{ Through Sunday, April 22nd } Alex Schweder and Ward Shelley unite in Your Turn, a shared exhibit in Ridgefield.
If you’ve ever wanted to spend some time living the art life, you’re in luck. Alex Schweder and Ward Shelley: Your Turn unites two artists at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum for their latest collaborative work of “performance architecture.” Alex Schweder and Ward Shelley will each occupy one side of a 24-foot tall monolithic living environment, complete with nine basic amenities that slide between the two sides on steel tracks. When one artist is using something in the structure—such as a bed, a desk, a kitchen, a sink, or an enclosed composting toilet—the other artist will not be able to use it. They have to take turns. Schweder and Shelley will live within the structure 24 hours a day at various points for the duration of the exhibition, which runs from Sunday, October 1 to Sunday, April 22. Through this extensive project, the artists will explore the balance necessary for a partnership and the social balance required by the limited confines and resources of the monolith.
Your Turn presents Schweder and Shelley as authors and living subjects of the work, embracing both the practical and the absurd in a a genre of their own design. The artists will wear identical jumpsuits and bring all needed supplies with them. They encourage museum visitors to strike up conversation with them as they read, work, prepare meals, and maintain personal hygiene. An adjacent gallery will present a survey of their reverse paintings on Mylar, which act as initial renderings of this project and independent works.
