Tommy Sedita object by Kate Kibby, from Learning to Love You More: #5 Recreate an object from someone's past, 2002 [Enlarge in New Window]

Harrell Fletcher and Miranda July: Learning to Love You More

There's nothing like a few obstacles and constraints to foster intriguing art. Or so say Harrell Fletcher and Miranda July, whose latest project, a collaborative website titled Learning to Love You More [learningtoloveyoumore.com], offers participants a series of provocative assignments, each of which is hemmed in by a list of restrictions that encourage creative ingenuity.

The project grew out of Fletcher and July's desire to respond to their existing audiences--over the last decade or so, both artists have become increasingly interested in ways of sparking creativity in so-called non-artists or amateurs. July, for example, is perhaps best known for instigating a media arts community of women filmmakers and spectators through Big Miss Moviola, a distribution network designed to share short experimental films and videos. Established in 1995 in Portland, Oregon, Big Miss Moviola began as an irreverent, do-it-yourself video chainletter, but quickly grew into an active website and a series of curated compilation tapes released as Joanie 4 Jackie 4Ever. Women from all over the world have participated, and many contact July directly, seeking creative support, guidance, and a sense of connection. Similarly, Fletcher, an interdisciplinary artist, has spent the last 10 years exploring the complicated interplay between himself and his spectators, pondering ways to interact that are more fruitful and compelling.

"When giving lectures about my work, I'm often asked by audience members if there is a way for them to help me with a project," explains Fletcher. "For the most part I didn't need help, but I could appreciate their desire to get involved, so I started offering assignments as a way for them to continue having a connection with me." July concurs, noting that there is an active conversation between herself and her audience. " But what do you do with that that's useful?" she asks. "It's always growing, and there's so much enthusiasm, but we want this to lead people back to their own work."

Hence Learning to Love You More, a website with a catalog of ever-changing artmaking assignments. Visitors discover five new tasks each month, with a list of restrictions and limitations. An example? Make a pair of shoes and wear them for a day. Or, ask someone to describe a significant object from his or her past and recreate it using only cardboard and tape. Responses to the assignments will not only draw other visitors to the site, but will be curated into shows and exhibited. They will also be archived on the site, and participants will be encouraged to discuss them with each other, thereby establishing a community of creators and a form of interaction that explodes the traditional dichotomy separating the active artist from the passive spectator.

But why institute limitations? "I think it comes out of the sense of liking control or constricted spaces," answers July. "I don't just get inspired by thinking, 'Wow, there's the whole world, what am I going to make today?' Instead, I say, 'What if I only had text to create a performance?' The less I have to work with, the more inspiring. If you're restricted to paper and tape, right away you take away the possibility of glitter."

At this early stage, the Learning to Love You More website is simple and direct, leaving open the possibility for expansion and permutation based on the desires of participants. Fletcher and July are also very open to the various directions the site could take in the future. "Ultimately it might function as a school, a gallery, a magazine, a place to hang out and meet people," says Fletcher. "It could be our idealized version of a little art world, all nice and self-contained, and open for anyone to participate in." Adds July excitedly, "It's like Christmas!"

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THIS PROJECT'S CATEGORIES: Emerging Fields > Performance Art / Theater / Spoken Word | Products & Consumerism | Northwest / Great Plains | 2002