Emilie Trice & LAST/RESORT present Garden del Rio Grande

Autonomy is a myth. So is manifest destiny. These so-called “ideals” of American individualism and exceptionalism have contributed, greatly, to the current state of social, political and moral polarity in the United States, especially in relation to the region surrounding the Rio Grande River, which runs from central Colorado south to New Mexico and then along the U.S./Mexican border to the Gulf of Mexico.
The acceleration of technology is hurling us towards new frontiers, either designed by us or assigned to us, often without our input. Before we can use technology to create a different and better future, we need to reimagine our past and take steps towards reverse-engineering our present. How can technology reconnect us to the land? Or amplify indigenous voices? To what extent can art and design fortify sustainable ecologies or empower equitable narratives? Is it possible to go forward by looking back?
Autonomy, as a social ideal, is misleading – we all need each other in order to progress, and often just in order to survive. Everything happens in concert with everything else. Garden del Rio Grande seeks to illuminate the connections that bind us – to each other, to the land, to our shared past and to our collective future.

This program is part of 2020 – finally digital?!

The year 2020 began with a Big Bang, one that demanded the art industry pivot away from its established codes of conduct, immediately, as a matter of sheer survival. From the exchange of courtesies, to remote work structures, and to the reorganization of public and private spaces – old customs required immediate redesign in response to the crisis. As a result, the online space gained even more significance as the only platform for business and commercial transactions, affecting even the art industry and its age-old reliance on in-person interaction. However, across the art industry’s network of galleries, artists, institutions, auction houses, and biennials, the speed of adaptation, the ability to process the ongoing iterations and to find a customized response has varied dramatically.

2020 – finally digital?! is composed of three sections: a conference, invited curatorial projects, and digital gallery showcases. The conference will feature notable members of the art industry and their assessments of the art world’s digitization progress over the past year. The second section invites curators to report back from their communities on emerging positions that are acute right now. The third section amplifies galleries, which are the backbone of the art industry.

Christina Steinbrecher-Pfandt
Blockchain.art
Co-Founder & CEO