Visitors in Brooklyn can sit down and let the art come to them at a new conveyor belt art exhibition. New York-based artist Finnegan Shannon has built a 12-foot closed-loop conveyor belt at Pioneer Works, the cultural centre in Red Hook. The installation, titled There’s No Me Without You, is on view through 20 December.
How the conveyor belt art exhibition works
Chairs ring the belt, so visitors can sit while they look at and handle what passes by. Objects travel on a series of moving trays. They include exhibited works, archival materials and portable DVD players.
Gathering people around a shared table as the artwork is another approach. Rirkrit Tiravanija’s interactive Thai boat dining makes guests the subject of the piece.
The conveyor belt art exhibition borrows its design from restaurant conveyor belts, the kind used in sushi bars. The room on the upper floor is covered in rich fabrics, with built-in benches along the walls. Brightly coloured air filters sit in the middle of the belt. Masks are encouraged.
Why Shannon built it
Shannon was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth. For Shannon, the belt is a practical tool. “My conveyor belt, technically a retail and restaurant-style display system, is a tool for me to be in less pain when I’m experiencing art,” the artist said. “I notice I am a much more patient and curious visitor when I’m sitting down.”
The title reflects Shannon’s interest in interdependence, the idea that people rely on one another to function. Shannon argues that disability makes this dependence visible. In Shannon’s words, “If disabled people were in charge, we would have a bunch of varied and deluxe options for sitting and lying down in exhibition spaces.”
The artist sees the current state of public spaces as a shortfall. “Instead we live in a world where this type of infrastructure is quite basic and sparse,” Shannon said.
Three artists, three exhibitions
The installation hosts new commissions by three artists with disabilities: Joselia Rebekah Hughes, Ariana Martinez and Alex Dolores Salerno. Each presents work across one of three consecutive exhibitions that together make up a single art exhibition. Visitors are invited to engage through touch, sight and sound.
Ariana Martinez is one of the three artists whose new commissions are shown in the installation.
Masks are encouraged for visitors. Shannon treats these supports as part of the work, not as an afterthought.
A jam during a visit
The belt at this conveyor belt art exhibition recently jammed, according to USA Art News.
The stoppage landed as a sharp reminder of the show’s theme.
Collaboration behind a solo show
Shannon rejects the idea of a solo exhibition as a lone effort. “We know that on some fundamental level, no solo exhibition is truly a solo endeavor,” the artist said.
Shannon named the people behind any show: “Putting together an exhibition takes immense collaboration and support: art handlers, facilities staff, curators, registrars, accountants, assistants, and that is all within the institution.” The network extends further. “I’m dependent on workers, paid and unpaid care labor, and friendships, family, and more, both locally and across the globe.”
Shannon hopes visitors leave with questions rather than a sense of ownership. “I never want someone to come away from an exhibition with my work feeling like they’ve experienced something that is mine,” Shannon said. “Instead I hope they have threads to follow to learn more about the vast world of knowledge that is disability culture.”
For a fuller sensory take on how sound can shape a room, see immersive sound installations transforming spaces, which reward slow, attentive listening.
Shannon’s wider practice
Access has driven much of Shannon’s work. Alt Text as Poetry, a collaboration with Bojana Coklyat, explores image description as an art form. Do You Want Us Here or Not is a series of museum benches and cushions designed to encourage rest. Don’t mind if I do, a 2023 conveyor belt art exhibition, prioritises rest and play.
Shannon has also worked with the Queens Museum, the High Line, MMK Frankfurt and MCA Denver. Art in America, BOMB Magazine, The Believer and Out Magazine have all written about the work. Other accessibility-focused designs appeared in The Fashion Institute of Technology’s Adapt/Evolve exhibition in New York.
There’s No Me Without You runs at Pioneer Works until 20 December. Its stalled belt, its patient visitors and its rotating artists make the same argument. Access depends on the people who keep the system running, and on the systems that are built with those people in mind.
H/T dezeen.com
Frequently asked questions
Where is Finnegan Shannon’s conveyor belt art exhibition located?
The conveyor belt installation, titled There’s No Me Without You, is at Pioneer Works, a cultural centre in Red Hook, Brooklyn. It is on view through 20 December.
Why did Finnegan Shannon build the conveyor belt installation?
Shannon was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, and the belt is a practical tool that reduces their pain while experiencing art. Shannon says visitors who sit down become more patient and curious.
What objects travel on the conveyor belt at Pioneer Works?
Objects travel on a series of moving trays, including exhibited works, archival materials and portable DVD players. Visitors sit in chairs around the belt to look at and handle what passes by.
Which artists have new commissions in There’s No Me Without You?
The installation hosts new commissions by three artists with disabilities: Joselia Rebekah Hughes, Ariana Martinez and Alex Dolores Salerno. Each presents work across one of three consecutive exhibitions.
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