“Whose Territorial Imperative?” includes artists Alexandre Singh, Sarah Hardesty and Fawad Khan at The Guild Art Gallery, NY. The show is time based and experimental in that the gallery space has been deemed a Special Economic Zone. “Whose Territorial Imperative?” seeks to transform the gallery space into a micro culture functioning beyond the rules and structures, both written and unwritten, that governs the functioning of the broader art world. What happens if the Gallery is asked to present a Mandate with a set of rules that are different from what is expected of a commercial institution and its relationship to artists? How does that affect artistic production? How does the dynamics of the relationship between artist-curator-gallery-viewer change?

Alexandre Singh, Sarah Hardesty and Fawad Khan moved into the gallery space on March 14th, 2008. The curatorial concept and gallery mandate have been presented to them. The artists now have a space that simultaneously functions as their studio, a residency space and a commercial space.

In 1994 Papo Colo and Jeanette Ingberman curated “Let The Artist Live!” wherein the artists created works while living within the non-profit space, interacting if they chose to with the public, writers, critics and of course with each other. While there has been no direct inspiration, the Exit Art show does provide a historical point of reference for this project. This experiment is different in that the artists aren’t living here and neither is this a Non Profit space. The dynamics change rather dramatically under these circumstances especially at a time when “Economic Crisis” has become a part of everyone’s conversations and concerns.

The show seeks to create a sense of community. An increased level of open interaction with a general public while having specific walk-throughs that aims to bring in a different group of individuals – professionals from Auction houses, IT, Finance and Entrepreneurial organizations. It would be a pleasure and honor to have your interaction with this project. To this extent we would like to invite you to visit the show at your convenience over the following days starting from March 21st to see the artists at work in the space. We hope that you will accept this invitation.