The first of many special events to spring out of the Essay’d series.

This past Thursday, February 26th, artists Corrie Baldauf and Rose DeSloover participated in an artist talk and open discussion that I moderated for Essay’d, Detroit’s premiere location for short, in-depth articles on key members of the Detroit art scene.

Baldauf, Sharp and DeSloover wax art-philosophical.

The discussion was fluid and far-ranging, highlighting a number of similarities between these two artists, separated by a generation. Both wield color as a key material—DeSloover in the form of hardware store paint chips, and Baldauf most recently in her astounding work of deconstructed fiction, the Infinite Jest Project. There are spiritual undertones and conscious cultivation of chance in the work of both women, as well as an engagement with various of the writings of philosopher Walter Benjamin—The Arcades Project for DeSloover, and “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” for Baldauf. These and many other areas of overlap led to an easy conversational atmosphere, which included audience input and the bird’s-eye perspective afforded by the writing completed for Essay’d, which can be seen here. Baldauf (left) and DeSloover (right) producing work with eerie synchronicity. Photo by Jeff Cancelosi

As for Essay’d itself, it acts as a wonderful entry point or place to enhance one’s knowledge of the Detroit art community, offering profiles and images on some of the scene’s foundational participants. One hopes that Panton’s ambitious goal of creating a comprehensive index of Detroit artists is realized—it has been embraced thus far as a feature long overdue in the community.

The crowd that braved the last cold days of February to witness the discourse.