What’s Happening: Black Cube
Black Cube latest series of Pop Up Experiments, Drive-in, just finished its final installment on August 18, 2018. This experimental, contemporary art group exhibition took 37 Colorado-based artists and their own or borrowed cars as inspiration for temporary artworks to examine the multi-dimensional relationship society has with cars for one night only exhibits/performances. The initial idea for the exhibition was brought to life by the vision of Cortney Lane Stell, Black Cube’s Executive Director + Chief Curator. Stell emphasizes that “the artworks in the exhibition expand on how each artist relates to cars as not only forms of transportation, but as an extension of identity, economy, or symbol of freedom. At a moment when car culture is dynamically changing nationally (self-driving technology, electric vehicles, U.S. oil surplus) and locally (density, higher traffic), Drive-In offers a place for viewers to ponder automobiles’ functionality and our changing relationship to them.”
The first exhibition, Drive-in: Personal Space, appeared on August 19, 2017, in a construction lot in Rino between Lawrence and Arapahoe. It featured 13 artists: Amber Cobb, Graham Eschen, Tobias Fike, Kate Gonda, Caleb Hahne, Lucas McMahon, Dimitri Obergfell, Zach Reini, Nick Silici, Gretchen Schaefer, Laura Shill, Kristen Sink, and Mario Zoots. Visitors were invited to get up-close and personal by entering and peering into the car windows to see a variety of multi-media installations.
The second exhibition, Drive-In: Car Culture, brought the cars inside a two-story industrial warehouse in Englewood and featured 12 artists: Alicia Ordal, Chrissy Espinoza, Don Fodness, Esther Hernandez, Graham Eschen, Jaime Carrejo, John McEnroe, Kahlil Cezanne, Noah Manos, Stephanie Kantor, Theresa Anderson, and Zach Reini. The second series of Drive-In brought cars inside, with the intention to change the viewer’s relationship with cars in interior spaces, bringing about references to dealerships, showrooms, or mechanic shops.
The last exhibition, Drive-In: House of Cars, reimagined a two-story parking garage space located within Denver ’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. This exhibition featured 12 artists: Jared Anderson, Christopher Coleman, Joseph Coniff, Megan Gafford, Matthew Harris, Jaimie Henthorn, Jordan Knecht, Marsha Mack, Sophie Lynn Morris, Zach Reini, and John Roemer. The last exhibit expanded on how cars impact their environment, landscapes, and cities designs, further increasing one’s personal relationship with cars; whether you drive one, use it for art, or are circumvented by park garages the role that cars play in our lives and how they are impacting the world is transformational.
