Temporary Services
Encyclopedia
Temporary Services is an artist collective
of three people based in Chicago, Illinois, USA. They have been collaborating on art projects, public events, publications, and exhibitions since 1998.
On their web site, they state:"We champion public projects that are temporary, ephemeral, or that operate outside of conventional or officially sanctioned categories of public expression."
Temporary Services states a desire to not preference any type of activity or object as art, or any audience. They also work against the constructed link between aesthetics and ethics. They view art as activism, and carry on the traditions of situationism.
. Angelo produced a large body of work documenting in detail the inventions created by prisoners in the United States.
Prisoners' Inventions is a book, a travelling exhibition, and an ongoing collaborative project. This exhibit has been shown in the United States, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
was the location for one of Temporary Services' projects. The group surreptitiously added over 150 books designed by artists and others into the library's collection. The books are provided with all the same due dates, reference stickers purchased from the same provider used by the library itself.
This project was executed without any permission or input from the Chicago Public Library system. It was an effort to explore the boundaries of archival systems and make library patrons and library staff alike reexamine the notion of where books are categorized and placed in the library. Many books by artists are placed in the library's art reference area by default.
One book by artist and geographer Trevor Paglen
contained a small motion detector to make sounds when a person walks by, effectively serving as a ghost book. Artists Rob Kelly and Zena Sakowski produced three books which folded out into a jacket, a pair of pants, and a balaclava. Books were also placed in the library by other writers, artists, and activist groups. Many of the books were eventually "accepted" by the library and re-categorized. They were given official library codes and placed into the library's system. Many of the books simply disappeared from the shelves after a few months.
The Public Sculpture
Opinion Poll
was a direct inquiry into the placement of one sculpture in Chicago at the intersection of Grand and Western Avenues. The sculpture, a large configuration of welded utility pole
s and paint, was officially "donated" to the city of Chicago by a neighborhood Chamber of Commerce
masquerading as a neighborhood community group.
Temporary Services started a public dialogue about the sculpture -- why and how did it get there? Clipboards were hung at each corner of the busy intersection, with pens and pieces of paper. The paper had the question "What do you think of this sculpture and why do you think it was placed in this neighborhood?" on the top, along with three small photos of the sculpture itself printed along the bottom.
Members of Temporary Services returned to the clipboard sites twice daily for six weeks, collecting responses and replenishing the clipboards with more printed pages and pens. After the end of six weeks, over 1000 responses were collected ... positive, negative, and all over the place. The responses were then compiled into a booklet and traveling exhibition which has been shared with the City of Chicago's Department of Public Art as a more democratic and populist option for gathering opinions about public space.
Started: 1998
Artist collective
An artist collective is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims...
of three people based in Chicago, Illinois, USA. They have been collaborating on art projects, public events, publications, and exhibitions since 1998.
On their web site, they state:"We champion public projects that are temporary, ephemeral, or that operate outside of conventional or officially sanctioned categories of public expression."
Temporary Services states a desire to not preference any type of activity or object as art, or any audience. They also work against the constructed link between aesthetics and ethics. They view art as activism, and carry on the traditions of situationism.
Prisoners' Inventions
A project between the Temporary Services and an incarcerated artist AngeloAngelo
Angelo is an Italian and Greek masculine given name meaning "angel", or "messenger". Angelo is also an Italian surname that has many variations: Angeli , Angela , De Angelis, D'Angelo, Angelini, Angelino , Angelina , Angelucci, Angeloni, Angeletti .Angelo as a given name may refer to:*Angelo...
. Angelo produced a large body of work documenting in detail the inventions created by prisoners in the United States.
Prisoners' Inventions is a book, a travelling exhibition, and an ongoing collaborative project. This exhibit has been shown in the United States, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
The Library Project
The Harold Washington Library Center in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
was the location for one of Temporary Services' projects. The group surreptitiously added over 150 books designed by artists and others into the library's collection. The books are provided with all the same due dates, reference stickers purchased from the same provider used by the library itself.
This project was executed without any permission or input from the Chicago Public Library system. It was an effort to explore the boundaries of archival systems and make library patrons and library staff alike reexamine the notion of where books are categorized and placed in the library. Many books by artists are placed in the library's art reference area by default.
One book by artist and geographer Trevor Paglen
Trevor Paglen
Trevor Paglen is an American artist, geographer, and author.He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a PhD in geography from the University of California at Berkeley, where he currently works as a researcher.Paglen is the author of three books...
contained a small motion detector to make sounds when a person walks by, effectively serving as a ghost book. Artists Rob Kelly and Zena Sakowski produced three books which folded out into a jacket, a pair of pants, and a balaclava. Books were also placed in the library by other writers, artists, and activist groups. Many of the books were eventually "accepted" by the library and re-categorized. They were given official library codes and placed into the library's system. Many of the books simply disappeared from the shelves after a few months.
Public Sculpture Opinion Poll
Public spaces are meeting points for both the powerful and the powerless. Governments or businesses select art pieces to be shown in public spaces and the public's response is generally one of passive gossip or direct attack.The Public Sculpture
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
Opinion Poll
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
was a direct inquiry into the placement of one sculpture in Chicago at the intersection of Grand and Western Avenues. The sculpture, a large configuration of welded utility pole
Utility pole
A utility pole is a pole used to support overhead power lines and various other public utilities, such as cable, fibre optic cable, and related equipment such as transformers and street lights. It can be referred to as a telephone pole, power pole, hydro pole, telegraph pole, or telegraph post,...
s and paint, was officially "donated" to the city of Chicago by a neighborhood Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
masquerading as a neighborhood community group.
Temporary Services started a public dialogue about the sculpture -- why and how did it get there? Clipboards were hung at each corner of the busy intersection, with pens and pieces of paper. The paper had the question "What do you think of this sculpture and why do you think it was placed in this neighborhood?" on the top, along with three small photos of the sculpture itself printed along the bottom.
Members of Temporary Services returned to the clipboard sites twice daily for six weeks, collecting responses and replenishing the clipboards with more printed pages and pens. After the end of six weeks, over 1000 responses were collected ... positive, negative, and all over the place. The responses were then compiled into a booklet and traveling exhibition which has been shared with the City of Chicago's Department of Public Art as a more democratic and populist option for gathering opinions about public space.
Networking
Temporary Services through their art pages, community sites, blogs, and extensive network aim to provide a network for the collection and distribution of artistic work going on looking at the line between art and ethics, power and art, and the role of the public. The critical place of the public, generally dismissed in modernist and post-modernist art, is central to their work which aims at creating projects that undermine conventional politics of art.Temporary Services membership
Members: Brett Bloom, Salem Collo-Julin, Marc FischerStarted: 1998
Exhibit history
Temporary Services’ recent exhibitions and projects include:- “Incorporated” at Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati, Ohio,
- ”Transmediale 05” (with Angelo) at Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin (2005),
- ”Borne of Necessity” (with Dave Whitman) at Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Greensboro, NC,
- “Services” at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York (2004),
- ”Fantastic!” (with Angelo) at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts (2003–2004),
- ”Get rid of yourself” (with Angelo, Brennan McGaffey and others) at ACC, Weimar and Halle 14 in Leipzig (2003),
- “Puerto Rico '02 [en ruta]” (with Zena Sakowski and Rob Kelly) in San Juan,
- “Critical Mass” at Smart Museum in Chicago (2002),
- “The Library Project” organized by Temporary Services at Temporary Services’ office space and The Harold Washington Library in Chicago (2001),
- “Public Sculpture Opinion Poll”, organized by Temporary Services in public space, Chicago (2000).
External links
- Temporary Services
- Mess Hall
- temporary services and the mess hall documents
- Artists build on a canvas of dirt, weeds LOS ANGELES TIMES
- Peer Pleasure II: Red 76, Temporary Services
- Practice in critical times: a conversation with Gregory Sholette, Stephanie Smith, Temporary Services, and Jacqueline Terrassa, Art Journal, Summer, 2003 by Dan S. Wang
- NewCity Chicago, Eye Exam Group dynamics Michael Workman
- SF Bay Guardian, Business as unusual Artist collectives make the personal political in Peer Pleasure 2 By Katie Kurtz
- Smart Museum Exhibit, University of Chicago, 2002