During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world began to cease normal functions and practices of capitalism and daily life. Art galleries closed to adhere to regulations. We, as a small independent gallery in an inner-city suburb, were left with an art exhibition (43 Minutes by The KACA Projects) strung in a kind of limbo, unable to be viewed and promoted, nor able to be dismantled and bumped out. We suggested to the artists of The KACA Projects that there may be a way to evolve the concept of the fifth wall and what the KACA Projects had intended to explore. Through online discussions, The KACA Projects, together with Side Gallery, put together a COVID-19 version of an artist residency and invited the members from the original wall-painting experiment to become the new caretakers of the fifth wall. The KACA Projects relinquished power and control of the project in a ceremonial handover statement (below), and each caretaker was given a week to use the space; however they saw fit.
Ceremonial handover statement “The KACA Projects have ceded artistic authorial power over the wall, and the objects associated with it, to a Caretaker Committee.”
This video captures the Caretaker Committee artists residencies.