VICTORIA.- Street Games…(an exercise in lightness) is a new work that searches cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Mexico City, London and small cities in Croatia, to date) for street-based economies. I am intent on finding activities and groups of people on streets that simultaneously make money and build social networks; my interest lies in how these activities can create supportive communities.

My street game investigations have been fueled in part by the long-standing relationship between art, music and literature. Games have been part of our social fabric, regardless of geography or peoples, and have wound their way into our social fabrics, thus becoming an extension of our collective identities.

One of the moist poignant examples of an artist understanding of this was in 1923, when Marcel Duchamp took an eleven year hiatus from art-making in order to become one of France’s chess champions. Perhaps his leave was to better understand how art was becoming financial more of “pawn” rather than relevant piece of society, or in gaming fashion, he simply wanted his audiences to wonder what move he was to make next.

My work is about urban meanderings and investigations. I use art-making as a way of navigating and learning about both life and lives. My interests are in examining urban sites such as streets, old parks and alleyways in order to find varieties of social exchanges.

Street Games… (an exercise in lightness) is an installation that focuses on street games played in Beijing/Shanghai (wéiqí) and San Francisco (chess). Also, I have chosen specific works from the Art Gallery’s collection in order to bridge other games and street life with my own work.

There are six selected works that I have chosen among them are: Maxwell Bates, Punch and Two Others, 1977, Eric Metcalfe, Sax Player, 1990, and William Featherston, Mad Meg at City Hall, 1972 . The collection works were chosen in such a way to create both a sense of place, community and reflexive history. I thought it would be an interesting way to further develop a social aesthetic by inviting street performers to the Art Gallery for the opening event. Several musicians, chess and Mahjong players will play or walk about the Gallery on opening night as part of the project.

Among my works I have included two videos, one made in San Francisco and the other in Beijing; each of the videos show boardgames being played on streets. The videos are meant to seem invitational to each viewer, much in the same way one might be invited to play a game themselves.

I would like to thank sincerely the following people who have shared their games and talents with us for the opening event: John Wang, Amanda Bryan, Ian Bennetts, Jennifer Whitfield, Tina Chien, Elizabeth Czerwinski and Virginia Errick.

-Doug Lewis