You Don't Even Need An R.V.

photo: Jay Matsueda

Camping is easy in the summer: no heavy blankets, no snow, not much rain. That's the idea behind Summer Camping, a "low-tech, low-maintenance" show of works by Philadelphia and New York artists which will be on exhibit till the end of July in curator Dean Daderko's Pine Street studio apartment.

Daderko, 26, a former program director for Art In City Hall and a Tyler sculpture graduate, invited 12 artists to create simple, site-specific installations, but with one stipulation: the works could not be "pieces that [I have to] babysit."

Among the artists are Candy Depew, who created cast porcelain pieces for his mantel; New Yorker Janet Henry, who will hang a work constructed of hundreds of feet of waxed linen cord and African Huisi beads; and New York videographer Aline Duriaud, whose 22-minute video, titled Meanwhile, in…, can be seen on a TV placed in the fireplace. Patrick Killoran's installation makes the most direct impact on Daderko's lifestyle: he extended the pole in Daderko's closet so that it juts out a window, and now his clothes are hanging outside, suspended above a courtyard. (Daderko says he'll have to make a "slight alteration" in the way he picks out his daily wardrobe.)

"I'm working on other projects, long-term," says Daderko of his current freelance curatorial career. "But that gets a little frustrating." This type of show—put together quickly, and relatively free of complications for the curator and the artists—"gives a nice return on the energy."

And in addition to learning how to live with an indoor/ outdoor closet, he's going to have to get used to letting strangers into his home.

He assures he'll keep it tidy (and at this campsite there's next to no chance of mosquitoes).

Summer Camping, July 1-31, 1612 Pine St., #8. Opening reception Sat., July 11, 4-9 p.m. Open Sundays in July from 11-7 p.m. and by appointment or take a chance and drop by. Info: 545-9350.

-Jennifer Darr