A curated gathering and performance space created to facilitate small-scale interactive programs.
Set in the one-time administrative offices of the National Purity Soap Company, Common Room is a fully furnished 1940s-style workplace that acts as a staging area for art events, twice a week for the month of August. All events are held from 7-10 pm. All events are subject to change, so check back here often!
Friday, August 6: Gift Exchange
Common Room 2010 opens with a gift exchange. This informal Yankee Swap-style exchange should set the stage for an interactive generosity to infuse the run of Common Room programs. Bring a wrapped gift of value (open to personal definition) and prepare to walk away with something meaningful.
Gift Exchange will explore sacrifice, generosity, loss, gain and transferal of value, and specifically how these impact our ability to build and affect relationships.
Wednesay, August 11: Which is Better
Writer Art Allen will lead a lively discussion on valuation and comparison, as participants are invited to submit random subjects for discussion, then compare those subjects head-to-head with other submissions. No topic is off the table!
Friday August 13: Surplus Space Tour
A Surplus Space is any one of the ubiquitous spaces you regularly pass without much thought. They are the spaces that a little attention / intention can transform from passive into active locations. The tour aims at redefining our relationship to our local surroundings.
Leaving by bicycle from the Common Room space at The Soap Factory at 7:15 pm, Surplus Space Tour will feature as series of brief and casual surplus space presentations from differing backgrounds: artists, geographers, urban planners and more.
Wednesday, August 18: The Fabrication Department
Putting the "factory" back in "Soap Factory," Andy and Sergio will choose one large-scale artist's project in advance, and all will be invited to help the artist carry out the necessary handiwork to help complete the piece. Participants receive vouchers for their work of various value, redeemable to the artist at later dates.
Friday, August 20: : Twin Cities Risk
The Twin Cities metropolitan area is redrawn as a RISK game board, and several teams of players are turned loose in a one-to-six-hour race to conquest. Neighborhoods divided, allegiances challenged! In order to simulate the experience of centralized "war room" strategic planning as closely as possible, this event will be conducted at the Common Room and 1-2 other remote sites TBD, linked up by sophisticated video conferencing technology.
Wednesday, August 25: Labor/Leisure
The Book Club (Casey Deming, John Jerry, Jennifer Jerry, Ginny Maki, Ruben Nusz, Anna Tsantir and Zak Sally) will facilitate a book-making workshop and assembly line, guiding participants through the creation and assembly of a limited-edition art book that explores the relationship between the Mill District's industrial past and leisure-focused present. Participants will earn a copy of the completed book as payment for their services.
Friday August 27th: Chatroulette
Common Room waves goodbye to its 2010 run and to Art of This gallery with Chatroulette. In the final installment of this year’s Common Room season, we’ll be exploring random connections and conversations through the web-based program, Chatroulette, which pairs strangers from around the world for brief or lasting encounters. Our approach will be as census takers, comparing the data gleaned from these conversations. Come on down to Art of This gallery to meet some new friends, and say goodbye to AOT’s gallery space and to Common Room until next year.
This event will take place at Art of This gallery, Nicollet Ave S. and 35th St, from 7-10 pm.