Sitôt — A new project launches. Become a part of it now.
by Kevin Freitas and David Fobes
Sitôt is an adverb in French that is generally used to designate a moment in time that has just passed — sitôt après - immediately after — or something that is about to happen as in the expression no sooner said than done. It implies a certain (physical) movement or action (trajectory) to be taken, a firm commitment that lies somewhere between the knowledge of the past and the unknown of the future. In other words, there’s no better time than the present. The whole notion of immediacy, of taking action or the taking up of arms (with the written word of course) appeals to me greatly. I wanted to seek out this immediacy through documenting the multitude of events, actions, and history being made daily in San Diego by its artists, their artworks, and those who support them. I would like to trace and record these actions — right now — through a series of interviews, eventual podcasts, video, or even art(ist) publications. My desire is to capture what is being thought about and talked about in the moment. This is why I am launching Sitôt.
Currently, I’m working with David Fobes on a project entitled “Re-collections: Art in San Diego since 1980”. Its goal is to document and publish online, a modest history of the arts in San Diego from the 1980’s until now. The project would also include documenting the music, theater, and dance movements and the people or institutions that helped shape them. We of course understand the magnitude of such an endeavor, but feel it is time to re-position the current art scene in relationship to where it has come from and to recognize the contributions it has already made.
If as is the case, there is a continuous flow of artists and art activists who choose to move to San Diego, there should be a place we feel, where you can search out the city’s cultural history (albeit within a specific time period) if for no other reason than to be aware and informed. I would like Sitôt to be that place. The better you highlight and understand a city’s artistic scene, the better you can insert yourself into it buy knowing the importance it has already played. The desire is not to find solace or comfort in the past, but to expand the future of what we know in an attempt to better clarify and place San Diego — at least contemporarily — in a larger art world context. By recognizing the past it can give us the momentum to make changes that perhaps are long overdue to the benefit of everyone. This is our hope. Both our interests in contemporary art and its history motivate us to do this.
It is of course, impossible to cover the scene or a scene entirely by oneself. This is where you can help.
You can help us by simply filling out the survey we have put online by clicking here. As the information you send is collected, we will use it to trace the events, exhibits, and artists over the years by consolidating it into a timeline of people, places and things. We are looking once again, to cover the period between 1980 and now. As an example of what this might look like, David Fobes has started to chronicle his early beginnings in San Diego with a series of chapters outlining his career, friendships and working relationships with other artists. The uniqueness of the project however is you. By helping us build this data bank with your own recollections, stories, photos and documentation, it can avoid a potentially dry and literal reading of this period. The goal is to have enough submissions by everyone to eventually publish the findings in a catalog. No history is too small as they say; we would like to know about yours. Whether you’re a newcomer or not to San Diego, we want to know about your involvement in the art scene — past or present — and how you’ve contributed to the shaping of it.
Our many thanks,
Kevin Freitas and David Fobes