Last week at PSU, Clementine Deliss was on hand to discuss two of her pet projects. Metronome, an ongoing printed publication, allowed Deliss to stop curating exhibitions while continuing the same kinds of critical explorations or, in her own words, to stay involved in research instead of service. For the tenth publication of Metronome, Deliss is teaming up with members of another project she initiated, Future Academy. This project, which has been three years in the running, has allowed Deliss to enter the university system in an informal way, creating a structure based on her own interests and the voluntary involvement of students rather than codified academic structures.

The next issue of Metronome, published in conjunction with Documenta 12, borrows its theme and format from the nearly thirty year old Philomath-based photocopied 'zine, "Dwelling Portably." Working closely with Oscar Tuazon and Marjorie Harlick, Deliss has been creating this issue while on location in Oregon, working from an RV and engaging in a half-assed attempt to meet the couple who runs "Dwelling Portably."

The ideas they explore are worthy of investigation—the notion of studio, risk, institutional structures, micro-savings, ecologies, translations and architecture as lifestyle. The bothersome part is their project wallows in self-imposed limitations and the futility of this project ever reaching the same level of practicality that "Dwelling Portably" achieves, which to me seems to undermine the lab-like nature of their inquiry. A few members of the crowd weren't quite convinced that "outing" the couple who runs "Dwelling Portably" to an international audience during Documenta 12 presented any interest, especially when even the small town postman, who works at the post office where the couple mails out their 'zine, claimed that he didn't know what they looked like. I was more concerned by the lack of acknowledgment about the parasitical nature of their activities, which depend on the very institutions (universities and international art venues alike) that they try to subvert. Despite my reservations, I am still curious to see what the collaboration between Metronome and Future Academy will bring. Tonight, we can see the debut of Metronome 10 for ourselves during the release party at PICA.

Metronome 10 release party • Tuesday, March 28 • 7 to 9p
PICA Resource Room • 224 NW 13th Ave. 3rd Floor • 503.242.1419