Center Field | Fielding Practice Podcast #6: MCA Shifts Gears; Ikea Hacking as Art; and Ai Wei Wei

This month’s episode of Fielding Practice, a special podcast produced by Bad at Sports exclusively for the Art21 blog, is action-packed and filled with discussion of the latest art happenings in Chicago and beyond. Guesting this week are Nicholas O’Brien, our regular Bad at Sports columnist and an independent curator and writer on net art, and Abraham Ritchie, Chicago editor of Art Slant online magazine and The Chicago Art Blog. Along with Duncan Mackenzie and myself, they discuss recent changes to the long-running 12 x 12 exhibition series at the Museum of Contemporary Art and review its current exhibition, Pandora’s Box: Joseph Cornell Unlocks the MCA Collection. We move on to take a look at Jeff Carter’s current solo show, The Common Citizenship of Forms, at the Illinois Institute of Technology, in which the artist uses hacked Ikea furniture to recreate a number of Chicago buildings by Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius that were demolished in 2009. Finally, we discuss the situation faced by Chinese artist and activist Ai Wei Wei, who was recently released from a 3 month detention by the Chinese government. Plus, our picks for events and other happenings in Chicago for the month of July, with handy links provided below. As always, thanks for joining us!

[audio:https://traffic.libsyn.com/fieldingpractice/Bad_at_Sports-Fielding_Practice_6.mp3] Click here to listen.

Jeff Carter, "The Common Citizenship of Forms (Laundry Building)," 2010. Modified IKEA products (laminated MDF, steel, paper, hardware), electric motor, microcontroller, electronics, 20” H x 52” W x 30” D.

Walter Gropius building, Chicago; demolished 2009.

Panelist’s Picks for July:

• Duncan Mackenzie: We Are Here: Art and Design Out of Context at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, July 5-31, 2011.
• Nicholas O’Brien: A Small Forest, group show curated by Bea Fremderman and Nicholas O’Brien at Kunsthalle New, one night only: Saturday, July 16 from 7 to 10 pm, 1344 W. 18th Place, Chicago, IL.
• Abraham Ritchie: Unfold: Apart and Together, group show at Golden, June 28-July 23rd and People Don’t Like to Read Art, group show at Western Exhibitions, July 9 – August 13.
• Claudine Ise: Summer read for fantasy geeks: A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin, publication date July 12, 2009.