RoCoCo is an artistic collaborative duo made up of KC Rosenberg (kcrosenberg.com) and Modesto Covarrubias (modyc.com). RoCoCo is short for Rosenberg Covarrubias Collaborations. Together they were the Artists in Residence at SJMQT in the Fall of 2017.
Describe the main differences of your 'old' studio to your 'Shelter in Place' studio.
We had been meeting in the studio and working together on our latest work. It involved working on the pieces side-by-side, with each of us focusing on at least one piece; then, when deemed necessary, we'd trade the piece for the other to add, subtract, and alter it in any way they saw fit. Pieces were traded back and forth until considered finished.
After realizing how Shelter-In-Place might affect our collaboration, we've come up with a way to continue in this manner but adding hygienic trading routines. Pieces and materials are traded by dropping off into a container (sealable box or bag). The pieces and materials are left alone for 72 hours, untouched. Then, while adhering to cleaning protocols of wearing gloves, the pieces and materials are disinfected, cleansed, purified as best as possible, and worked on until they need to be traded or are considered finished. It's weird not being able just to hand the pieces or handle the same materials, like your collaborator may have cooties or something (we have to chuckle at this). Still, we are taking in the seriousness of containing the virus for everyone's lives now. Subsequently, this process directly addresses the reality of working in solitude while being a collaborative, as it has deliberately moved us to two separate spaces. There is a sudden understanding of our familiar interactions, and how we have grown as collaborators; the trust and intimacy around making are now being challenged by the hurdle or sheltering in place. This is, for now, the new normal for our practice together, and we are just beginning to incorporate the implications into the content as well as to the making of the work.
What has surprised you about your art practice since the Shelter in Place order?
It brings on a performative or ceremonial aspect to making. The process involves collecting the materials for the other person, packing them up, transporting them, receiving and then sorting them. And then we use our devised methods of understanding (somewhere between radar and telepathy) to decode what the other might have thought of by choice of materials. It's not quite guessing or analyzing, but almost like choreography or writing a song, with each of us taking on lyrics, chorus, melody and harmony as needed. Maybe we need a soundtrack, sage smoke, or some other ritual…
What do you do when you get "stuck" in your creative process? Where do you turn for inspiration?
Modesto: I go out for walks. Swimming has always helped as it is physical yet meditative. Watch films or listen to music. Sketch...lots of sketching.
KC: Yes, the walks are essential, but we have a secret weapon for when we get "stuck" in the collaboration; so far we have no shortage of ideas. We've sketched out more ideas than we will have in years for producing those ideas. I'd say I turn to Modesto and our collaboration for inspiration.
What are you currently reading/ listening to?
KC: I am reading about equity in education, leadership, and ethics. At the top of the stack today is “From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education,” Tia Brown Mcnair, Estella Bensimon and Lindsey Malcom-Piqeux, 2020.
KC: Top of the iTunes list for some reason Lizzo, my dear friends Felsen and the song "Every Day is a Winding Road" by Sheryl Crow.
Modesto: I just finished a book on Agnes Martin (Dia Foundation, 2012), and also finished Eva Hesse's diaries (Yale University Press, 2016) and looking for the next good read. For the project in Pacifica, it involves a lot of knitting, so I'm listening to all sorts of podcasts, including one by the Guggenheim about exhibitions on contemporary drawing in the 60s and 70s. I tend to submerge myself in artspeak until I can't take it anymore...then the music comes back and it's usually my favorite bands of the 80s and 90s, or opera.
What advice would you give to other creatives at this moment in time?
KC: It doesn't seem a time to be competitive at least not in a guarded, one-upmanship manner. I'd like to see more collaboration and collective agency for artists; more care and support for each other. Creatives are the best problem solvers, and sometimes, often, being ok with ambiguity might be the gift of all gifts between us.
Modesto: Don't stress out if you cannot make anything...it will seep back. We are all dealing with the shock of our current situation and whatever it leads to. Lose yourself into whatever you need to and then slowly make your way back to being creative. Allow time for play (whatever that means to you). When you're ready, make make make.
What artist, who works in a different medium, informs your practice?
Modesto: Filmmakers: Akira Kurosawa, Agnes Varda, Pedro Almodóvar, Yasujiro Ozu, Mira Nair, Alfonso Cuarón, Michelangelo Antonioni, Tarkovsky, Hitchcock, Deepa Mehta, Satyajit Ray, Fellini, Kubrick, etc.
Modesto: Choreographers, Musicians, and other Performers: Laurie Anderson, Ron Athey, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Dimitris Papaioannou, Franko B, Diamanda Galas, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, David Byrne, etc.
They all have different ways of storytelling, of informing and using space and visual textures, and of expressing, effecting, or analyzing emotion.
KC: Musicians: Yes Laurie Anderson, too many to mention but women vocalists with grit Lucinda Williams, Erykah Badu, Gillian Welch.
Writers; Bachelard, Patti Smith's writing
Cooking random cooking competitions, recipes books
Also, art practices, crafts brought about from ingenuity or brought about out of need such as quilting, groups such as Gees Bend quilt collaborators
What non-art related activity do you do to invigorate your body/ mind?
Modesto: Swimming. I let my body move while my mind is able to focus on something else. I can think through projects, mull over ideas, etc. while my body glides through the water, and my heart and lungs become strengthened. Long walks are second best when I can't go swimming. Gardening, now that I have a little more time and it's spring!
KC: Dancing, singing, meditating, I also read a lot about teaching, pedagogy, and cognitive sciences, I'd say teaching invigorates my mind too.
What is your favorite place to look at the artwork on the web? In-person?
Modesto: Instagram. It's accessible and offers a variety that often leads to surprises; as long as you allow enough time to fall down the rabbit hole (but limit it so you don't get completely lost in it). In person is anywhere that is open. I go to museums and galleries several times per month (before Shelter in Place). I also love to travel to see art; both contemporary and historic. The Prado and the Victoria & Albert Museum are my favorite museums in the world!
KC: I would always prefer in-person, of course, and even without the COVID outbreak, the time I have to do this is limited. Modesto and I still talk about which is better; Instagram or Facebook? As my son says, Facebook is for older people but I like to read about art too. I search out readings on Hyperallergic.com, and I find those links through Facebook.
What are you looking forward to doing again once Shelter in Place is over?
Modesto: Going out! Experiencing art in person. Swimming, eating in restaurants, sitting in cafes, sketching, and eavesdropping on conversations. Traveling. Being in a class with students. Making work in the studio together! Hugging my friends and family.
KC: Yes, teaching live! There's really no replacement for this in-studio practice. Concocting great potluck meals with friends Also, seeing live music and singing with my musician friends who have all been devastated by the recent isolation and loss of work.
What is your favorite afternoon snack?
Modesto: Dates with blue cheese; dried figs with cashew butter.
KC: Apples, cheese and a cup of tea and a biscuit (cookie). I love Modesto's favorites too.
Anything else you would like to say or mention?
We are both working on other "projects" outside of RoCoCo. KC is finishing her doctoral thesis for an EdD in Organizational Change and Leadership at USC, and Modesto is collaborating on a project about Sea Level Rise in Pacifica with a group of other artists through the Sanchez Art Center.
We are both teaching and reinventing our teaching capabilities around online instruction. We are seeing the potential of that space. The pressure of time and limitations of space apart from many people, including each other as a collaborative team, challenges us to remain curious as to how we can capture the occasion and show something about the ways we humans connect. Thinking about the "passion" in compassion at this time in the world, and how badly both are needed, it is important to understand how these two things generate so much imperative activity as the most vulnerable become more so, and we brace ourselves for hard times.
Our latest work is underway (all works in progress, except for Flipside. see below). We refer to these as the wrapped pieces:
The are based upon this piece, called Flipside, 2018: (Side A)
(Side B)
Talk of the Town series: Out Loud in A Crowd, 2019.
From an exhibition in Oakland 2019. (L to R: You Arrived Like a Day, 2019; Forgiveness Maquette, 2015; Passed Like a Cloud, 2019; Maybe Someday, 2019)
Grafting Nostalgic Series: Pruneyard Parking Lot, 2019
Grafting Nostalgic Series: Secrets of Greenmont West, 2019
Studio shot. late 2019 (Grafting Nostalgic series work):
