Selected works
Collaborative Dialogical art Projects
Includes participatory events that connect citizens, facilitate dialog, and promote civic engagement. There are three main project initiatives: 1) MAKETANK, 2) Howdy/Hej-hva så?, and 3) Design-Build.
1) MAKETANK Inc. (MTI)
Co-founded (in 2012) and co-direct MTI (501c3) and its three-part mission: 1) produce creative projects that connect community members who normally do not interact, 2) promote the sharing of skills, and 3) create individuals’ confidence in their own creativity. With my co-director (sculptor/woodworker Kate Currie) we administer three initiatives: the Oxford Kinetics Festival, MAKETANK year-round programming, and MAKETANK Projects.
This is an annual, day-long event showcasing the creativity of students, community members, and professional artists featuring exhibitions, film screenings, performance art, music, a kinetic sculpture race, food, kids activities, and skill sharing. This requires connecting and managing regional partnerships, connecting and managing university partnerships, grant writing, collaborating with other kinetic sculpture races/festivals, marketing, creating/maintaining web and social media identities, and fundraising. I host design/build workshops at the Miami sculpture studio in the month leading up to the OKF where students, community members, and faculty families receive design consultation and are assisted in the fabrication of a vehicle for the scramble (the kinetic sculpture race at the OKF). The OKF started in 2010, and in 2013 it had approximately 1100 participants.
MAKETANK Year-Round Programming
I facilitate and co-manage community programs that occur year-round but have an exposition/exhibition at the OKF. These cross-disciplinary connections feature collaborations between Miami University (students, professors, chairs, and deans), regional k-12 schools (administrators, teachers, students), local institutions (public libraries, museums, local businesses, civic leaders, arts organizations, youth centers, big brothers/big sisters), and professionals (artists and engineers). Outcomes include arts-based STEM (STEAM) enhancements for various levels of education including the MAKETANK First Grade Balance and Motion project, a MAKETANK Middle School Engineering Club, a MAKETANK Special Services experience, the MAKETANK 9th grade physical science initiative, and an after school MAKETANK Big Brothers/Big Sisters Shadow Puppet Theater Project.
These MTI projects use the MAKETANK Projects space in College Corner, Ohio (a multi-use community studio and exhibition space) as the conceptual and physical site for events including workshops, performances, exhibitions, design charrettes, and community art-interventions). These were presented in research presentations at the International Sculpture Conference and the Mid-America College Art Association, both in 2012 (see Research Presentations) and in an interview for the Design Recharge Show (see Exhibition Reviews, Interviews, and Works Cited in Publications)
MAKETANK Projects Exhibitions and Events
2013
Mr. Phukamakae. Performance and site-specific exhibition of work from five Ohio artists (Tracy Featherstone, Craig Clements, Roscoe Wilson, Andrew Au, and Jenn Purdum) who were locked inside MAKETANK Projects for 30 hours.
Exhibition: Suspended Resources. Work by Alysia Fischer
2012
Live Public Drawing. 35 professional artists, students, and community members gathered for a one-night marathon of drawing. Artists worked in shifts and drew onto overhead projectors, which projected their drawings onto the storefront of the exhibition space (viewable from the street)
Exhibition: New Work by Loring Taoka
Exhibition: Spectacular Wanders. Work by Alycia Obermeyer
2011-Present
Pancake Dialogs. “Brainstorming meals” with artists and local citizens to generate engaging public art. (14 dialogs have been held since 2011)
2) Howdy/Hej-hva så?
In the Fall of 2013 I focused on the topic of alternative and intentional communities (based on shared ideology) and crafted unique living/learning events to research their organization and social systems.
- In August I attended the Burning Man Project (an 8 day social experiment of 68,000 people in Nevada) and performed as a mobile repair-man (Mr. Fix It) on a custom bike workshop/studio.
- In September I lived with my wife and my (then 18-month old) son on a boat in an intentional, co-boating community called Skibbroen in Copenhagen, Denmark, where we interviewed residents and held pancake dialogs to gather personal accounts of their plight against impending development.
- In October I began a research residency an we moved into a flat in the self-proclaimed autonomous free-zone known as Christiania built on a derelict military base in downtown Copenhagen (see Artist Residencies). I interviewed the Christianites to gain insight about their battles with the Copenhagen government and police (because of the cannabis market that exists in Christiania as well the real-estate values of the land they occupy.
The complexity of all research events prompted us to create a performative project, during which we became characters in complex narrative performed daily for one week in October. We founded Howdy/Hej-hva så, a (fictitious) pioneering intentional community with a population of 3.
- We created bright yellow clothing from thrift store fabric, migrated from Christiania to a Værelse 101 (an exhibition space in downtown Copenhagen) by cargo bicycle, and established an intentional community based on the ideologies of social happiness, cultural generosity, and resourceful making.
- We created videos of our culture in action in Copenhagen in our cultural dress
- We held an open house (art opening) on Copenhagen’s culture night
- We lived in the exhibition spaces, but when we were not there we screened our videos
- We went into the city to cook “American” pancakes on a borrowed mobile bike-kitchen. They were free for passers-by who were willing to discuss the dynamics of intentional living with us.
We eventually conceded that our community would cease and that Howdy/Hej-hva så? would assimilate into the greater global society, so we ended the performance with a live drawing night public event (art closing).
All narratives were documented and exhibited through social media. Documents from this event were left in Værelse 101 as an exhibition (Howdy/Hej-hva Sa?). This event was presented at the South Eastern College Art Conference in a performative presentation/community meal in 2013.
3) Design-build
2013
Everyone Needs a Home. This event involved the creation of “rat-house kits,” assembled by local high school students in Greensboro, North Carolina, during a workshop focused on access to shelter.
2012 – Present
Antioch Organic Farm Public Tea Shelter. This connects Yellow Springs, OH citizens with architects, artists, and students to create an innovative public meeting place. Community planning prompted the creation of an international, public tea-house. Collaborators include artists Sara Black and Jillian Soto, and architect Charlie Vinz. Expected completion in 2014.
Commissions
2011
Skills, Shorelines, and Ships, a three part wood sculpture, designed, created, and installed May through August, partially, publicly fabricated on site. Commissioned by the Astor Neighborhood Association in conjunction with the City of Green Bay, WI for installation on the shore of the Fox River, the proposal was juried by community members.
2010
Indigenous Animals of Hot Springs National Park. Illustrations for use in print materials commissioned by the National Parks Service at Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas.
National Solo Exhibitions
2011
Art League Houston, TX, Indigenous Genius: The R.W. Northcutt Collection, Juried,
2010
Parkland Art Gallery, Parkland College, Champaign, IL, A Natural History of Fabrication: Recent Works by Rod Northcutt, Juried
2009
Lee Gallery, Miami University, Oxford, OH, Tunnelworks: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Groundhog, Invitational
1708 Gallery, Richmond, VA, Indigenous Genius, Juried
Winner Gallery, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, Cazenovia, NY, Condida Bestia (Making Animals), Invitational
2008
Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI, Rod Northcutt: Controlled Commensalism, Juried
2002
Conduit Gallery, Dallas, Texas, Rod Northcutt: M.U.D.T., Invitational
Regional Solo Exhibitions
2014
Fitton Center for Creative Arts, Hamilton, OH, Earth and Sky, Juried
International Group Exhibitions
2013
Howdy/Hej-Hva Så?, Værelse 101, Copenhagen, Denmark, Invitational
2007
Environmental Resident Exhibition, I-Park, East Haddam, CT, Juried
2006
Golden Opportunity, Ethical Metalsmiths, Chicago, IL (Society of North American Goldsmiths Conference at the Barbican Center) and London, England (Association of Contemporary Jewellery) and online (June 2006 to present):www.ethicalmetalsmiths.org, Juried
National Group Exhibitions
2012-14
Two Kinds of Funny (travelling exhibition),1) Meyers Gallery, University of Cincinnati, Ohio, 20 University of Montevallo, Alabama, 3) Shepherd University, West Virginia, and 4) Ball State University, Indiana, invitational
2011
Of House and Home, Whole Gallery, Baltimore, MD, Invitational
2010
Small Works: Art + Object, Marty Walker Gallery, Dallas, TX, Invitational
2009
Perfect Fit, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA, Juried
2008
Human intervention in the Industrial Landscape, Carving Studio & Sculpture Center, West Rutland, VT, Juried
Art on Paper, Long Beach Island Foundation of Arts and Sciences, Loveladies, NJ, Juried
Relative Environment, Empire Fulton-Ferry Park, Brooklyn, NY, Juried
Composting Good and Evil, Ethical Metalsmiths, Society of North American Goldsmiths Conference, Savannah, GA and online (March 2008 to present) www.ethicalmetalsmiths.org, Juried
The Oath of the Horatii, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, Cazenovia, NY, Invitational, Permanent installation
Political Craft, The Society for Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA, Invitational
Great Lakes Drawing Biennial, Eastern Michigan University Gallery, Ypsilanti, MI, Juried
Origins, Fox Art Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, Juried
Gestures of Resistance, Gray Matters Gallery, shown in conjunction with a College Art Association panel of the same name, Dallas, TX, Juried
2007
Still Flying, Empire Fulton-Ferry Park, Brooklyn, NY, Juried
The Art of Tools, The Society for Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA, Invitational
Biennial 24, South Bend Regional Museum of Art, South Bend, IN, Juried
2006
Drawing No Conclusions, Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI, Juried
Connections, Ben Shahn Gallery, Wayne, NJ, Juried
Alameda National, Alameda Arts Center, Alameda, CA, Juried
2003
Siting Sculpture, Dallas Center for Contemporary Art, Dallas, TX, Juried
2002
Animals in Art, Penelec-Bowman-Megahan Art Gallery, Allegheny College, Meadville, PA, Juried
Hijinx, Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington, TX and University of Texas Dallas Gallery, Dallas, TX (two venues), Invitational
1999
Modern Stations: Haley Bates and Rod Northcutt, Conduit Gallery Annex, Dallas, Texas (two-person), Invitational
Regional Group Exhibitions
2013
Artists as Activists, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY, Invitational
The Art of Paper, Miami Downtown Gallery, Hamilton, OH, Invitational
Artspace Invitational, Historic Mercantile Lofts, Hamilton, OH, Invitational
Miami University Faculty Exhibition, Miami University Museum, Oxford, OH, Associational
2011
Encore, Memorial Hall, Cincinnati, OH, Invitational
2010
Craft Summer Faculty Exhibition, Hiestand Galleries, Miami University, Oxford, OH, Invitational
2008
Faculty Exhibition, Bevier Gallery, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, Associational
2007
Faculty Exhibition, Bevier Gallery Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, Associational
Material Exchange (putting) Green Design Competition, (viewers’ choice award), Experimental Station, Chicago, IL, Juried
2006
Material Exchange: Biographical Extensions II (collaboration), 12 x 12 Space, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, Invitational
2004
Romance (Ten by Ten), Chicago Theater, Chicago, IL, Invitational
For the Birds, Clarke House, Chicago, IL, Juried
2003
Siting Sculpture, Dallas Center for Contemporary Art, Dallas, TX, Invitational
1999
CUT Show, Charlie Uniform Tango, Dallas, TX, Invitational
Northcutt Dossier (research section only)
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