In response to the polarizing political divide in our country, artist Ariana Jacob is touring the United States, inviting conservative and libertarian people to talk with her about their own political perspectives. She seeks to gather a better understanding of both their beliefs and her own, as an idealist with socialist leanings and a penchant for questioning herself. These conversations, which take place on public sites inside an American flag pop-up tent, investigate the crucial but tenuous possibility of civic dialogue. Through pre-scheduled appointments with local residents and open hours, the artist instigates a range of discussions where she assumes the role of listener, questioner and learner. Ariana collects questions that her conversation partners wish to have answered by their political opposites and then has them turned into political lawn signs that function as evidence of the conversations, while presenting open-ended considerations in a medium usually reserved for political promotion. As we approach the 2012 elections, this tour takes advantage of the charged energy building in our country, to create temporary public situations for intentional face-to-face dialogue based on difference, and provides an opportunity to reflect upon our increasingly divided lives and conceptual landscapes. Documentation and questions collected from these conversations will be exhibited at both the Tacoma Art Museum as a part of the NW Biennial Exhibition and at the Rock Creek Portland Community College Campus as a part of Disjecta’s Portland2012 Biennial. This project is funded in part though support from RACC.
I am looking for conservative and libertarian people to talk with me about their political beliefs – how they feel about the United States these days and what they consider questionable about liberal or left wing people’s view of our shared country. As Americans become increasingly polarized in their political positions I find it difficult to even understand the issues that matter to people who have opposing political beliefs to my own. I would like talk with people on a personal level to try to better understand this gaping divide in American perceptions of our political reality. Just to be clear, I am doing this because I want to listen and learn. I am not out to debate or critique other people’s political views – I am curious, questioning and I want to understand.
