Finnegan Shannon installs conveyor belt for displaying art accessibly in Brooklyn 

New York City-based artist Finnegan Shannon has installed a conveyor belt to display art at cultural centre Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, USA, as a commentary on accessibility in art.

According to Pioneer Works, the There’s No Me Without You installation fulfils Shannon’s “longtime fantasy of an exhibition space that would meet their access needs”. 

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Chairs were placed around the closed-loop 12-foot-long mechanism, letting visitors sit when viewing and engaging with exhibited objects, archival materials and portable DVD players placed on a series of moving trays. 

It was created from a restaurant-style system similar to those used in sushi restaurants where the food is delivered via a conveyor belt. The rest of the room on the upper floor of the arts centre was covered in rich fabrics and built-in benches along the perimeter. 

“My conveyor belt, technically a retail and restaurant-style display system, is a tool for me to be in less pain when I’m experiencing art,” said Shannon, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth. “I notice I am a much more patient and curious visitor when I’m sitting down.”   

The title of the installation reflects the artist’s relationship to the concept of interdependence.

“If disabled people were in charge, we would have a bunch of varied and deluxe options for sitting and lying down in exhibition spaces,” they said. 

“Instead we live in a world where this type of infrastructure is quite basic and sparse.”  

The installation is being used to present new commissions by artists with disabilities Joselia Rebekah Hughes, Ariana Martinez and Alex Dolores Salerno. For the three consecutive exhibitions, visitors are invited to interact with the work through touch, sight, and sound.  

Air filters with bright colours were included in the middle of the conveyor belt to assist with air quality and masks were encouraged for visitors.

Shannon emphasised the collaborative nature of artistic endeavour through the exhibition.

“We know that on some fundamental level, no solo exhibition is truly a solo endeavor,” Shannon said. 

“Putting together an exhibition takes immense collaboration and support – art handlers, facilities staff, curators, registrars, accountants, assistants – and that is all within the institution.”

“You can trace that entanglement further: I’m dependent on workers, paid and unpaid care labor, and friendships, family, and more, both locally and across the globe.”  

“I never want someone to come away from an exhibition with my work feeling like they’ve experienced something that is mine,” they said. “Instead I hope they have threads to follow to learn more about the vast world of knowledge that is disability culture.”

Shannon’s other projects have focused on access. Alt Text as Poetry, a collaboration with Bojana Coklyat exploring image description and Do You Want Us Here or Not is a series of museum benches and cushions designed to encourage rest.

Other designs that prioritise accessibility were showcased at The Fashion Institute of Technology’s Adapt/Evolve exhibition in New York last year. 

There’s No Me Without You is on show at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn from 12 September to 20 December. For more exhibitions, installations and talks worldwide, visit Dezeen Events Guide.

Photography by Dan Bradica