Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Spinning Straw into Gold: March 27

“Spinning Straw into Gold—Art, Value, and the Alchemical Collector,” 
A panel discussion featuring Mark Dion, Sal Randolph, McKenzie Wark, and Robert Williams
Saturday, March 27, 6–7 pm
Cabinet, 300 Nevins Street

This panel discussion will be followed by an opening reception for "An Ordinall of Alchimy," a Mildred’s Lane project organized by Mark Dion & Robert Williams, with Matt Bettine, Joey Cruz, Kathryn Cornelius, Gabriella D’Italia, Scott Jarrett, Aislinn Pentecost-Farren, John Wanzel, Laura E. Wertheim, and Bryan Wilson. 

"An Ordinall of Alchimy" inaugurates "999," an occasional series of exhibitions presented by Cabinet in which artists are invited to assemble work under a single constraint: everything installed in the gallery must have been acquired on Ebay for a total of less than $999. When the exhibition comes down, its contents are offered for sale as a single item, once again on Ebay.

In 2009, Mark Dion, Robert Williams, and their students at the Pennsylvania artists’ colony Mildred’s Lane used Cabinet’s invitation as an opportunity to explore the theme of alchemical transformation. “An Ordinall of Alchimy” comprises the objects they assembled, a collection keyed to the seven basic processes of practical alchemy: Calcination, Fixation, Solution, Distillation, Sublimation, Separation, and Projection.


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