ROBIN F. WILLIAMS | P·P·O·W

Written By Artists Commit

Installation View of Robin F. Williams, Out Lookers, October 15 - November 13, 2021 at P·P·O·W. Courtesy of Robin F. Williams and P·P·O·W, New York.

ROBIN F. WILLIAMS
OUT LOOKERS
P·P·O·W
october 15 - november 13, 2021

Introduction

Known for her large-scale paintings of stylized, sentient, yet ambiguously generated female figures, Robin F. Williams employs a variety of techniques, including oil, airbrush, poured paint, marbling, and staining of raw canvas to create deeply textured and complexly constructed paintings. Building upon previous visual investigations into the coded narratives of American media, Out Lookers extends Williams’ oeuvre into the supernatural with a new cohort of ghosts, cryptids, witches, and trolls. The paranormal subjects on view in this exhibition serve as prisms, casting light on a spectrum of female identities that contemporary society has all too often mistrusted, scapegoated, and demonized.

Subverting cultural contradictions and fundamentalist dichotomies surrounding women’s bodies, Williams also examines the parallels between the policing of non-binary identities and the rampant destruction of our broader ecological body in her latest exhibition at P·P·O·W. Aligning with Williams’ commitment to environmental justice, Out Lookers marks the first carbon-conscious exhibition at P·P·O·W. As part of ongoing efforts to support Galleries Commit and a climate-conscious future, P·P·O·W has committed to track the carbon output throughout the planning and execution of Williams’ Out Lookers. At the end of the show, the gallery will make a donation to permanent, old-growth forest conservation with Galleries Commit x Art to Acres.

Artist Climate Policy

Robin F. Williams has made environmental activism central to her practice as a leading member of Artists Commit. Williams’ Studio Climate Policy is as follows:

Cutting Emissions:

  • Limit plane travel whenever possible. This means virtual exhibition planning for locations outside of local travel radius, and no traveling for art fairs.

  • Shipping by land freight wherever possible.

  • Non-local collectors who buy work in advance of exhibitions must wait to receive work until after exhibition.

  • Placement of artwork in art fairs should be given local priority. The piece should stay on the continent where the fair is located to reduce international airfreight emissions.

  • No traveling for visiting artists lectures, virtual or local visits only.

  • Use train travel over car or air travel whenever possible.

  • Dinners after exhibitions should be pescatarian or vegetarian.

 

Eliminate Waste:

  • Reuse as much material as possible.

  • Make reuse part of your painting innovation practice.

  • Phase out masking tape as much as possible. Look for other painting techniques that involve reusable masking or no masking at all.

  • Prioritize glass containers over plastic. Reuse plastic containers for as long as possible.

  • Bring lunch from home as often as possible.

  • Always offer excess or unneeded material to your community before throwing away.

  • Reduce use of plastic. Reuse whenever possible. Look for biodegradable plastic alternatives.

 

Support People:

  • Pay fair and transparent wages to assistant, vendors, or fabricators.

  • Shop locally for art supplies and materials.

  • Ask vendors about their climate policies.

  • Make sure to partner only with galleries or institutions who represent or exhibit a broad range of artists regarding gender, sexuality, race, and ethnic background.

  • Every year, donate some portion of income to climate and/or social justice causes.

  • Commit to donating some portion of the sales from each show to a carbon capture or social justice org.

 

Gallery Climate Policy

P·P·O·W is committed to a climate-conscious future and the development of an industry-specific response to the growing climate crisis. In partnership with Galleries Commit, a coalition of gallery owners, employees, and artists advocating for climate conscious practices within the art world, P·P·O·W has developed an environmental action plan which can be viewed through the Climate Action Database. Key points from the action plan are as follows:

 

Cutting Emissions:

  • Converted building energy to a clean source

  • Converted all lights to LED

  • Implement policies for shipping that aim to reduce emissions, such as:

    • Plan ahead for consolidated shipments to fairs and exhibitions

    • Prioritize zero-emissions transport for local trips

Eliminate Waste:

  • Implemented policies that reduce waste related to gallery culture and administrative and operations practices

    • Encourage comprehensive recycling

    • Reduce single-use plastics from being purchased by the gallery

    • Purchase “green”/all-natural cleaning supplies and/or ask cleaning service providers about “green”/all-natural cleaning supplies

    • Assign a staff member to do an audit of material use and supply orders

  • Implement policies to minimize waste related to digital policy, such as:

    • Move email to the cloud

    • Send large attachments via a file sharing link instead of as an attachment

  • Implement packing policies and practices that minimize waste, such as:

    • Eliminate as much waste as possible by using thoughtful packing approaches, recycling, and promoting reuse of materials

    • Use re-useable, rental, or pre-existing crates

    • Consult with builders and vendors to safely reduce weight of crates

    • Save offcuts to reuse

  • Implement exhibition policies that minimize waste, such as:

    • Plan exhibitions in advance

    • Minimize paint used, and select no lead, non-VOC paint brands

    • Offer digital alternatives to paper exhibition supplements like press releases and checklists

Support Staff:

  • Build resilient social fabrics

    • Consider studio ethics, climate impact, and other contextual factors when determining artists to work with

    • Implement racial equity and diversity hiring practices; hire BIPOC workers

    • Treat all staff with respect and operate with understanding of their humanity

    • Ensure gallery spaces are fully ADA accessible

Collective Action:

  • With respect to any task, define the “best” option as the most conscious option – not the fastest or cheapest

  • Make decisions with the understanding that people and the planet are more important than profits

  • Actively oppose harmful systems of domination, including racism, wage and labor inequality, and practices that threaten mid-tier and emerging galleries

Carbon Emissions

On Site Energy: .69 tCO2e

​​On average, the building hosting the exhibition uses 3,438KWh of electricity.

The artwork directly consumes no electricity.

Shipping: .01 tCO2e

All works were transported to the gallery via road freight in a total of 7 trips, resulting in .01 tCO2e.

Waste Report 

Using a material afterlife checklist, P·P·O·W categorized the destination of material used in the exhibition.

Reuse:

to be reused for the same purpose as the original use

  • Cardboard

  • Foam stands

  • Plastic wrap

  • Screws

  • Cardboard and plastic used for slipcases and shadowboxes will be reused for future packaging

  • Foam stands and screws used from previous installs/deinstalls and will be used in future installs/deinstalls

Storage:

items sent to storage, but without a clear plan for immediate reuse or repurpose

  • Exhibition catalogue

  • 6 boxes of exhibition catalogues (210 copies) not intended for immediate sale were sent to storage

Refuse:

item was not used at all and therefore potential waste was avoided

  • Press releases and checklists (only two copies of the press release and checklist are available at the front desk—a QR code is provided as an alternative)

 

Recycle:

items placed in the recycling bin

  • Plastic wrap

  • Plastic catalogue wrapper

Landfill

items sent to a landfill

  • Paper tape

  • Plastic tape

  • Magic Erasers

  • Catalogue mailing supplies (envelopes, poly mailers)

  • Plastic catalogue wrapper

  • Only supplies that are unable to be reused or recycled are sent to landfill

Additional Notes

Conducting the case study for Robin F. Williams’ Out Lookers enabled P·P·O·W to gain a better understanding of its carbon footprint in both daily operations as well as in exhibition preparation. This study will serve as a blueprint for the gallery’s future operations and forthcoming exhibitions. For the preparation of Out Lookers, the greatest emitters of greenhouse gases were building energy usage and catalogue production. The majority of the works featured in the show were transported from locations within the tri-state area, including Williams’ studio in Brooklyn. Given this, the carbon footprint as a result of shipping was kept low and further minimized by looping multiple pickups into one trip.

 

P·P·O·W’s participation in Galleries Commit will also encourage the gallery to continue researching sustainable practices to further reduce its carbon footprint. At the end of Out Lookers, P·P·O·W will donate a portion of its proceeds to Galleries Commit x Art to Acres, which will support the creation of a new permanent nationally protected area called the Chuyapi-Urusayhua Regional Conservation Area in Peru.

 

P·P·O·W recognizes the unique impact galleries hold in the ongoing climate crisis and understands the vitality of committing to change in order to continue working towards a more climate-conscious future.

Thank you to Robin F. Williams and P·P·O·W for supporting the preparation of this Climate Case Study.

Exhibition link: https://www.ppowgallery.com/exhibition/7819/press-release

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