Announcing Common Ground at ANTI-AESTHETIC

Eugene Contemporary Art is pleased to present Common Ground – a platform for a host of conversations and events alongside an exhibition with works by Eugene Contemporary Art artist members and invited artists. 

As a way of getting to ecology through art, Common Ground is a space for exchanges focused on the natural environment and environments of different kinds. Going beyond a divide between nature and culture, the work presented shifts ideas about what is natural, human, urban, or rural, by thinking through land, earth, territory and terrain. This work relates closely to the field as a concept both literally and figuratively: the field of inquiry and research, and the field as cultivated and open space.

UPDATE: The initial phase of this programming has been online, and we are now exhibiting the next phase of this project in real life at ANTI-AESTHETIC in downtown Eugene. This newest exhibition features artists Mika Aono, Michael Boonstra, Jill Baker, Karin Bolendar and Leah Wilson. Our hours are Friday and Saturday, by appointment only (for health reasons we are limiting appointments to groups of 4).

image from Jill Baker's series "I Moved Rocks from the Desert Floor as I Walked"
From the series “I Moved Rocks from the Desert Floor as I Walked (2017-2020)” by Common Ground exhibiting artist Jill Baker.

In the online format, Common Ground consists of five elements: 1) online exhibition 2) remote artist-in-residence 3) reading group 4) webinars 5) writing. This programming will be located at antiaesthetic.com/Common-Ground.

The initial launch includes the online exhibition “Performances for Hands and Desert Floor” with video, photographs, and works on paper by ECA artist member Jill R Baker; a “post-library” by remote artist-in-residence Karin Bolender (aka K-Haw Hart) under the auspices of the Rural Alchemy Workshop (R.A.W.); and a reading group in collaboration with Topozone – a graduate research group at the University of Oregon, with two sessions at 5 pm on April 19th & 26th titled “Self Zoning as Emergent Care.” The reading group is free and open to the public, but is capped at 30 participants and requires signing up in advance at antiasthetic.com/Common-Ground/Reading-Group.

Interview with Common Ground digital residency artist Karin Bolendar


Our physical exhibition is now open at ANTI-AESTHETIC by appointment only. Please reserve your time today. To stay up to date on Common Ground events, sign up to our mailing list at https://mailchi.mp/7a1625e257a2/eca.

Consider supporting this programming and it’s participating artists by donating to Eugene Contemporary Art. Go to https://bit.ly/support-eca to read about ways you can give.