Assists

As of Spring 2019

Jessica Stockholder
© 2019 JESSICA S TOC KHOL DE R
Assists: As of Spring 2019

T hus far there exist two kinds of

Assists —all-metal versions pro-
duced outside of the studio by
professional metal workers, and
the bricolage variety produced in the studio by the artist.

Many of the all-metal Assists is made up of four parts; two base parts
and two top parts. The bases and tops are theoretically interchange-
able amongst the others.

In all cases the Assists can’t stand up on their own. In order to stand
upright the assist needs to be attached to something else, to other
freestanding objects chosen by their owners, curators, or the artist.
This might be furniture, appliances, or other sculpture. As paintings
that leave the artist’s studio must be supplied a wall in their new
venues, the Assists must be supplied a new object that enables them
to stand.

In some cases, one upper phalange of the all metal assist will present
a horizontal surface that can act as a pedestal for another work (a work
made by the artist, a work by another artist, or an object.)

The Assist has a symbiotic relationship with everything around it.

The following words are all evoked by the word symbiotic: Give-and-
take, teamwork, collaboration, partnership, aid, assistance, alliance,
coalition, communion, teamwork, and reciprocity.

The word Symbiosis originates in 1877 as a biological term: "mutually

beneficial association of two different organisms,” coming from
Modern Latin. Symbiosis "a living together," from the Greek word sym-
bioun "live together," from symbios "(one) living together (with
another), partner," from syn- "together" + bios "life". The word was
given a wider (non-biological) sense by 1921. An earlier sense of "com-
munal or social life" is found in 1620s.

The Assists further explore questions of boundary, dependence, and

response to the landscape of human made things that have been
raised by my work for many years.

The evocative space embodied in paintings communicates something

of the interiority of human experience chipping away at the essential
aloneness of human experience. Paintings hang on walls; picture mak-
ing occurs in relation to surface; architecture provides walls and sur-
face; and architecture is inserted into landscape. All materials originate
in nature and at some juncture during the course of human processing
they move out of the ‘natural’ realm into the realm of human made
objects. Some of these objects have celebrated authors and people
who remain anonymous make most.

The Assists occupy the space between all of these junctures much like
hinges occupy the space between a door and its jamb.