ISSUE 002_SUMMER 2019

The second issue of Detroit Cultural is framed around the question of whether or not artistic practice (as well as curatorial and critical practices) is inherently political in nature.

Is it possible for art to exist in a realm outside of the systems of politics?

If art objects serve as the product of the artist’s worldview–one constructed through cultural, historical, and political lenses– are they implicitly political?

Does art practice bear political and social responsibilities?

This issue features interviews with Aaron Foley, the City of Detroit’s Chief Storyteller, as well as the author of How to Live in Detroit Without Being a Jackass, Scott Hocking, a Detroit based artist whose works often deal with Detroit’s history by utilizing found objects and neglected spaces within the city, Laura Mott, the Curator of Contemporary Art and Design at Cranbrook Art Museum, Larry Ossei-Mensah, the Susanne Field Hilberry Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, as well as the co-founder of ARTNOIR, Michael Stone-Richards, Professor of Critical Theory and Visual Studies at College for Creative Studies, as well as the founding editor of Detroit Research, and Sarah Rose Sharp, an artist and writer based out of Detroit who has contributed arts criticism to publications such as Hyperallergic and Art in America.

CONTENTS

The Branding of Detroit: In Conversation with Aaron Foley

The Cycles We Go Through as Humans on Earth: In Conversation with Scott Hocking

The Responsibilities of Curatorial Practice: In Conversation with Laura Mott

The Capacity of Art to Change How We Think of Ourselves in the World: In Conversation with Larry Ossei-Mensah

Is Arts Criticism Inherently Political?: In Conversation with Sarah Rose Sharp

The City as Body: In Conversation with Michael Stone-Richards