The inaugural publication of the “Research/Practice” series focuses on
an artistic research by Michael Rakowitz on the aftermath of a canceled show
by Leonard Cohen initially scheduled in Palestine.
Michael Rakowitz's I'm good at love, I'm good at hate, it's in between
I freeze charts the historical context and aftermath of a concert
that never happened. In 2009, the inimitable Leonard Cohen was scheduled to
perform at the Ramallah Cultural Palace in Palestine. As a result of the
cultural boycott of Israel, the concert was canceled but the story, as
Rakowitz's eponymous work amply demonstrates, did not end there. Conjoining
the cultural histories of Palestine and Israel and the ethical dilemmas
faced by performers and artists alike in the face of political
intransigence, this volume brings to light the research that went into this
multi-faceted work and plots the future arc of its yet-to-be completed
trajectory.
Edited by Anthony Downey, “Research/Practice” focuses on artistic research
and how it contributes to the formation of experimental knowledge systems.
Drawing on preliminary material such as diaries, notebooks, audiovisual
content, digital and social media, informal communications, and abandoned
drafts, the series examines the interdisciplinary research methods that
artists employ in their practices. Each volume endeavors to ask: In their
often speculative and yet purposeful approach to generating research, what
forms of knowledge do artists produce?
Michael Rakowitz (born 1973 in New York, lives and works in Chicago) is
an American artist. In 1998 he initiated paraSITE, an ongoing
project in which the artist custom builds inflatable shelters for homeless
people that attach to the exterior outtake vents of a building's heating,
ventilation, or air conditioning system. His work has appeared in venues
worldwide including dOCUMENTA (13), MoMA PS1 and MoMA, Castello di Rivoli,
the 10th and 14th Istanbul Biennials, Tirana Biennale, and the National
Design Triennial at the Cooper Hewitt. He has had solo exhibitions at Tate
Modern in London and Galerie Barbara Wien, Berlin. He is the recipient of
the 2018 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts (Visual Arts category), a 2008
Creative Capital Grant, and awarded the Fourth Plinth commission in
London's Trafalgar Square which was unveiled in the spring of 2018. His
first US museum survey, titled “Backstroke of the West”, opened at the
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in September 2017. Rakowitz is
Professor of Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University.
