First Post and 2019 Fall Update!

Time to get caught up with everything going on at ALI!

First off, we got the website redesigned, with thanks to our star interns from NYC’s High School for Art and Design! And at their suggestion, added a newsletter page, which you’re on, and the luminous white void of which I now stare into with a thousand pieces of news to report and only a few spare moments to do so…. But I digress!

In July we convened the first cohort of the Interdisciplinary Workgroup, bringing together 6 artists at all stages of their careers, and coming from an array of disciplines: music, painting, dance, social practice, and more. Over 6 weeks together, we correlated the interdisciplinary curriculum, leading each artist in an investigation of their own practice, and their own unique way of knowing. The results were exciting, and for each of them it felt like possibilities for their practice were being unlocked. Moving forward, we’re now in the midst of one-on-one followup meetings to drive home what’s been gained and seek strategic applications of the framework as it applies to each individual artists.

In June, we held the first edition of The Democratic Field, a collaboration with Joe Salvatore and the Verbatim Performance Lab. More on that project is available over on its project page - but all to say that the results of this first event were seriously surprising - a ‘landslide’ victory for a version of Beto O’Rourke embodied by a white woman in her 50s… Other outcomes were equally as intriguing, and they’re all summarized in our first Democratic Field Outcomes Report, which you can see if you sign up for our email newsletter!

August was dedicated to concluding the workgroup, preparing the website, opening an Instagram account (!), writing furiously (much of which finds its way here: https://medium.com/@afreiband), and preparing for our second edition of The Democratic Field, held on September 9.

This second iteration was just as surprising and in completely different ways - making us excited to shape and adapt this project over the course of the next 12 months, and help as many citizens as possible see clearly the shape of their own preferences and prejudices. Let’s leave it to a few of the attendees to tell you how it went:

“This event equipped me with a new perspective on observing my own reactions to political speeches and candidates.”

“There was a shift in how we all felt from the beginning of this to the end. It’s really an exercise, and people need to be put through this exercise. It’s amazing.“

“It's one of the most exciting things I've attended in some time, not least of which because the end debate was so compelling.”

Lots of new work under way this Fall, and be sure to subscribe to our mailing list, follow ALI on social media, or just reach out directly to find out what’s going on and how you can get involved!