On the Theme of Agency

Dawn Kowalewski, Between

John Kane, Hibernation

A brief writing about this year’s members show theme from our summer intern from PNCA, Jacob Sirokman

Agency causes change and leaves visual evidence for our eyes to look at. When we observe change, our eyes look with questions, curiosity, and speculation. We can observe the natures of different agents and their presence and absence in the world.

With the curation for this show, I was drawing on ideas relating to Mark Fisher’s theory about the aesthetic of the eerie, an aesthetic of speculation, presences, and absences relating to agency. My goal was to look at this agency and open the theme from that point, allowing members to investigate the agency they observe in the world, while still allowing for the exploration of ambiguous themes.

The artists in this show depict agency in a variety of ways, and they explore a lot of the ways it appears in the world. The autonomy of people is explored throughout this exhibition, as images of people gathering and communing, whether in public or private, are included. Members have included images of their community, family, and strangers, displaying the ways in which we interact with agency in a personal way. Similarly, some members included images that explore the agency of memory, identity and sensory experiences, showing the ways in which we change over time. With these images, we can observe and relate to the ways in which people interact with their autonomy and community.

On the other hand, larger-scale types of agency are also explored, such as those of nature and institutions. Many members have contributed images of nature, both in a natural state and in an environment in which people have tried to control nature. Some images show nature being constrained, while others show nature reclaiming human structures. Additionally, ideas relating to the agency of institutions are displayed. Images of protests, graffiti, and public art illustrate the ways in which people interact with the institutions around them.

Lastly, some members choose to explore open, ambiguous themes relating to agency, displaying and questioning things that often appear clouded, implicit, or eerie. Images of strange objects, people in nature, or even alternative photographic techniques prompt viewers to speculate things. These images depict the ways in which the unknown can be both haunting and comforting.

Agency, by its nature, appears in many different ways, and by observing the world around us, we can understand the types of agency that impact us. The investigation, exploration, and speculation around agency is very visual, allowing for agency to be depicted in a variety of ways. Thanks to the contributions and submissions of Blue Sky members, this show is able to represent that numerous ways in which agency appears in the world and the ways in which we as people interact with it.