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# A Ceremony Invites You to Trade Objects and Learn About Cooperation
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/a-ceremony-invites-you-to-trade-objects-and-learn-about-cooperation/
- Published: 2017-07-18T11:02:23.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:12:11.000Z
- Description: On July 20–22, Iván Navarro and Courtney Smith will choreograph a trio of performances with 24 to 40 volunteers at the Garey Building.
- Author: Matt Stromberg
- Tags: Art, Events, Iván Navarro, Los Angeles Nomadic Division, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:30(2016, 2017, part 3)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/07/ring1.jpg)

Iván Navarro and Courtney Smith, “The Ring” (image courtesy the artists)

Since 2014, artists [Iván Navarro](http://ivan-navarro.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) and [Courtney Smith](http://courtneysmith.info/?ref=hyperallergic.com) have been collaborating on a series of works that blend sculpture and performance. Chilean-born [Navarro](http://ivan-navarro.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) is known for his works of neon and fluorescent lights that confront traumatic political histories, such as the legacy of Augusto Pinochet. Earlier in her career, Paris-born [Smith](http://courtneysmith.info/?ref=hyperallergic.com) made hybrid objects made from deconstructed pieces of furniture. The duo’s projects have included [nonfunctional benches made of steel and neon](http://www.designboom.com/art/illuminated-benches-by-ivan-navarro-and-courtney-smith/?ref=hyperallergic.com), and the “[Yungay Quadrille](http://espaciosrevelados.cl/portfolio%5Fpage/ivan-navarro-y-courtney-smith-cuadrilla-de-yungay-2/?ref=hyperallergic.com),” a performance staged in a sculptural installation, during which participants had to speak with and get to know one other attendee for a prescribed amount of time.

The artists’ latest collaboration is “[The Ring](http://nomadicdivision.org/exhibition/upcoming-performance-the-ring/?ref=hyperallergic.com),” a trio of performances that explores systems of cooperation and sharing.Organized by [Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND),](http://nomadicdivision.org/?ref=hyperallergic.com) the performance is part of [Exchange Value](http://nomadicdivision.org/exhibition/exchange-value/?ref=hyperallergic.com), a multi-site series of events intended to activate spaces throughout Downtown LA. Each 26-minute performance will feature between 24 and 40 volunteers whose interactions will be based on a set of guidelines. Inside the [Garey Building ](http://thegareybldg.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)— a massive, new mixed-use complex across from Hauser & Wirth — volunteers will trade symbolic objects in a loosely choreographed ceremony set in a ring of concentric squares, which will remain on view after the performances. Slots for [volunteer participants](http://thering.bpt.me/?ref=hyperallergic.com) (who must be 21+) are almost full, but spectators are welcome.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/07/ring2.jpg)

Iván Navarro & Courtney Smith, “Yungay Quadrille” (2016), Santiago, Chile (image courtesy the artists)

**When:** Thursday, July 20, 8pm; Friday, July 21, 8pm; Saturday, July 22, 2pm   
**Where:** The Garey Building(905 East 2nd Street, Downtown, Los Angeles)

*More info* [*here*](http://nomadicdivision.org/exhibition/upcoming-performance-the-ring/?ref=hyperallergic.com)*.*