For democracy to survive, Alexis de Tocqueville, in his Democracy in America (1835–40), proposed the term “art of joining” as opposed to self-isolation. For when we voluntarily join in associations in order to further the interests of the group, we therefore serve our own interests. Similarly, Horace Kallen in Democracy Versus the Melting Pot (1915), advocated instead of assimilating all Americans into the melting pot under the premise of broadly Anglo-Saxon American identity, they ought to be free to exercise their distinct cultural heritage and the differences that they brought with them. The aspiration of cultural pluralism is analogous to a symphony, a musical platform from which each player is embraced for their specific instrument with a specific sound, each contributing in unison to the symphonic sound. In 2022, Rail Curatorial Projects presented an ongoing series of exhibitions entitled “Singing in Unison,” featuring work by artists young and old, taught and self-taught, emerging and established, shown side-by-side. Thus far the series has been presented at Art Cake, the Scully Tomasko Foundation, TOTAH, Below Grand, Ricco/Maresca, Miguel Abreu, and Industry City.

October 7, 2023–January 12, 2024
Opening: September 23, 6–8 p.m.

Location:
Industry City
900 Third Avenue, Brooklyn
view map

Admission:
The exhibition is free and open to the public

Hours:
Tuesday–Saturday, 10–6

• October 7th: Opening reception and cooking performance by Rirkrit Tiravanija, Tomas Vu, and Co.
• October 28th: “these little oases”, a symposium and poetry reading with the Network for New York School Studies, with Anselm Berrigan, Edmund Berrigan , Lee Ann Brown, Mandana Chaffa, Tyhe Cooper, Rona Cran, Jordan Davis, Andrew Epstein, Kay Gabriel, John Godfrey, Alexandra J. Gold, Tilghman Goldsborough, Paolo Javier, Patricia Spears Jones, Ayaz Muratoglu, Elinor Nauen, Libbie Rifkin, Bob Rosenthal, Patricia Hope Scanlan, Yasmine Shamma, Nick Sturm, Anne Waldman, John Yau

Taiwan Ministry of Culture

Since May 2022, Rail Curatorial Projects has undertaken an ongoing series of group exhibitions entitled “Singing in Unison: Artists Need to Create on the Same Scale That Society Has the Capacity to Destroy” as a collective effort to mobilize the art of joining and social intimacy against self-isolation and social distancing, In these exhibitions, we perceive each artist as the player of a particular instrument, having a unique and distinct sound of their own, producing a significant contribution to the total sound of the symphony.

The series has featured works made by both trained and self-taught artists, by young artists—including children from the legendary Studio in a School—and more established ones. Additionally, there are contributions from artists working during and after incarceration, as well as those who are living with various mental health conditions. Although the culture at large has frequently aimed to assimilate us all into having a similar sound, Rail Curatorial Projects is committed to celebrating each artist’s particular vibrancy, while at the same time providing a context in which they can be in dialogue with one another.

To date, ten iterations of varying sizes have been presented in this series of exhibitions, featuring a total of over 200 artists across seven venues: Art Cake, Below Grand, The Scully Tomasko Foundation, Ricco/Maresca Gallery, TOTAH, Miguel Abreu Gallery, Industry City, SLAG&RX, and Ruttkowski;68. Each version featured Lauren Bon and Metabolic Studio’s neon work Artists Need to Create on the Same Scale That Society Has the Capacity to Destroy; cooking performances by Rirkrit Tiravanija, Tomas Vu, and their graduate students from Columbia University; space activations, including performances from dancers, poets, and musicians; and each has been dedicated to and included a portrait of one of our recently deceased mentors and friends. The early exhibitions in the series all included several artists, and we have now also begun to feature two artists in conversation: when presented in this more intimate context, the similarities and differences in the artists’ practices highlight alluring and compelling aspects of their thinking and art-making processes.

Founded in October 2000 and currently published 10 times annually, the Brooklyn Rail provides an independent forum for arts, culture, and politics throughout New York City and far beyond. The journal features criticism of music, dance, film, and theater; and original fiction and poetry, covers contemporary visual art in particular depth. In order to democratize our art coverage, our Critics Page functions with a rotating editorship, which such luminaries as Robert Storr, Elizabeth Baker, Barbara Rose, Irving Sandler, and Dore Ashton have helmed.

The Rail further fulfills its mission by curating art exhibitions, panel discussions, reading series and film screenings that reflect the complexity and inventiveness of the city’s artistic and cultural landscape.

To learn more, visit brooklynrail.org
Follow us on Instagram instagram.com/brooklynrail