Axle Contemporary
a mobile artspace based in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Brian Fleetwood
Place/Holding
A Mobile artist Residency Program from Axle and Georgia O'Keeffe Museum's ART TO G.O.
Axle Contemporary and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum are pleased to announce the Mobile Artist in Residency Program, a new collaboration beginning November 2023, and running through the Spring of 2024.
Brian Fleetwood (Muskogee) has been tapped as the first Mobile Artist in Residence of the program, with a focus on community identity, jewelry-making, and plastics.
Fleetwood’s project, titled Place/Holding, will culminate with an exhibition hosted by Axle in the spring of 2024 after traveling through Northern New Mexico in the fall and winter of 2023. During this travel, Fleetwood will engage communities in Pojoaque Pueblo, Abiquiú, and at New Mexico School for the Arts and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), in Santa Fe, to encourage the exchange of recyclable single-use plastics that will later be turned into wearable art. At each stop, Fleetwood will convene meetings to collaboratively design castable jewelry pieces that speak to the identity of each group.
Back in his studio, and with assistance from his peer faculty members and students at IAIA, he will create molds for the series of designs and cast a series of jewelry using the previously collected plastic. Fleetwood will then return with the jewelry made from the plastics collected in each location.
“At its core, the project seeks to obtain valuable resources without being extractive or transactional. Our goal is to foster a sense of inclusivity and shared ownership,” Fleetwood said. “The project’s primary focus is the transformation of single-use plastics into meaningful, collaboratively-designed small objects meant to be worn or carried on the body.”
In the spring of 2024, the finished jewelry will be available in previously visited locale through capsule vending machines (in exchange for the tokens distributed during the plastic collection phase) and through visits by the Axle Contemporary mobile art space. The mobile art space will also travel around Santa Fe with examples of all the jewelry created, for viewing and for purchase, as well as a display of photographs of the pieces and the process.
COLLECTION EVENT
Santa Fe residents and visitors are invited to meet Fleetwood, learn more about the project, and exchange plastics at the Museum’s Art, Music, and More! First Friday event, on November 3 from 5:00 PM–7:00 PM. Both the Museum’s Art to G.O. truck and the Axle Contemporary truck will be at the event, at 217 Johnson Street in Santa Fe.
At the event, single-use plastics can be dropped off while learning about the artistic process, sustainability, and the interconnectedness of art and culture. It’s a unique opportunity to collaborate and contribute to the creation of meaningful wearable art pieces, emphasizing the transformative power of collective creativity and shared vision.
The following single-use plastics can be exchanged for use in the Place/Holding project: PET/PETE- Polyethylene Terephthalate #1, HDPE- High Density Polyethylene #2, LDPE-Low Density Polyethylene #4, PP- Polypropylene #5
The Museum will also welcome Adrian Wall (Jemez Pueblo) to fill the galleries with his musical storytelling, traditional and contemporary song, and Native American flute. First Fridays at the Museum offer free admission all day (10:00 AM–7:00 PM) for New Mexico residents and free admission for all visitors from 5:00 PM–7:00 PM.