November 2007

Threads That Bind

Interdisciplinary artist Nicolás Dumit Estévez has a mission: to bridge the gap between art and everyday life. As part of The MacDowell Colony’s centennial outreach series Peterborough Projects, he has come to Peterborough with the express goal of meeting every resident who lives in town. With his performance/public art project “Pleased to Meet You,” which he calls a “catalyst for social interactions,” he has initiated a community-wide effort to unite strangers through his work. The project also aims to examine the unique relationship between MacDowell — an artistic retreat that is intrinsically a private space — and the public space within which it is located.

Since arriving at MacDowell in October, Estévez has immersed himself in the heart of the community. He has met people randomly on the street and has also been introduced to them through organizations in town, including, for instance, the Union Congregational Church. Aiming to mine any and all connections, he invites each person he meets to introduce him to someone else in the area, widening the scope of the project as it progresses. “The response so far has been terrific,” says Estévez, whose work invariably centers on, and takes place within, spaces of public use. Working in this way, he says, allows “would-be passive observers to take an active role in the process of looking at my work, thereby affecting the development of the piece.”

Making history and highlighting how it gets created is another idea behind the project according to Estévez, who is documenting his spiraling interactions through digital photographs. Though he is photographing some subjects himself, Estévez is also inviting residents in town to submit digital images or lend him photos, which he will scan and return. “Portraits of families, individuals, pets; photos of people traveling the world . . . anything is welcome,” he relays. During the month of November, Estévez will host three photo drives at the Peterborough Historical Society. He will meet and greet the public at these events, and will also scan any photos that people bring.

Attendees at November’s MacDowell Downtown presentation at the Mariposa Museum are also encouraged to bring photos they’d like to contribute to “Pleased to Meet You.” At this event, Estévez will talk about the status of the project and will also give a presentation of his general body of work, including his collaborative project with artist María Alós The Passerby Museum, a traveling museum that draws its collection from people who visit, work, or live where it is in operation at any given time. Additionally, he will showcase his previous incarnation of “Pleased to Meet You,” a project similar to the one currently underway in Peterborough that he launched in Calaf, Spain, earlier this year.

Using the photos he gathers, Estévez plans to create a giant family album. Taking the form of a Web site or a digital publication, the album will consist of an unprecedented historical display revealing the connective threads that bind the people of Peterborough together. The site will be announced and launched sometime in 2008.