Type A is the collaboration of Adam Ames (born 1969) and Andrew Bordwin (b. 1964). They have been collaborating since 1998, working in a variety of media including video, performance, installation, photography, sculpture, drawing and needlepoint. Ames and Bordwin began their practice by using a variety of media to explore the ways in which men compete, challenge and play, and the resulting social and psychological imbalance. The results of their works ranged from psychologically disarming to profoundly absurd. Over the past eight years, their working process has been characterized by three essential shifts: their practice has expanded to include a larger collaborative circle in virtually every project they develop; it has increasingly sought to place work outside the usual venues in which contemporary art is seen and experienced; and it has focused on some of the most urgent issues facing our societies today: territory, fear, safety and authority — both real and perceived.
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Biography
Adam Ames was born in New York, NY. He received a BA in Communications from the University of Pennsylvania in 1991 and worked as John Coplans' studio assistant before receiving an MFA in Photography and Related Media from the School of Visual Arts in 1997. Andrew Bordwin was born in Framingham, MA. He received a BA in Classical Civilizations and a BFA in Photography from New York University in 1987. Bordwin worked for Paul Warchol for several years immediately after graduation, training as a photographer in the style of Ezra Stoller. In 1998 Ames asked Bordwin, who is trained in Aikido, to help with a video project that would re-enact a high school wrestling match. The resulting piece Dance became their first collaboration. They each continued with their solo practices until 2004 when their collaborative work took full priority. They were given the name Type A by New York gallery owner Sara Meltzer.
Work
Type A’s work incorporates elements of humor, absurdity, consequence and one-upmanship to explore "the ways in which men compete, challenge and play, and the resulting social and psychological imbalance."
Dance (1998) was followed by 4 Urban Contests (1998) and 5 Urban Rescues (1998). The former deals directly with competition, documenting performances ranging from races and obstacle course trials to literal pissing contests. The latter focuses more on collaboration, depicting highly dramatized action scenes in which Ames and Bordwin trade off playing the role of victim and savior. This role-playing lead to Twins Project (1998–99), which explores issues of competition, regression and childhood with custom dolls that were made in their likeness by the My Twinn Company . Outstanding (1999) also incorporates performance and role-playing in an investigation of male bonding, competition and endurance. Ames and Bordwin, dressed in business attire, stand outside a corporate building shaking hands over the course of the thirty-minute video.
In 2002 the focus of Type A's work shifted. Continuing to use their bodies as a medium for performance, pieces such as Mark (2002), Stand (2002–06) and Push (2004) assess their physical differences and the balance (or imbalance) in their partnership, bringing into question the role of the individual and the collective.
Starting in 2006 Type A began collaborating with groups both inside and outside of the art world. In 2006 they participated in a residency at the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, MA. There, they worked with the student body of Phillips Academy to create Cheer (2006). From 2007-2009 Type A worked directly with the staff of the Indianapolis Museum of Art for Team Building (2008–10), which resulted in a large scale sculptural installation in 100 Acres: The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park entitled Team Building (Align) (2009). Hatje Cantz published a monograph featuring this collaboration with the IMA in September 2009.
From 2009-2011 Type A embarked on two projects exploring fear, safety and authority: Barrier (2009) and Trigger (2011). Barrier is a large scale concrete sculpture installation recreating Jersey highway barriers and Trigger explores America’s obsession with guns. For Trigger Type A created a series of photographs which are printed and sold as shooting targets by Law Enforcement Targets Inc. With this project they practice what they call "Interpropriation" or “the act of interjecting themselves and actively participating in cultures outside the art world.”
In 2012 Type A had a solo exhibition titled Guarded at the MCA Denver. The exhibition continued their exploration of fear and authority by confronting TSA guidelines.
In January 2015 Ames and Bordwin agreed to suspend the collaboration. Both artists are currently pursuing solo practices.
Type A has also exhibited at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (Ridgefield, CT), The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery (Saratoga Springs, NY), DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park (Lincoln, MA), The Luckman Fine Art Complex at California State University (Los Angeles, CA), The Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN), Art in General (New York, NY), The Addison Gallery of American Art (Andover, MA), The List Visual Arts Center at MIT (Cambridge, MA), Centrum Beeldende Kunst (Rotterdam, The Netherlands), Centro de la Imagen (Mexico City, Mexico), Contemporary Art Center (New Orleans, LA), Institute of Contemporary Art (Palm Beach, FL), UCLA Hammer Museum (Los Angeles, CA) and The Johnson Museum at Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) in addition to many galleries.
Ames and Bordwin teach at Parsons The New School for Design and have been Adjunct Faculty there since 2002.