STNDRD is pleased to present Three Flags by Industry of the Ordinary, on view through June 29, 2024. STNDRD is located on the campus of the Granite City Art and Design District (G-CADD) in Granite City, Illinois.
Flag poles function to raise signification above the heads of the overseen. As we look up, we are reminded of association, hierarchy or desire. Art is a contemplation object; its important ambiguities are protected to avoid flat didacticism. It can catalyze dialogue or introspection. In this manner it is useful to the extent that it is useless.
Three Flags prompts the consideration of moral ambiguities that are at the heart of our contemporary conceptual topography:
TOURIST/REFUGEE: Often seemingly benign, our actions abroad have consequences. The economies of tourism and the exportation of our values can be disastrous for local interests and environments. We cannot expect the world to be a mere backdrop for the family album, and then turn our backs on those that are displaced by our extroverted sense of entitlement.
DISCLAIMER: We believe that rights and responsibilities, coupled with the capricious nature of circumstances outside of our immediate control, are universal burdens. Sadly, these burdens are often used as a smokescreen to refuse to take responsibility.
SURRENDER: In Greek Tragedy, a great or virtuous character is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat. Surrender can be distilled into a sense of failure; or it can be an opportunity to embrace uncertainty in moments of renewal
Industry of the Ordinary is a Chicago-based collaborative project of Adam Brooks and Mathew Wilson, who for over 20 years have used performance, installation, objects, and interventions to explore and celebrate “ordinariness” and to challenge and elevate the everyday experience into an endeavor worthy of study and veneration.