“In Sight: An Ekphrastic Collaboration between eye lounge and Four Chambers Press” is the result of months of creative reflection between 11 artists and 11 writers.
The project paired artists from eye lounge with writers selected by Four Chambers. Each writer responded to a piece from his or her respective artist with a poem or short story, and many of the artists, in turn, responded with a new piece.
“It’s a dialogue; we’re going back and forth and deepening the conversation,” said Cherie Buck-Hutchison, who was co-president of eye lounge last year when she came up with the idea for a collaboration.
Buck-Hutchison said she had sought to integrate the gallery with other artistic communities downtown. She reached out to Jake Friedman, founder and editor-in-chief of Four Chambers Press, an independent literary magazine and small press that has produced collaborative projects with the Phoenix Art Museum and Welcome Hospitality, among others. Friedman was enthusiastically on board.
Four Chambers Press put out a call for 11 writers and received around 30 applications, Friedman said. The writers were selected based on both the strength of their portfolio and after matching up potential writers with artists. In selecting writers for the project, Friedman said Four Chambers tried to balance “emerging authors” with “established voices.”
Friedman said the process was different from Four Chambers’ normal selection process because it was application-based, not submission-based. The writers created their pieces after being chosen to work on “In Sight,” allowing for group critique.
“I think what we have here is we’ve had the privilege and good fortune of really being able to take our time with this project,” Friedman said. “Other times we’ve kind of been sort of industrial … with this project we were able to run like a creative process.”
The paired artists and authors formed unique relationships, each pair approaching the project from a different perspective. Paul Mosier, who partnered with Buck-Hutchison, said he studied Buck-Hutchison’s style — she works mainly with overlaid photographic images — and carefully selected a piece to respond to in short-story form. He paid attention to the intent behind her work, which dealt with the “fantasy of female empowerment” in the 1960s, Mosier said. The two communicated frequently about the project.
Another pair, Turner Davis and R.S. Mengert, collaborated back and forth to produce several pieces. Mengert first responded to Davis’ drawing with a poem, to which Davis responded with another drawing. In turn, Mengert wrote a second poem. All of the works are displayed.
Friedman said that although the exhibit didn’t get as much traffic as he would have liked during Art Detour, those who had seen it had responded with praise.
“The people who have seen the project have been really, really excited,” Friedman said. “(They say) it’s some of the best work we’ve produced.”
The exhibit will be displayed through April 10 at eye lounge on Roosevelt and Fifth streets. There will be live readings from the authors as well as a panel discussion about the creative process on April 16 at 4 p.m. at The Newton on Camelback Road and Third Avenue.
Contact the reporter at Faith.Anne.Miller@asu.edu.
