Held In Trust

Held in Trust examined the intangible economies of trust that underpin participatory, performative, and interactive works. Hybridized works that exist between the structures and behavioral codes of visual arts and performing arts, and that challenge inherited forms of spectatorship, ask individuals to act outside of familiar parameters. These situations can be riddled with anxiety, and place pressure on the tacit trust between the audience, the artist, and the institution.

This colloquium was an interdisciplinary inquiry into the nature of trust, and considered its inflection within power relations, raising issues such as agency, ethics, and hospitality. It considered polarizing theoretical terms used to conjure audiences, and the critical concepts that limn discussions around these artistic practices. 

The Jaffe Colloquia were a series of exchanges bringing together small groups of artists, curators, and theorists to informally discuss ideas centered around the conditions of, and perspectives on, time-based arts.