Afterall Publishes Book on 'Culture in Action' 1993

Afterall Books has released the fifth volume in its Exhibition Histories series, focusing on the landmark 1993 Chicago exhibition 'Culture in Action'. Organized by Sculpture Chicago, the scattered-site event ran from May to September 1993, though many of its eight projects began a year earlier and one continues today. The book features an introduction by David Morris and Paul O'Neill, essays by Joshua Decter and Helmut Draxler, documentation of each project, contemporary reviews by Hafþór Yngvason and Joe Scanlan, a statement by curator Mary Jane Jacob, and interviews with artists Mark Dion, Simon Grennan (of Grennan & Sperandio), and Daniel J. Martinez in conversation with Michael Brenson. Projects include Mark Dion's Chicago Urban Ecology Action Group, Kate Ericson and Mel Ziegler's Eminent Domain, Simon Grennan and Christopher Sperandio's collaboration with a labor union, Haha's Flood healthcare network, Suzanne Lacy's Full Circle and Dinner at Jane's, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle's Tele-Vecindario video project, Daniel J. Martinez's Consequences of a Gesture and 100 Victories / 10,000 Tears, and Robert Peters's Naming Others. The book critically reappraises the exhibition's social agenda and its challenge to conventional public art. Published in association with the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, and distributed by Koenig Books and ARTBOOK | D.A.P.