2014 is here and has brought about the beginning of a brand new cycle at Morning to Morning. To our dear readers who have been a part of our inaugural cycle, we thank you immensely. We are constantly shaping and reimagining how we choose to present work on this platform and after these past eight months, we took some time to look at all of the work we produced to determine how to continue.
Last year, we had one “host” each month who would come up with a theme that was to be interpreted and utilized however each artist chose to. These would yield pieces which were directly related to that theme in one way or another and usually were presented as a completed project for that particular month. The host also conducted an interview with an artist who we all felt helped to establish and inspire the vein of performance art and creation we find ourselves in. Although we really enjoyed this past cycle of work, a lot of our members had a drive to further some concepts and ideas they began to explore in one piece but sometimes felt limited to because of the theme.
But 2014 is a new year and new is exciting for us all here at Morning to Morning! After a very productive (and might I add beneficial) end-of-cycle meeting at one of the Think Coffeeshops in lower Manhattan, we came up with some new ways to work for this coming cycle. Firstly, there would be no theme. Artists can work on whatever is interesting at the moment or in the long term. Secondly there would be a curator (that’s me, Ethan, this month!) who would act as an organizer of the pieces, but also as a go-to. The curator will meet with each artist at the beginning of the month and converse with each artist about their ideas and feelings and help the artist if he or she feels lost. The curator then reviews all the pieces in preparation for that month’s publication. Thirdly, well…there isn’t much of a third. We are all free to work and present as we wish, and I think it’s nice that we have a more open dialogue as we work about what we are making.
As I began meeting with my fellow M2Mers in November and December I found a strong desire from almost all of us to work on something long term, using each month as more of a sketchpad for overlapping ideas as opposed to a finished or completed piece. Over sushi, phone calls, beer and text messages I spoke to everyone about concepts and images that inspired them and that made them want to create. It was very exciting, and also very interesting to understand how this will begin to produce a very different eight months to come. I think we are beginning to shy away from impressing or producing for the sake of just that.
Some of the pieces this month begin the process of creating larger presentation. From natural disaster to directing to personification, a taste of our art through our passion in a very work-driven and process-driven focus has started to shine through. In this first month of work, I ask you to observe each piece not as a final product, but as the beginning of an idea or concept. I ask you to freely enter each artist’s work with an open mind and with the knowledge that what we make will change and will inspire what we create in the future. Dear reader, I so look forward to sharing the next eight months of art with you. Welcome to the first drawings in our brand new sketchbooks. Welcome to Morning to Morning 2014!
Ethan Fishbane
Morning to Morning-January 2014
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