Nathaniel Donnett’s ZZZ’s reviewed

Photo credit: Nathaniel Donnett

December 17th, 2012 – Carrie Marie Schneider

ZZzzzzzz by Nathaniel Donnett was the result of his one-week residency at Art League Houston as part of the group show/mini residency STACKS, curated by Robert Pruitt. On opening night for STACKS, the five participating artists—Phillip Pyle II, Nathaniel Donnett, Jamal Cyrus, M’kina Tapscott and Autumn Knight—were clad in gray hazmat suits while they inventoried, announced, axed and fed collected objects that their offerers felt represented “blackness” into a wood chipper. Each subsequent week one of these artists is invited to use the remnants in their own exhibition.

In a panel discussion for ZZzzzzzz, Pruitt framed STACKS as a way to make public and tangible the conversations he’d been having with his peers, as well as a way to defy the lack of expectation and exhibition of rigorous conceptual work and theory-based investigations by black artists, “to show that we talk about what they do not think we are thinking about.” When asked whether continuing to rehash and redefine “Black Art” only continues black artists’ confinement to an expected loop, Pruitt said it is the conversation that matters.

On that note, I’d like to point out that the talk for ZZzzzzzz was rare in two ways: 1. It was a participatory performance work that asked to hear about the participants’ experiences. 2. It was a panel discussion that actually included discussion.

Nathaniel Donnett was the second STACKS artist to have his go. His first choice of medium was time travel, but barring that, dreams were the next best thing.

Inspired by Carl Jung’s writing and his St. Elizabeth experiment (to determine if African Americans had a different consciousness than white Americans), Donnett led a week chock full of investigations around the idea of “Black Imagination.” It started with inviting four people, two artists and two collectors, to spend the night in the gallery space. They slept, attempted to sleep, or cursed Donnett for sleep deprivation to a soundtrack he created from lectures, found sounds and music. “Donnie Darko” also played.

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Morton Fine Art FAHRENHEIT BOOTH F7 at Houston Fine Art Fair

Thursday, Sept. 13 | 6 – 9pm | VIP Opening Preview Party (for VIP pass holders) Benefitting The Core Program of the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Opening Reception | 7:30 – 9pm (for PREFERRED pass holders)

Regular Fair Hours: Friday, Sept. 14 | 11am – 7pm Saturday, Sept. 15 | 11am – 7pm Sunday, Sept. 16 | 11am – 6pm

About Fahrenheit at the Houston Fine Art Fair:

Houston is a fertile terrain for nurturing young upstart galleries. Searching the nation, we have uncovered an exciting set of emerging galleries who have been invited to participate in the Fahrenheit section. Fairgoers will have the opportunity to explore, and discover these trendy new, hot galleries that are re-defining the cutting edge of contemporary art.

About Houston Fine Art Fair (HFAF):

The second annual Houston Fine Art Fair returns for an eagerly awaited encore. Last year, 10,500 enthusiastic art lovers explored the offerings of 83 dealers. As the first ever fine art fair in Houston, it blew the cover off the country’s best-kept secret. With the rousing success in show attendance and impressive art sales, Houston is now becoming recognized as the new cultural gem of the US – home to major museums, a thriving gallery scene and a strong base of passionate collectors and patrons.

The fair moves to Reliant Center this year in efforts to grow into and serve as the anchor art event of the south central region. As the leading entertainment complex in the state, many of the best attended cultural, sporting and public events in Texas are held at Reliant Center. The fair site is adjacent to Reliant Park, home stadium of the popular NFL Houston Texans. Reliant Center also neighbors the world respected Houston Medical Center.

HFAF aspires to reflect Houston’s sophisticated and diverse collecting practices, where art enthusiasts will encounter an international cross-section of works in all media, from post-war to the present. With the support of our discerning Selection Committee some 75+ distinctive exhibitors were chosen from across US, Latin America and Europe will be participating in the fair in 2012. Only 65% of exhibitor applications received were accepted for participation. The fair will feature modern and contemporary masters, mid-career and emerging artists from around the globe. HFAF will also feature memorable on-site installations, special projects, and an invigorating program of panel discussions designed for both novice and experienced collectors.