The Anti-Automatism Laboratory – Donny Gettinger

The Anti-Automatism Laboratory

by Donny Gettinger
Opening Reception October 19, 5pm-9pm
Closing Reception/Artist Talk November 16, 4pm-7pm

Since being released into the wild from school, Donny Gettinger has supported himself by working both as an art handler and fabricator for other artists. Having one foot in each of these two careers often produces different understandings of how art is conceived, produced, valued, and shaped by outside forces.

The central work Climbing a Ladder connects the surrounding pieces with a layer of
physicality. The role of artistic integrity is called into doubt within this field that also supports alternative means of production. Untitled I, II, and III focus further on the idea of production, interpreting the concept through three separate drives or themes: original idea, copy, and commission. The pieces in this series share some common formal and material similarities, but differ primarily in their respective motivations for existing.

Donny Gettinger is a Minneapolis-based artist who merges video, performance, collage, and assemblage. His work interprets the perplexing nature of “in-betweens” and transitional spaces, often within the context of rural Midwestern America.

He received his MFA in Sculpture from Indiana University in 2014 after studying Printmaking at Western Illinois University. He has exhibited both nationally and internationally, with work included in recent exhibitions at Montagehalle in Berlin, Germany, Site:Brooklyn in Brooklyn, NY, Fuller Gallery in Bloomington, IN, and Can Can Wonderland in St. Paul, MN. Donny is also the Founder and Director of The Pop-up Puppet Truck; a mobile performance space built into the cargo area of a 2003 Ford Ranger which conducts performances during rush hour traffic in Minneapolis, MN and Chicago, IL.

Gettinger’s assemblage-based approach to art-making employs the sensibilities of a working- class minimalist. I impose restrictions and a restrained pallet within individual pieces, but use a variety of materials and techniques within my overall practice. Elements of sculpture, video, collage, performance, printmaking, and photography combine in my work to form humorous, sometimes uncooperative compositions.