Jeff Williams, Special Lecture 2013

Jeff Williams gives a lecture at Skowhegan talking about his sculpture and installation practice, with a particular focus on temporal duration in these mediums. For Williams, showing his work in non-profit spaces has been important for his development as an artist. Williams considers the physicality of institutions and non-profit organizations, the conditions behind the production of art in these spaces, and the ways in which the production of art is framed. Williams discusses Project Row Houses in Houston, Texas, which frames multiple artist installations within a domestic space. At Project Row Houses, Williams tried to show binary oppositions: distance and proximity, structure and experience, body and architecture, public and private. Williams is interested in making contradictions and creating disruption to the pristine. Williams tells the participants that when he positions a detail or element of a work, he seeks to come up with a negation for that position elsewhere in the composition. This allows him to generate a more-memorable experience for the viewer. Williams ends his lecture by talking about the importance of embracing failure and of avoiding metaphor as a way to resolve a work.