Epistemics for Artists

By Bean Gilsdorf

This program is in partnership with Oregon Contemporary.

For the 2024 Artists’ Biennial, presented by Oregon Contemporary, Bean Gilsdorf presents an experimental lecture-performance that enmeshes facts, figures, memes, and clichés about the arts with key theories from psychology, philosophy, and linguistics. “Epistemics for Artists” will unpack the concept of being “epistemically adrift”—a term originally coined for mood disorders, but which could also be used to illuminate how artists have become patently alienated from the fruits of their own labor. Engaging with current research on the effects of artistic production, Gilsdorf invites the audience to consider the relationship between artist, community, and city. This staging of Gilsdorf’s first performance in Portland is inspired by her own experiences as an artist and builds on her groundbreaking 2021 city-wide study “Seeing Visual Artists” as well as her five years of work as an arts-advice columnist.