By: Daniel Tucker, editor. Mary Jane Jacob and Kate Zeller, series editors.

Chicago: School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2015
Pages: 242
Dimensions: 6 in” x 9” in
Cover: soft cover
Binding: perfect bound
Process:digital
Color: color cover, black and white insides with 50 illustrations
Edition Size: unknown
ISBN: 9780982879849

The books in this series are our history. There are so many important stories that get told in this volume. There is a eulogy of our friend and mentor, Michael Piazza, by Bertha Husband. Michael was one of the most important pioneers of Chicago socially engaged art who is not properly acknowledged by the commercially driven art museums of the city. He paved the way for people who claim social practice art bona fides, but have made a commodified spectacle of their work so it can be in these places. The work of Temporary Services gets thoughtful attention from the mighty Brian Holmes. There is an interview of Dan Peterman and Ken Dunn by Laurie Palmer, all extremely important contributors to the rich discourse of this practice in the city.

From the editors:

Much ink has been spilled on how art intersects with the experiences of everyday life. But what about art grappling with how to live differently? Artists occupy an exceptional space where their livelihood permeates all aspects of life, eroding boundaries between the personal, the professional, and the political. This raises a little-analyzed question: Beyond making a living, how are artists making life?

Immersive Life Practices talks to Chicago-based artists and authors about life as an art practice and art as a life practice. The contributors explore a range of concerns, from how to be holistic, ethical, or practical; to how to balance life and work; to formal questions of how to represent a never-ending project.  Some speak fondly of long-term collaborative relationships that sustain their work, while others place emphasis on the physical space in and outside the city as necessary to keep them grounded. Engaging and honest, the essays and interviews in this collection will resonate with anyone working to create a life—and an art—worth living.

Immersive Life Practices is part of the new Chicago Social Practice History series, edited by Mary Jane Jacob and Kate Zeller in the Department of Exhibitions and Exhibition Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).