Jordan Lord

ABOUT THIS PAGE

This webpage provides both images and description to render a virtual experience of each artist’s work. Below is an image gallery that includes installation shots and details of the physical component of Jordan Lord’s contribution to the exhibition, which also consists of two virtual components, explained in the text below. The text component of the work, which includes visual description of the physical component, is below the image gallery. Audio recordings of this material are available through the SoundCloud embedded above.

IMAGE GALLERY

WORKS & DESCRIPTIONS

A.) In Person, 2020, with Hernease Davis, Asha Ganpat, Guido Garaycochea, Joy Garnett, Gi (Ginny) Huo, Shona Masarin-Hurst, and Monika Wührer, descriptions.

This summer, Park McArthur and Carolyn Lazard both had exhibitions at an art gallery, which I only experienced online. Park’s show imagined a means of breathing together or sharing space, while not being in the same physical location; Carolyn’s made me think about what it is to be in or out of a shared sense of time with others. At the same time, talking with each artist in the SHIFT cohort about the work they were making also became a way of being with them and their work, in lieu of being in their studio or in the gallery. 

The descriptions featured in this virtual exhibition are the result of further conversations between the artists in the 2019-2020 SHIFT cohort, EFA Project Space staff, and curator Maya Suess. Seeking to supplement the so-called “in-person” experience of the exhibition with other means of experiencing the show, extended descriptions of each artist’s work, detailing visual, contextual, and other sensory elements, were written by me in consultation and collaboration with the other artists in the exhibition. The visual descriptions of the physical installation on these webpages were written by Maya Suess, Dylan Gauthier, and me.

At stake in suggesting that presence in a particular physical location is required in order to see something “in person” not only begs questions of how sight and ability are built into dominant, nondisabled conceptions of experience.

B.) Assumption of Risk, 2020, waiver form, frame, caption (dimensions variable).

Assumption of risk is a legal doctrine under which an individual can no longer seek restitution for an injury sustained when they have voluntarily exposed themselves to a “known danger.” This premise underpins the practice of insurance or risk management and spans contexts from healthcare and recreation to banking and the workplace. At stake in each instance is a question of access: whether to medical treatment, experience, credit, a job, or perhaps life itself.

Political theorist Angela Mitropoulos has argued that this practice of insurance mirrors histories of inoculation against infectious disease, not by eliminating risk but rather distributing it, so that some bear the burden of the risk such that others might be released from it. Though groupings like “high risk” appear to naturally belong to certain forms of life, immune systems, ages, body types, races, jobs, neighborhoods, these risk assessments are calculations imposed on them. And the purported exceptionality of these risk groups is sustained to effectively inoculate the body politic.

Mitropoulos writes in her book Contract and Contagion, “I would suggest that the ostensible prudentialism of insurance, then, as with vaccination, creates dangers for some. In current terms, it assumes the creation of classes of persons who are increasingly compelled to contractually assume (by way of return of the doctrine of volenti non fit injuria of informed consent) the burden of uninsurable risk.”

This doctrine of volenti non fit injuria translates from Latin to English as “to a willing person, injury is not done.” As Mitropoulos alludes, this doctrine is a cornerstone of “informed consent,” a principle and practice of the medical field, standardized by the Nuremberg Code of Ethics, which releases healthcare providers from liability for the risk that a medical treatment might have ill effects on patients, by attempting to give patients the resources they need to make informed decisions about the nature of these risks. Here, the terms of entry are presented as conditional to those seeking access such that these parties are presented with the option of

a) participating at their own risk

  or

b) not participating at their own risk.

Here, risk is framed as belonging to individuals rather than as a shared condition—which is, to say, being exposed to others.

In the gallery, a document printed on a white sheet of paper in black text in Times New Roman font appears on a white wall inside a black frame. It is presented as the only object on a large wall that faces the one, on which the show’s intro text is printed. It is hung slightly below the standard eyeline height of 50”, typically used for installing artworks. The document reads:

Mandatory Studio Covid-19 Contract/Waiver

Read carefully. Check each box. Then sign, print name and date.

☐ I will not enter the EFA Center building if I have any symptoms linked to Covid-19, or if I believe I have been exposed to any person who has Covid-19, until I have obtained a reliable Covid-19 test with a negative result. (Go to NYC.gov/covidtest to locate free testing sites.)

☐If I have contracted, or if I contract Covid-19, I will not enter the building until the EFA Executive Director or the appropriate Program Director has provided permission in writing based on the CDC recommendations at that time.

☐In order to facilitate compliance with NYC fire department requirements and the guidelines for Covid-19 tracking I will follow instructions for providing my name, the time, and studio number or destination when I enter and when I exit the building.

☐I will wear a mask and practice social distancing of at least 6 feet when I am in a common area of the building, including lobby, hallway, kitchen or bathroom.

☐If I have touched anything in a common area, I will immediately wash my hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

☐I will follow all posted safety protocol instructions.

☐If I work in an office or office area of the building, I will thoroughly sanitize contact surfaces and equipment with UV wand or sanitizer before utilizing my work area.

☐I understand that EFA will sanitize all common area touch points in the common areas of the building daily.

☐I understand that by leaving home quarantine, I accept a risk of exposing myself and thus my household and close contacts to this extremely contagious and dangerous Covid-19 disease and that the asymptomatic carriers of Covid-19 make it hard to verifiably anticipate sources of exposure. I will follow all reasonable protocols to keep myself and my community safe.

☐Waiver of lawsuit/liability: I hereby forever release and waive my right to bring suit against The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (EFA) and the 323 West 39th Street Condominium (323 Condo) and their directors, officers, employees, interns, volunteers, independent contractors or other representatives in connection with exposure, infection, and/or spread of COVID-19 related to utilizing EFA’s and 323 Condo’s services or premises. I understand that this waiver means I give up my right to bring any claims including for personal injuries, death, disease or property losses, or any other loss, including but not limited to claims of negligence and give up any claim I may have to seek damages, whether known or unknown, foreseen or unforeseen. I understand and agree that the law of the State of New York will apply to this contract.

I have carefully read and fully understand all provisions of this Contract/Waiver, and freely and knowingly assume my responsibilities and assume the risk and waive my rights concerning liability as described herein.

Signature       Date

Printed Name

The lines for signature, name, and date are blank.

ARTIST BIO

Jordan Lord is a filmmaker, writer, and artist, working primarily in video, text, and performance. Their work addresses the relationships between historical and emotional debts, framing and support, access and documentary. Their video and performance work has been shown internationally at festivals and venues including DOCNYC, QueerLisboa, Anthology Film Archives, Performance Space NY, Artists Space, and Camden Arts Centre, and they have been in study with the group No Total since 2012. Their solo exhibition of video work "After...After..." was presented at Piper Keys in London, UK in 2019. They received an MFA in Integrated Media Arts at Hunter College, CUNY, where they also teach.