Archive of Creative Culture
February 11, 2017 through June 04, 2017
San Francisco, CA, October 27, 2016 – San Francisco’s Dogpatch District will experience a special type of visitor this upcoming February 2017, when the Archive of Creative Culture, a pop-up exhibition, rolls into the Museum of Craft and Design.
Twitter: @archiveculture
Instagram: @archiveculture
Facebook: archiveofcreativeculture
A nomination-based, participatory project documenting the histories of respected creative thinkers, the Archive of Creative Culture has been growing through a series of nationwide pop-up exhibitions since 2014. Traveling in a reimagined 1973 Argosy Airstream, the project sources books from each destination as a means to survey creative culture in towns and cities across the US. The books collected at each destination remain on-site and available for visitors to view.
Archive of Creative Culture is a curious collection of books sourced from revered visual, performing and literary artists, musicians, curators and cultural figures. Each book in the collection is identified as being the “go-to” reference, source of inspiration or representation of a pivotal moment in the contributor’s life. The featured collection is sourced from nominations on behalf of the staff at the Museum of Craft and Design (MCD).
Imbedded behind the book display is a text-based work by artist Kari Marboe. Her text draws connections through all elements of the exhibition and weaves together memories stored in each book.
Serving as a cultural resource, the project’s nominations result in an online creative network visualization. Using open-source network visualization software, the Archive of Creative Culture will also premiere the exhibition’s online interactive catalog at the MCD.
The Archive Argosy–a reimagined 1973 Airstream–will find a spot parked outside the museum from February 6th–11th, 2017 and will be an extended hub of activity for visitors. This reflective “mobile museum” serves as a vessel to travel the collection and space to host conversations, workshops, events and pop-up happenings.
For the duration of the exhibition, cameras mounted on the interior and exterior of the Archive Argosy will invite museum visitors to witness live-stream video projection, as the Airstream moves around the country. At any given moment visitors can catch a glimpse of the Archive Argosy in motion. The Archive of Creative Culture exhibition at the MCD offers the Bay Area an opportunity to explore the Archive Book Collection, encounter the Archive Argosy, research the Creative Network and participate as a conduit for unexpected connections.
About Lacey Haslam
Lacey Haslam generates social engagement projects rooted in participation, collaboration, and public exchange. Haslam is the Director of BLOCK Gallery, a site-responsive exhibition program, taking place in alternative and public spaces and is the Lead Organizer of Archive of Creative Culture.
Haslam’s projects have been featured in KQED Arts, Bad At Sports, East Bay Express and SFArts Monthly. Her writing has been published on SFMOMA’s Open Space–Collection Rotation. Haslam holds an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and a BFA from University of North Carolina at Asheville and currently lives in Woodstock, GA.
