Visual Artist, Renee Piechocki, discusses her latest collaborative video project, A Liberation Abecedary, scheduled to premiere with Franklin Furnace on May 13th. Renee discusses the complexities of working with 28 collaborators during a pandemic, digs into the evolution of feminism, and recalls her first performance experiences.

This podcast is presented in collaboration with Franklin Furnace.

A Liberation Abecedary features twenty-eight collaborators who developed scenes using tools to express liberation. The tools are conceptual, physical, personal. What they chose and how they used the tools on camera was self-determined. Inspired by Martha Rosler’s Semiotics of the Kitchen, the artist will share the story of this work and how she seeks to explore liberation through many points of view, not define it or end the conversation about what it is or how it is expressed. 

Following the screenings of Piechocki and Rosler’s videos, the vocabulary of liberation will grow- all are invited to create a 30-second performance to share or perform privately.  Everyone is welcome.  Sign up to share yours by emailing: arantxa@franklinfurnace.org.

May 13th, 2021, 7-8pm EST. Learn more at https://franklinfurnaceloft.org/a-liberation-abecedary/

Renee Piechocki is an artist who works in many different settings, drawing on a range of creative practices: social practice, community arts, arts administration, photography, video, and drawing. As a result, she is sometimes an artist in the foreground as a creator, sometimes a collaborator, and sometimes an artist in the background as a facilitator.

She cares about creating situations that encourage social or emotional connections in all of her work, but especially in projects in the public realm. Depending on the project, she seeks to reach out and invite people in as observers, participants, or collaborators. 

Renee currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA; is collaborating with Nadine Wasserman to produce Compass Roses: Maps by Artists; and is working as a public art consultant on projects across the US.  Previously, she worked with Tiffany Ludwig through their collaboration Two Girls Working on their project "Trappings", which explored the meaning and presentation of power in women's lives. www.reneepiechocki.com

Interview With Renee Piechocki - A Discussion on A Liberation Abecedary

Based in Brooklyn, NYC, Performance Is Alive is an online and curatorial platform featuring the work and words of current performance art practitioners. Through interviews, reviews, artists features, sponsorship and curatorial projects, we aim to support the performance community while offering an access point to the performance curious.