Speaking the Matter: An Oral History Workbook

Speaking the Matter is a skill-building and reference book for artists developing oral histories and interview-based projects.

This workbook approaches the practice and application of oral narratives as a co-constructed creative endeavor rather than reparative “truth” work. Resisting the idea of a recorded interview as a neutral historical document, this skill-building workbook instead shares perspectives on listening, remembering, gossiping, questioning, and framing, with the aim of telling our stories not as fixed subjects but as artists who are alive and breathing.

Collected together are methods and models for experimentation and collaboration in oral history projects or interview-based works. Included are practical documents created by Los Angeles Contemporary Archive (LACA) for individuals or working groups, and approaches to the artist interview by East of Borneo. These documents address artistic outcomes, the design of outlines and interviews, consent, transcription, and the annotation of oral history records. The intent is that artists can refer to these documents to experiment in creating new works and explore the meaning-making processes by which our practice is guided.

Co-published by Los Angeles Contemporary Archive (LACA) and East of Borneo Editors: Adriana Widdoes, Hailey Loman, Saida Largaespada

Los Angeles Contemporary Archive (LACA) is a public archive and library dedicated to contemporary art-making. LACA collaborates with artists to build archival collections, which include studio leases, contracts, paystubs, performance apparel, set pieces, police reports, text messages, class syllabi, and materials from formally running art spaces. These collections enable us to learn from each other’s experiences and create new works that privilege the desires and needs of our communities.