A Place Beyond reimagines commerce through utopian models of exchange. Capitalism has created destructive social relationships based on profit and loss, leaving compassion as a distant afterthought. This exhibition is a platform for artists to envision methods of exchange that center community and empathy; honoring sharing economies that existed before and have persevered throughout capitalism.

Artworks in this exhibition grapple with undervalued labor processes and cultural capital. Artists and the public will engage in unique interpretations of cultural exchange through works that includes a new evolving language, a collection of community stories, and guided meditation. The public will play an active role in shaping these exchanges.

The Oakland based artist, Weston Teruya and the Saigon based artist, Vice Do will explore what it means to work transnationally. In conversation with the historical and contemporary political economy between the US and Vietnam, they will set up trades of community based artworks. The collaboration will continue throughout the duration of the exhibition.

Michael Arcega and Paolo Asuncion’s project, TNT, is based on the Filipino traysikel (tricycle). The sculpture doubles as a mobile cultural center in which dialogue becomes the value system—traversing stories around immigration, the economy, and changing communities. Arcega and Suncion will take the tricycle out throughout the length of the exhibition to collect community narratives from the local neighborhood.

Alicia Escott and Heidi Quante from The Bureau of Linguistical Reality create public workshops to develop language about the feelings of living in the anthropocene. For this exhibition, the Bureau will work with the community to create new words that propose a world beyond capital oriented exchanges. Their workshop will be installed in the Screening Room Landing and its remnants will live in the Terrace Hallway.

Natani Notah’s practice investigates what it means to be a contemporary Native American through an exploration of Diné (Navajo) womanhood. Her work engages value systems based on community sharing. Exhibiting a growing collection of audience-donated Sacagawea coins, Notah invites people to connect via intervention, posing questions about how removing Sacagawea from circulation might challenge colonial structures of power.

A Place Beyond establishes an environment that foregrounds alternative structures of value which intersect, circumvent, and stand in opposition to capitalism. The participatory nature of the show encourages the audience to reflect on the value of community and the nature of commodity. It is a platform to hope for a future beyond the troubling paradigms of our current economy.

Featuring: Michael Arcega + Paolo Asuncion, Vicky Do + Weston Teruya, Victor Yañez-Lazcano, Gabby Miller, Natani Notah, and Sherwin Rio as well as Alicia Excott and Heidi Quante who make up the artist collective, The Bureau of Linguistical Reality.

*This exhibition was scheduled to open at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in the summer of 2020 and was canceled due to COVID 19.