Stephanie Lynn Rogers

Archives: Projects

  • Security Blanket

    Security Blanket

    Security Blanket from Stephanie L. Rogers on Vimeo.

    The seeds of Security Blanket were stories of surveillance and harassment by governmental agencies, presented in this exhibit through audio recordings. The stories were first shared with me casually by activist friends and collaborators, then revisited in formal interviews for this installation.

    The similarities between the stories prompted me to look deeper into surveillance, which gained new significance after the 2016 election. I began to ask myself, “What does it look like for a pacifist progressive to be prepared?” I also recognized the inherent psychological benefit of making physical objects. I hope that my constructions will serve my community; I know that making something by hand calms my own anxiety. The old saying is “idle hands are the devil’s plaything.” I don’t believe there is a devil, but I have seen that my own idle hands lead me to obsessively pore over Facebook and reduce my own mental resilience.

    As I tried to find definitive answers to my questions about government surveillance and freedom of speech, I became more interested in this psychological response. Uncertainty can feed into fear and paranoia, becoming an effective silencing tool in its own right. What makes us feel safe? What really makes us safe?

    Security Blanket is part of Art(ists) on the Verge 9, a project of NorthernLights.mn made possible through funding by the Jerome Foundation.

  • Make Yourself at Home

    Make Yourself at Home

    Make Yourself at Home transformed a Rochester Art Center gallery into a domestic space, with artist-designed and altered furnishings including throw pillows, curtains, and a brocade couch.

    I embrace both the beautiful and the grotesque aspects of nature. In this installation of photography and fiber-based work, fungi, worms and ants take their places alongside flowers, foliage and butterflies. The imagery touches on wide-ranging themes, including seasonal cycles, ecology, and the inevitability of decay, while remaining grounded in the landscapes of the upper Midwest.

    Make Yourself at Home was part of the Jerome Emerging Artist Exhibition series at RAC, generously supported by the Jerome Foundation.

  • Sewing Circle Project

    Sewing Circle Project

    Sewing Circle is a treadle-powered sewing machine integrated into a circular folding table. This mobile project creates opportunities for participants to interact with each other and their own creativity.

    Sewing Circle was commissioned by Springboard for the Arts’ ReadyGo Art project and is available for hire within Minnesota. Head on over to ReadyGoArt.org for pricing and specs, then contact me to talk about customizing this project for your gathering.

    This project was partially inspired by Dominic Muren’s Production Cycle, combined with my own passion for community-based projects, sustainable transit, and the magic that happens when strangers sit down to make art together. I’ve made small quilts and flags with community members, done a pop-up clothing mending event, and I use Sewing Circle weekly in my own studio practice.

    Dan Fick assisted with design and construction. Documentation photos by Bruce Silcox and Wing Young Huie.

  • Alterations

    Alterations

    Alterations at Temple Contemporary, Philadelphia, PA
    April 6 – 9, 2016

    Gender and identity are performative, an ongoing act of navigating shifting norms. Whether conscious or not, we all choose to present ourselves, in part, through the clothes we wear. In selecting them, we engage with layered lexicons of pattern, cut, color, and fiber.

    I am fascinated by the cultural and historical roots of fabric patterns, especially those that relate images of nature to ideas of gender, class, and rural identity. There is often a disconnect between how plants and landscapes exist in the world and how they are represented on cloth. I explore this gap by altering existing fabrics through applique and patching techniques, and by making my own photographic repeat patterns. By crafting images into fabric and garments, I consider connections between the unrealistic ideals projected onto other organisms and those applied to the human body.

    I am particularly interested in artistic interventions in everyday life, participatory and collaborative work, and the use value of art. To these ends, Alterations includes space and materials for people to (a)mend their own clothing. Viewers are welcome to become participants by taking a photo patch in exchange for their commitment to sew it onto a garment.

  • Making Mov(i)es

    Making Mov(i)es

    Making Mov(i)es from Stephanie L. Rogers on Vimeo.

    Making Mov(i)es was a collaboration between The Advocate Center for Culture and Education, Cycles, and Stephanie Lynn Rogers. This project began as a series of workshops for teenagers at the Advocate Center on bicycle maintenance, led by Jacob Kenney of Cycles and Stephanie Lynn Rogers. During these workshops, it was clear that the youth had a lot of experience with both bike repair and biking, and that they used bikes to travel all over the city of Philadelphia.

    Philadelphia has the highest bike commuting percentage of any big city in the country, due in part to the strong traditions of cycling for both transportation and recreation in neighborhoods like North Philadelphia. If you looked at images or read stories about bicycling in Philly though, you might get the impression that it’s mainly a white, middle class activity. We used GoPros and a DSLR to record the bike experiences of teenagers at the Advocate Center.

    Shortly before we began this collaborative project, Neighborhood Bike Works (Philadelphia’s bike non-profit) consolidated their programming in West Philadelphia. Our hope is that by combining bike resources (Cycles) with a community organization that has a powerful social justice framework (the Advocate Center), needed tools and resources will continue to be available in North Philadelphia.

  • 38th & Chicago: Intersecting Stories

    38th & Chicago: Intersecting Stories

    ArtBlocks Zine Cover

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    38th & Chicago: Intersecting Stories is a collaborative project by Wing Young Huie and Stephanie Lynn Rogers based on a shared interest in zines and Rogers’ desire to build upon existing neighborhood infrastructure. Together, they worked with residents of the blocks immediately surrounding the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in South Minneapolis to create a zine of hyper-local stories. This publication was then distributed through the robust system of Little Free Libraries in the four neighborhoods surrounding the intersection: Bancroft, Bryant, Central, and Powderhorn.

    Huie and Rogers paired young residents with those who had lived on the block for more than 10 years, asking the young neighbors to interview their elders about the neighborhood. The interviews were recorded, edited, and printed. Common themes emerge through different perspectives. 38th & Chicago: Intersecting Stories served as a pilot project for the creation of hyper-local media and distribution systems. Get in touch to inquire about bringing this project to your neighborhood.

  • Flies Paper

    Flies Paper

    Flies Paper is inspired by artists newspapers, books, and zines, by Hito Stereyl’s essay In Defense of the Poor Image, and by Gordon Matta-Clark’s Walls Paper. 

    If you’re in the U.S., send $5 and your address to stephanielynnrogers [at]gmail [dot] com via Paypal and get your own copy.

  • Video Work

    Video Work

    Rogers’ videos are meant to be viewed on a 32 inch plasma screen. Your computer will do just fine. Your phone is not big enough to experience the work the way it’s meant to be viewed. All videos are excerpts of longer works.

     

    Meditation from Stephanie L. Rogers on Vimeo.

     

    Flies on Window Sill from Stephanie L. Rogers on Vimeo.

     

    Bird Breathing from Stephanie L. Rogers on Vimeo.

  • 27 Dead Birds

    27 Dead Birds

    27 Dead Birds was a site-specific installation in the main hallway of Tyler School of Art during October of 2014. The work included photographs, video, and a place for community members to respond.

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    The installation also included an image of the building’s footprint, which mapped the locations of the dead birds.

    Map of Tyler School of Art with locations of dead birds mapped
    Dead Birds around Tyler School of Art:
    Non-scientific Observations

    Bird deaths due to collision with windows are common at Temple University. This is a likely cause of death for all of the birds pictured here.

    All photographs were taken in the immediate vicinity of Tyler School of Art between August 30 and October 8, 2014.

    Red dots represent the approximate location where each photograph was taken.

    Presumably birds also die from hitting the eastern windows facing 12th Street. No photographs were taken there due to the thickness of the bushes.

     

    Bird Breathing from Stephanie L. Rogers on Vimeo. 1 minute, 2 seconds.

  • Urban/Environment

    Urban/Environment

    Urban/Environment explored urban ecology along Chicago Avenue, focusing on natural beauty in unexpected places, the fragility of life, and the tension between man-made structures and living organisms. Thirty-seven signs combining photographs and descriptive text were installed in public spaces for the summer of 2013. These signs mimicked the mannerisms of state park signage. Images focused on a micro view, encouraging a closer look at our surroundings.

    The signs were installed along Chicago Avenue and immediate side streets – in front yards, businesses’ windows, community gardens, and public areas. Installation locations were chosen for their proximity to the places where the photographs were taken.

    The text was developed in collaboration with Megan Buchanan and Jacob Richards, two biogeographers who live in the neighborhood. Richards and Buchanana ensured that the signs are as informative as they are lovely. Guided walks occurred in May, June, and July of 2013, as the public was invited to join in a hike along Chicago Avenue to learn more about our urban ecosystem.

    Map of installation locations for Urban/Environment

     

     

    This project is part of Arts on Chicago. The Arts on Chicago initiative is an arts-based community development project in Minneapolis, MN, led by Pillsbury House + Theatre, Upstream Arts, the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association, and MCAD Professor Natasha Pestich with support from the Ward 8 Council Office of Elizabeth Glidden. Arts on Chicago is funded in part by Artplace, a collaboration of twelve of the nation’s leading foundations, eight government agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts, and six financial institutions across the U.S.

    Stephanie L. Rogers is a fiscal year 2013 recipient of an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

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