Devotion: How Sitting on the Floor at the Store Reminded Me Weaknesses Show Strength

Justin Caguiat Victoria Haynes Mati Hays Rose Marcus Anna Pollack

The best kind of tribute is one that is overheard. Think about me, but partition the room for my gratitude. A true dedication is one made of energy and one which hopes merely that you continue as you were. Through a wall you hear a vibration start and stop, a pause, a song beginning—Your hand / Fall on me / Your hands / Fall on me—a framework for an image some person on a train drew in 2014 when you used to take pictures of people on subways.

Every day you walk to the same spot and do the same thing and half the time it works for you. Everything is phenomenal; everyone is doing it. Birds cock their heads at different angles behind their tiny easels and study the contours of your spine. There’s a rhythm to caring about other people and if you tie it in a bow and curl the ribbons you muffle the sound.

Justin Caguiat (b. 1989, Tokyo) is based in New York, NY. Recent projects include a solo exhibition at 15 Orient; and group exhibitions at The Loon, Kunsthalle Zürich, Shimizu Brand, The Sunroom; and a book of writing published by Codétte. Justin will be presenting a body of work for a project with Kimberly-Klark at this year’s NADA Miami.

Victoria Haynes (b. 1992, Atlanta, GA) graduated with a BFA from RISD in 2015. Past exhibitions include “Decision Kit for Miss Fortune” at Gern en Regalia, Notable American Women” at MX Gallery; “Something’s Come Between Us,” at Songs for Presidents; “The Bunt,” at Ginny Projects, “Thank You for Being a Friend,” at 18th St Arts Center in Santa Monica. She has done independent artistic research at the Library of Congress and the University of Urbana, Illinois.

Mati Hays (b. 1997, Hendersonville, TN) recently earned a BFA from Parsons The New School. Currently, they are producing a body of work that utilizes methodologies of Speculative design, wherein Hays reconceptualizes the use of fashion objects (footwear) motivated by their research in post-human fashion studies. The artist currently lives and works in Berlin.

Rose Marcus (b. 1982, Atlanta, GA) lives and works in New York and received a B.F.A. from Pratt Institute and an M.A. thesis candidate in Art History from Hunter College, both in New York. Her solo exhibitions include Mary Mary (Glasgow), Know More Games and Eli Ping Frances Perkins (New York), David Peterson Gallery (Minneapolis), And Now (Dallas), and Night Gallery (Los Angeles). Marcus will have a forthcoming solo exhibition at Night Gallery in Los Angeles, and her work was recently featured in In The Abstract at Mass MoCA.

Anna Pollack (b. 1995) was born in New York City and raised in Queens. She graduated with a BFA from Tisch in 2017. Past exhibitions include ” A Consensus Noise” at Romeo Gallery, “Disclose” at 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, and “Pine Barrens” at Tanya Bonakdar. Her work explores the relationship between identity and physical environment. She lives and works in Brooklyn.