'Ineligible' (Art/Archaeology) International Museum of Contemporary Sculpture, Santo Tirso, Portugal

From 2010-2012, archaeologists in San Francisco excavated a city-center site in advance of the construction of a major new bus and subway station. The excavation recovered many thousands of artefacts. While a standard set of analyses and interpretation resulted from the project, art/archaeologist Doug Bailey gained control of a large number of the archaeological remains and designed a project to test the collaborative limits of artists and archaeologists. Working with Lisbon-based sculptor, Sara Navarro, Bailey sent assemblages of the artefacts to artists, archaeologists, and other creators. Accompanying the artefacts was the request for people to make new creative work, to use the artefacts not as historical objects, but as if they were raw materials (like pigment or clay), and to repurpose the materials to make artwork that would stimulate visitor questions and thought about a political or social issue of contemporary society. For people working in San Francisco, that issue might be homelessness or income disparity; for people working elsewhere, different local, regional, or national issues might be more relevant (such as immigration, or refugee status). Ineligible is a selection of the result of the works that were made.