In the mediation process, a trained professional acts as a neutral third party to try and help two or more parties to solve a dispute. The mediator’s job is to listen objectively, to suggest solutions, prevent acrimony and create a context for constructive negotiation until a binding agreement can be achieved. Mediation can be used to address a broad range of problems including domestic conflicts, professional, community and family issues.

The mediators who have agreed to participate in this project are trained professional mediators working in the Bay Area.  With the assistance of Community Boards, San Francisco’s non-profit community resolution center, Kadist Art Foundation will also arrange free follow-up appointments with mediators for any participants whose dispute takes more than one session to resolve.

For further info please email conflictmanagementkadist@gmail.com

Conflict Management (Karlsruhe) as installed in Stephansplatz, Karlsruhe (2005) as part of the exhibition ‘Critical Societies’, at the Badischer Kunstverein. Photo: Thorsten Hallscheidt

Artist to Create Temporary “Peace Zone” in Downtown San Francisco

Carey Young - Conflict Management
May 12th 2012, 10am – 6pm
Hallidie Plaza, San Francisco (junction of Powell and Market Streets)

Internationally acclaimed artist Carey Young will offer free professional mediation service for any two or more parties who have a dispute – personal or professional – to resolve.

“Conflict Management” is presented by Kadist Art Foundation in San Francisco as part of the exhibition “Living as Form (The Nomadic Version).” It will give the public the chance to use free mediation services while also participating in an artwork that explores conflict resolution and places a powerful corporate tool in the hands of individuals. This is the first time “Conflict Management” has been staged in the U.S.

In the mediation process, a trained professional acts as a neutral third party to try and help two or more parties to solve a dispute. The mediator’s job is to listen objectively, to suggest solutions, prevent acrimony and create a context for constructive negotiation until a binding agreement can be achieved. Mediation can be used to address a broad range of problems including domestic conflicts, professional, community and family issues.

The project is open to anyone who wishes to resolve a conflict for free, without the financial and emotional strain litigation can entail. Interested people should come to Hallidie Plaza, along with the party (or parties) with whom they are in dispute. The mediators who have agreed to participate in this project are trained professional mediators working in the Bay Area.  With the assistance of Community Boards, San Francisco’s non-profit community resolution center, Kadist Art Foundation will also arrange free follow-up appointments with mediators for any participants whose dispute takes more than one session to resolve.

London-based artist Carey Young makes artworks in a wide range of media including participative performance, photography and video. Her works examine a world of increasing corporate and legal power and have been exhibited at leading museums such as Tate Britain (London), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis) and the New Museum (New York). She said “On a symbolic level, this project acts as a ‘peace zone’ that is gone all too soon. There is something not only utopian but also poetic in offering a fleeting vision of peace – it will hopefully give a vision of ‘what could be’ before disappearing again, like a mirage in the desert.” She continues, “The fact it is staged in a marketplace reminds us of the increasing commercialization of every aspect of human life.”

ABOUT CAREY YOUNG: Carey Young is a British-American artist based in London, England. Her works often explore the collapsing categories between culture, commerce and the legal field, and have often featured training processes and tools from the worlds of business and law. Young has exhibited at many prominent galleries including MoMA PS1 (New York, the New Museum (New York), Paula Cooper Gallery, (New York), the Whitechapel Gallery (London) and Tate Britain (London). Her work will be included in the upcoming San Francisco exhibition “Stage Presence: Theatricality in Art and Media,” opening July 7 at SFMOMA. More info at www.careyyoung.com