Tomorrow… a Day With(out) Art

We’ve opted to go with art. But we’ve selected some poignant pieces to honor this special day.

Day With(out) Art began on December 1, 1989, as the national day of action and mourning in response to the AIDS crisis. Since then, it has grown into a collaborative project in which an estimated 8,000 national and international museums, galleries, art centers, AIDS service organizations, libraries, high schools, and colleges take part.

Visual AIDS—a contemporary arts organization fully committed to HIV prevention and AIDS awareness through producing and presenting visual art projects, while assisting artists living with HIV/AIDS—will observe Day With(out) Art/World AIDS Day with simultaneous, free screenings of Untitled, a film by Jim Hodges, Carlos Marques da Cruz, and Encke King, at participating venues throughout New York City and across the United States, includingArtpace. (You can visit the Creative Time website to view the Untitled trailer.)

On Thursday, December 1, during our regular public hours from noon to 5pm, Artpace will feature five consecutive screenings of Untitled. Beginning with a reflection on the early AIDS epidemic, the 60-minute film eschews a linear narrative to introduce a fractious timeline, moving from the sublime to the tragic and back again. By juxtaposing mainstream network news, activist footage, artists’ works, and popular entertainment from the last turbulent decades, Untitled references regimes of power that precipitated a generation of AIDS and queer activism and continues today with international struggles for freedom and expression.

A little backstory: Last year, we invited alum Hodges (HSR 03.1) to give a lecture on Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Billboards at Artpace. In response, he teamed up with fellow filmmakers Marques da Cruz and King to create Untitled, which debuted in our Hudson (Show)Room on May 1, 2010. We are honored to share this poignant film with the San Antonio community again, especially on Day With(out) Art.

In addition to Untitled screenings on December 1, our building will feature an AIDS awareness banner designed by late artist and alum (HSR 99.1 and IAIR 02.1) Chuck Ramirez (1962-2010), whose art and life were impacted by being HIV positive.

The first Untitled screening at Artpace begins at noon, and the film will loop every hour on the hour, with the final showing at 4pm.

(You can also read a little more on Day With(out) Art on Glasstire here.)

Photo credit: Chuck Ramirez’s World AIDS Day banner, created in 2002. Photo by Kimberly Aubuchon