movie, and a location. The writer then created a short piece in response to these prompts, which was then given back to the artist to create work in response to the writing. This became the content for the traditional broadside, printed by Lisa Rappoport & Littoral Press (www.littoralpress.com). The traditional “poetic” broadside usually consists of a visual element atop and below it the body of the poem.

Ruefle / Daniel Broadside 2011

Additionally, each artist and writer pair were then asked to create another piece that could embody the same set of ideas and concepts with any form or media that they wanted to utilize, including sculpture, painting, video, sound, and stop-motion animation. Each artist and writer pair will have two pieces on display in the exhibition, a traditionally printed broadside and a contemporary reinterpretation of the broadside in a variety of media.

The 12 pairs of artists and writers featured in this exhibition are:

Eliza Barrios & Myron Michael, Paul Bridenbaugh & Steve Gilmartin, Karrie Hovey & Elise Ficarra with Evelyn Ficarra, Misako Inaoka & Jaime Cortez, Keiko Ishihara & Chaim Bertman, Patricia Kelly & Vince Montague, Dwayne Marsh & Nana Twumasi, Nathaniel Parsons & Ly Nguyen, Christine Ponelle & Annice Jacoby, Matthew Rogers & Maw Shein Win, Megan Wilson & Hugh Behm-Steinberg, Liz Worthy & Jenny Bitner

OFFICIAL SITE: BroadsideAttractions.com
 
 

In Other Words is a group exhibition that looks at language and its capacity to clarify and confuse, convene and separate, inspire and discourage. Language can excite our spirit, comfort our feelings, and inform our intellect; it can also extinguish desire, destroy confidence, and cloud perception. By exploring a range of areas concerning the influence and evolution of language in our lives — the impact of technology, the obscurity of industry-specific terminology, the psychological internalization of language, and the recontexutalization of language — the artists in this exhibition demonstrate through a diversity of media the many ways in which we strive to communicate to each other.

In Other Words features work by Katie Gilmartin, Julia Goodman, Emanuela Harris-Sintamarian, Susan O’Malley, Meryl Pataky, Alex Potts, Cassie Thornton, Annie Vought and Christine Wong Yap.

Image: Julia Goodman, Amanuensis II, 2009, cast paper

RELATED PROGRAMS

IN OTHER WORDS: SF LIBRARY READING LIST
February 1 | Free
In celebration of our new exhibit, the San Francisco Public Library will share a suggested reading list that reflects the power and diversity of language.

IN OTHER WORDS: BLOG CONTEST
February 1-March 24 | Free
Every couple weeks, we’ll have a new call out for fun images and stories! Participants email us their content. Top submissions will appear on our website and a handful of lucky contributors are chosen to receive special prizes!

IN OTHER WORDS: BALDERDASH
March 21 | 7PM | $10-$15
Do you like word games and team activities? Familiar and foreign terms from the arts, business, finance, and social service worlds set the stage for a game where YOU are the expert. Join us for an uncensored friendly competition where fictitious and honest definitions abound. Sign up as a team for a round of Balderdash hosted by author Michelle Tea to show off your smarts and win prizes!

IN OTHER WORDS: ARTISTS TALK
March 24 | 2PM | Free
The “In Other Words” exhibit comes to a close. Please join us in this candid talk to hear directly from the creative minds that graced our gallery with such fun and thought-provoking art.

You can know SEE & PURCHASE artwork from this show, In Other Words, at our ONLINE STORE