COURTESY A BLADE OF GRASS AND RAVA FILMS
One of the problems of social practice artworks is that many times, after they are presented, they disappear. A Blade of Grass, the nonprofit devoted to socially engaged artists and artworks, has come up with a solution to that with its documentary series Fieldworks, an anthology of sorts that has, in the past, featured interviews with Dread Scott and Pablo Helguera, among others.
The series’ second season will include shorts about work by eight A Blade of Grass fellows: Sol Aramendi, Laura Chipley, Suzanne Lacy, Mary Mattingly, The Plug-In Studio, Nigel Poor, Adaka Utah, and Scott. In each segment, an artist discusses a work he or she has done and its effect on the world.
Below is Lacy’s contribution to Fieldworks, in which she discusses De tu puño y letra: Diálogos en el ruedo, a 2015 work she staged in Quinto, Ecuador. (Turn on English closed captions for subtitles.) For the piece, she had 1,000 men take workshops about violence against women. Ultimately, the men would go on to “adopt” letters written by women and then build on them by exploring their own beliefs about family violence. Readings and performances were also involved in the project.
COURTESY A BLADE OF GRASS