Mitchell Sipus

Mitchell Sipus is a multidisciplinary artist whose work engages the viewer by means of performance, installation, and film/video/audio. He is the director of Current Residence, an exhibition platform dedicated to expanding both the practice of contemporary art as well as the means of audience engagement.

Current Residence productions may take place within the public, and are not necessarily identified as art by the random passerby. Sipus's work often conceptually engages global trends such as the proliferation of multiculturalism and the reactive resurgence of nationalist identity issues.

Sipus tends to work with a site specific context. Having executed his projects in Cuba, India, Japan, Thailand, and the United States, each piece is specific to its location and cannot be reproduced elsewhere. For example, during the 2004 Havanna Biennial,Fact|date=July 2008 Sipus sought specific sites in Havana, Cuba that were selected from published American literature concerning Cuba. Documenting the true scenario, and juxtaposing it alongside the literary description, Sipus exemplified the distorted perceptions in American and Cuban relations.

Since 2005, Sipus's work has continued to engage issues of international relations and the manner in which geo-politics continually shapes the social sphere. The methodologies of his work have likewise developed in relation to the expanding subject matter. Discarding the traditional exhibitions of galleries and museums, Sipus began to work directly within impoverished territories and conflict zones, utilizing his artistic training to propose alternative solutions to community development and conflict resolution.

In 2007 Sipus initiated his most ambitious project to date, working within a United Nations Refugee Camp in East Africa. By means of his artistic vision Sipus has developed new methods of spatial mapping and refugee shelter construction.

CriticismsBy having completely dismissed the materials and intentions of traditional artists, many living artists and critics are strongly critical of Sipus's work, dismissing his work as art. On the other hand other art intellectuals hail him to be a true visionary, having initiated an entirely new precedent within the scope of art and social responsibility of the artist.

External links

* [http://www.currentresidence.com Current Residence]