The SHAFT

The SHAFT is a gallery as work of art located in the elevator shaft at 319 N. 11th St, Philadelphia, PA.  Founded, directed, and curated by Maiza Hixson and Lauren Ruth, The SHAFT will host a series of related exhibitions on the first Friday of each month in the year 2012.

The SHAFT

319 N. 11th St.

Philadelphia, PA 19107

www.theshaftspace.com

The Shaft
Pre-Vaporism, 2012
movement in shaft
dimensions variable
Courtesy of The Shaft Space, Philadelphia

The Shaft is a young philosopher who recently graduated from one of the top MFA programs in the country (MF USA). It rose to fame in 2011 for a series of artistic and curatorial provocations that garnered a frenzy of media attention. Espousing a new theory that “Art is what is made before the aliens get us,” The Shaft’s “Pre-Vaporist Movement” has quickly become the single most popular argument made for art of the 21st Century. The Shaft defines Pre-Vaporism as the belief that since all art is going to be incinerated forever by an uncontrollable outside force anyway, then all object-based art must be futile.

The subject of a feature story in the January 2012 edition of L’Art For Homme (a men’s fine art magazine), The Shaft stated:

“Pre-Vaporism is:

-A non-objective art movement
-The past, present, and future of art
-Art before the world is obliterated
-Unauthorized
-Genderless
-Self-negating
-Humble
-Participatory

Pre-Vaporism is not:

-A dance party
-The product of a lazy artist philosopher
-For display purposes
-For sale”

Maiza Hixson and Lauren Ruth
SHAFTING, 2011
opening exhibition
7 x 6 x 4.5 feet

SHAFTING is the inaugural exhibit of the new SHAFT gallery space. The SHAFT’s founding artists and curators Maiza Hixson and Lauren Ruth present SHAFTING as a work of art. Moving beyond overt  phallic/sexual metaphors of  shafts/shafting, the gallery and exhibit aspire to re-signify these familiar terms to allow for a multiplicity of meanings. While “getting the shaft” implies rejection, the act of introducing artists and producing art exhibits in a “shafted” space reframes this notion through physical and conceptual reclamation. Producing culture from a common vehicle, the SHAFT valorizes the use of mundane, unauthorized and/or seemingly illegitimate art spaces. Celebrating the concept of openness and leisurely assembly, The SHAFT invites everyone (limit 1,200 lbs) to enjoy a free ride.