This web site was created on the occasion of the exhibition Car Culture, organized by the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and curated by Marilu Knode.

The exhibition has been supported by Eric Jungermann and Family and the SMoCA Salon.

January 18– April 27, 2008

Designed by dextension.com, Phoenix, Arizona. Edited by Lucy Flint, Southborough, Massachusetts. © 2008 Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Cars: Paradise Found and Paradise Lost © Marilu Knode. All rights reserved. No parts of the contents of this essay may be reproduced without the written permission of SMoCA. All images © the artists.

The Scottsdale Cultural Council, a private, nonprofit 501(C)3-management organization, administers the arts and cultural affairs of the City of Scottsdale, Arizona, and manages SMoCA as well as the Scottsdale Center for the Arts and the Scottsdale Public Art Program.

Supported by the Arizona Commission of the Arts with funding from the State of Arizona and the National Endowment for the Arts. Partial funding provided by Arizona ArtShare, the state arts endowment fund, through public and private contributions.

Curator’s Acknowledgements:

Car Culture is the last in the “Phoenix Trilogy” of shows I have curated for SMoCA over the past four years, starting with Water, Water Everywhere.. . . in the summer of 2005 and followed by Celebrity in the winter of 2007. These shows presented urgent questions about the nature of culture today, and touched upon how these issues are expressed by the citizens of Scottsdale and the greater Phoenix area. Many artists have explored the importance and value of cars in our lives, while oftentimes critiquing the car’s negative social and environmental impact as well—the topic is complex and thorny at once.

Each museum project is the result of work by a wide range of staff. SMoCA director Susan Krane agreed to the idea many years ago, and although the check list changed little over a two year period, her suggestions for artists linked historical works of significance to the topic. Former registrar Bethe Myers helped me start on this journey, and upon her departure, was ably replaced by Pat Evans, whose attention to detail has secured all the loans for the show. Pat was also instrumental in establishing some of the needs for this, SMoCA’s first exhibition web site.

Chief Preparator Kevin Mills and Preparator Laura Spalding have become increasingly involved in the show as it nears installation: it would be impossible to list the range of tasks they performed through their combined skills and dedication, which is so central to the success of the show. I wish to thank all the other SMoCA staff who helped shape the show: Administrative staff Elizabeth L. Theisen; Curatorial staff Cassandra Coblentz and Claire Carter; Development staff Alex Parker, Leigh Hersey and Joan Parsons; Education staff Carolyn Robbins, Sally Lindsay, Michelle Palozzolo and Lauren Chambers; Marketing staff Lesley Oliver and Diana Bergquist; Retail staff Janice Bartczak, Bill Kelly, Russell Crocker, Helen Hronopulos, Ravance Lanier and Debra Perez; Security staff Thomas Villegas, Mark Broadley, Paul Ki and Karen Nasibyan. Of course SMoCA’s board makes possible our programming activities, and to them I give my thanks.

The most significant benefit of being a curator of contemporary art is, for me, learning from all the smart, curious artists around whom I shape exhibitions. My greatest thanks go to Robert Bechtle, Margarita Cabrera, David Claerbout, Liz Cohen, Robert Frank, Jens Haaning, Ahmet Ögüt, Hans Op de Beeck, Walid Raad, Amy Stein and Erwin Wurm for their participation and interest in contributing to the arts dialogue in the Valley.

I want to also thank the following colleagues for their support through loans and other related installation issues: Jeffrey Grove, Wieland Family Curator of Contemporary Art and Paula Williams, Assistant Registrar, High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Lee Stoetzel, Curator and John Slaby, Registrar, The West Collection, Oaks, Pennsylvania; Sarah Meltzer, Sarah Meltzer Gallery, New York; Tse-ling Uh and Bram Vandeveire, Claerbout studio, Brussels, Belgium; Karen Polack, Registrar, Galerie Yvon Lambert, New York; Laurent Godin, Galerie Laurent Godin, Paris; Erika Franek, Registrar, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Trinity Parker, Registrar, Center for Creative Photography, the University of Arizona, Tucson; Nicolai Wallner, Nicolai Wallner Gallery, Copenhagen; Stijn Maes, Op de Beeck studio, Brussels, Belgium; Frie Depraetere, Argos, Brussels, Belgium; Paul Kopeikin, Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles; Andree Sfeir-Semler, Galerie Sfeir-Semler, Hamburg, Germany; Charles Betlach and Robyn Wiley, Collection Manager, Betlach Collection, San Francisco and San Diego, California.

The BODYWORK car could not have been made possible without the generous support of Don Barsellotti and Bill Cherry of Elwood Body Works in Scottsdale, Arizona. Particular thanks, from Liz Cohen, goes to to Akademie Schloss Solitude, The Creative Capital Foundation, Fine Arts Unternehmen and Galerie Laurent Godin.

With the support of Bruce Ferguson at F.A.R. (Future Arts Research) @ ASU, I was able to invite Margarita Cabrera and Hans Op de Beeck to Scottsdale for residencies. Under the guidance of SMoCA curator of education Carolyn Robbins, Cabrera and Op de Beeck worked with ASU art faculty members Angela Ellsworth and Gregory Sale in a series of interactions with students in various classes. Op de Beeck extended his stay in the desert to begin filming a new work; we hope to be able to screen it when it is completed.

I also want to thank colleagues in the Scottsdale Public Art [SPA] program for their willingness to partner on a site specific, temporary project with Liz Cohen. In particular, I’d like to thank former-SPA project manager Judith Patrylak, director Valerie Vadala-Homer, Board Chair Richard Hayslip, intern Cécile Mahieux and arts event coordinator Diana Fisher.

In addition, we have been fortunate to have the support of managers and staff at AAA Yellow Cab Arizona for the completion of Jens Haaning’s public work. I thank Jack Gilmet, manager, Salvatore Seno, marketing and Jack Singh, airport manager and staff, as well the cab drivers themselves, who participated in the work. Shawna Holton-Burn, Ground Transportation Manger for the City of Phoenix Aviation Department, cleared the participation of the cabs that run in and out of the airport. This is a particularly crucial part of the project since this is where visitors first sample the diversity of our region. I thank all of these partners in showing how art can be relevant outside the white cube.

And finally, on a personal note, I’d like to thank Bruce Ferguson, Director, and Sarah Munter, Senior Coordinator, my new work colleagues at F.A.R. @ ASU, for their support and patience while I wrapped up several projects initiated at SMoCA. I also wish to thank the many colleagues and board members of SMoCA, the Scottsdale Cultural Council, the Scottsdale Public Art Program and the Scottsdale Performing Arts Center for their support, humor and good cheer during my four years at SMoCA.