Jeremy Beaudry
Projects, Research & Texts

The Think Tank that has yet to be named

2006- / Philadelphia, USA

The Think Tank that has yet to be named initiates site-specific conversations, performative actions, and educational projects that interrogate contemporary urban issues in the places where we encounter them. As a critical praxis, the Think Tank was formed by several individuals who saw themselves and their creative practices being implicated in the dilemma of contemporary urban (re)development strategies—that is, gentrification. With the realization that the so-called “artist” is often a hapless, or even willing, tool of the hipster-fication, sanitization, and homogenization of urban space, we were compelled to critically acknowledge our roles as gentrifiers and subsequently interrogate and challenge this condition.

At the same time, in our work as community organizers and activists, we were often subjected to and participating in various labyrinthine bureaucratic structures that make up the governmental and non-governmental agencies in the local political sphere. This immersion affected us greatly and provoked us to play with similar structures. The Think Tank is comprised of several Departments, each led by a single Director. There can be no Department without a Director, and there can be no Director without a Department. Directors are both autonomous agents and cooperative collaborators. In this respect, the Think Tank has no members, only directors. The declaration of a directorship in a Department amounts to a statement of that individual’s bias and agenda. Nothing is more offensive to the Think Tank than the pretense of neutrality.

I am the Director of the Department for the Investigation of Meaning and much of my work resides within the the Think Tank that has yet to be named.