Conjure (verb) con·â€‹jure; ˈkän-jÉ™r also conjured; conjuring
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1 : to charge or entreat earnestly or solemnly
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"I conjure you … to weigh my case well … " —Sheridan Le Fanu
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2 : to summon by or as if by invocation or incantation
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b(1): to affect or effect by or as if by magic
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3 : to bring to mind
One Aztec view of altars is that their power was in their arrangement. How one moved the items and put them in relation to each other helped connect humans to various powers. David Shorter takes a similar approach on his altar and in his curatorial work. Having co-curated a group show and as a curator of a museum exhibit on Indigenous masks, David regularly brings together artists and museum leaders in discussions, collaborations, and event planning. Below are some examples of the range of David's interests into the intersections of art and intersubjectivity.
Attunement
The Armory Center for the Arts opened their doors to the premier of Attunement, a group exhibition that includes paintings, photos, prints, text, and video that resonate beyond ranges of audio and visual perception. Curated by Leonardo Bravo, River Jukes-Hudson, and David, Attunement paid tribute to artists who function on multiple frequencies. They flow through worlds, above boundaries, under surfaces, around obstacles and inhabit the spaces in-between. They communicate on multiple channels, and their work can be defined as exceptionally rich, layered, complex, and in some ways “off the charts.” To appreciate the messages fully, we must “tune in” to the ranges of expression that continue infinitesimally through space and time. In addition, David wrote the essay for the exhibition guide. Some of the art featured in the exhibit can be found in this gallery.
Dr. David Delgado Shorter on Curating Carlos Castaneda’s Masks
From May 1 to August 15, 2014, the Fowler Museum at UCLA exhibited a collection of Yaqui (Yoeme) Pascola masks. This exhibit, curated by David, featured a wide variety of mask designs, videos from the Yoeme/Yaqui communities, images from the Yaqui homelands, and musical instruments from the Pascola arts. Some of these pascola (or "pahko'ola," in Yoeme) masks were pulled from the Fowler's collection of items donated by Carlos Castaneda. Clicking on the image features the curator’s tour, where David explains some of his curatorial decisions.
Dr. Shorter Named Researcher-in-Practice for Getty’s Pacific Standard Time Exhibit
With support from Getty’s Pacific Standard Time and Armory Center for the Arts, David was invited to demonstrate how Art and Science overlap, particularly in the realms of Indigenous collaboration with museums and galleries. As part of the exhibit: From the Ground Up, curated by Irene Georgia Tsatsos, David convened discussions among the artists and Indigenous artists, wrote an essay about the research, and published a piece on the moderated conversations leading up to the exhibit’s opening. You can read one of the pieces here.