Play Hard, Play Fair

Open Engagement

Play Hard, Play Fair

A welcoming reception and conversation for Open Engagement

Thursday, April 28, 2016
7:00 – 8:30 PM, with a reception to follow

As a local partner for the Open Engagement—2016: POWER conference, Southern Exposure is pleased to present a series of talks, open houses, and exhibitions, as well as launch a new publication. Open Engagement is an annual, three-day, artist-led conference dedicated to expanding the dialogue around and creating a site of care for the field of socially engaged art. The conference runs from April 28 – May 1, 2016 and, in focusing on the theme of power, highlights the ability of socially engaged artists to make desired results happen.

Open Engagement launches on April 28 with a welcoming reception and conversation at Southern Exposure. With speakers including Robby Herbst, Keith Hennessy, and Sarah Brin, the conversation will investigate the complex narrative histories of socially engaged artwork in the Bay Area. Herbst, the winner of the 2014 SoEx Off-Site Graue Award, will discuss his upcoming participatory project New New Games, which revisits New Games festivals and traces a historic trajectory between 1970s counterculture and the tech culture of today.

A publication of newly-commissioned essays accompanies his project and will be available for purchase on the night of the event.

This event does not require registration for the Open Engagement conference.