Curated by Alexis Wilkinson

Like the social-practice equivalent of Charles and Ray Eames’s 1977 film Powers of Ten, the work of artist Chloë Bass conceptualizes a steady pan outward from the individual (The Bureau of Self-Recognition, 2011–13) to the pair (The Book of Everyday Instruction, 2015–17) to the family (Obligation to Others Holds Me in My Place, 2018–). At Knockdown Center, her eight-part study of one-on-one interactions will be shown in its entirety for the first time. Through photographs, videos, installations, and interviews at sites across the US, Bass has documented what she evocatively calls “performance art for no audience.” Organized by Knockdown Center’s Alexis Wilkinson and presented in sequential chapters, Bass’s explorations of intimacy between herself and a stranger and the etiquette of interaction expand to tackle ever more pressing questions about how we orient ourselves in relation to others.

— Rachel Churner