During the month of October 2008, the fourth annual AiOP will present Pedestrian on 14th Street, Manhattan - the great divider between uptown/downtown and highbrow/lowbrow. From the East River to the Hudson River, artists of all mediums will encourage the masses of daily pedestrians to rediscover this corridor of diverse commerce, including Union Square, historical site of social and political activism. Projects will explore connections between public spaces, pedestrian traffic, and ephemeral transient disruptions. Like a scavenger hunt, New Yorkers will use a map to discover art in unexpected places along this amazing street.
A stoop sale is laid out on a blanket located
outside a building where Marcel Duchamp once had a studio. The items in
the stoop sale are common objects, but they also could be taken as
"poor cousins" of some of Duchamp's readymades.
Time/Location: Saturday, October 11, 18, 25 (11am-5pm). 210 W 14th Street btwn Sixth & Seventh Avenues.
Ethan
Crenson is an artist who lives and works in Brooklyn. His last Art in
Odd Places exhibition was in 2005, where a "Trojan Purse" was paraded
across St. Mark's Place and left parked in the grass in Thompkins
Square Park.
Eric Doeringer
FREE BOOKS
Eric Doeringer
A box of books labeled "Free Books" is deposited
at various 14th Street locations. A seeming act of generosity, the
artist has removed the last few pages from each book. The alteration
will only become apparent to the reader after he or she has nearly
finished the book, converting the cast-off into a statement of art.
Time/Location: Ongoing throughout October. Four undisclosed locations on 14th Street.
Eric
Doeringer is a Brooklyn-based artist. He has had solo exhibitions in
New York at Apex Art, Soma NYC, as well as locations in LA, Miami,
Toronto, Spain, Switzerland, and Prague.
Alicia Grullon
REVEALING NEW YORK CITY: THE DISAPPERANCE OF OTHER
Alicia Grullón
The artist's work highlights the effects of the
city's transformation by covering her face with clippings and media
associated with housing changes occurring in New York City. These
changes bring revitalization but in some cases displacement,
devastation, and anonymity. Engaging different people from all economic
and cultural backgrounds, the project asks the question of how housing
development changes to the city's demographics as well as its landscape.
Time/Location: Sunday, October 5, 12, 19, 26 (12-5pm). 14th Street btwn First Avenue & Avenue A.
Alicia
Grullón is a Bronx-based artist. A recipient of the Franklin Furnace
Archive Award and the Chashama Visual Arts Award, her work has been
exhibited at Mount Holyoke College's Five College Women's Studies
Research Center, the Samuel Dorsky Museum, the Hunter College Gallery,
and the University of Rhode Island.
Terry Hardy
GLITZ
Terry S. Hardy
The project uses one thousand mirror tiles to
pay homage to an area of 14th Street known for its speakeasies, dance
clubs, and a seedier side of life. In this time of gentrification and
ordinariness this installation will strive to bring a little "glitz"
back to this popular thoroughfare.
Time/Location: Ongoing throughout October. 14th Street & Ninth Avenue.
Terry
S. Hardy is an Atlanta based painter, sculptor and installation artist.
He has participated in over sixty exhibitions, with Glitz as his third
installation in NYC. Thanks to Liberace's "Silver Mirror Outfit".
Illegal Art
PERSONAL SPACE
Illegal Art
"Personal Space" tape is used to cordon off
areas in which pedestrians may claim their own space. Installed on 14th
Street, people can use and interpret the personal space designated by
the tape any way that fits their needs. The tape will also be handed
out so that anyone may create his or her own personal space.
Time/Location: Thursday, October 1, 8, 22. Random locations along 14th Street.
Illegal
Art, started in the summer of 2001, is a collaboration of artists whose
goal is to create interactive public art to inspire self-reflection,
thought, and human connection. To address this goal of engaging a broad
population the artists employ many different strategies including
postering, performance, and one-on-one unmediated provocation.
Kenny Komer and Boris Rasin
MIDAS
Kenny Komer and Boris Rasin
Broken, abandoned, and mundane objects along
14th Street are painted a metallic gold color. By painting these
stationary items gold, the artists bring pedestrians' attention to the
forgotten relics that otherwise disappear into the urban periphery.
Time/Location: Ongoing throughout October. 22, 247, & 526 E 14th Street; SE corner W 14th Street & Tenth Avenue.
Kenny
Komer and Boris Rasin work in a variety of media including painting,
drawing, photography, digital art, sculpture, and installation. They
have collaborated on sculptural installations since 2004, having met
while attending the Cooper Union School of Art. Thanks to Rolco Labs
& w. h. Kemp.
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Michael Knierim
ITINERANT ARTIFACTS
Michael Knierim
Litter gathered from 14th Street tree wells is
cleaned, documented and placed in scientific display boxes. Affixed to
its corresponding parkway tree in a display case, the objects become an
archeological record of the immediate past.
Time/Location:
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, October 9-12, 16-19 (8am-7pm). 14th
Street & Avenue B, Second Avenue, Fifth Avenue, Tenth Avenue.
Michael
Knierim has always been a forager, assessing the surroundings by
amassing information and objects. His works are an artistic expression
of his findings, a chance to share his emotional responses to
discoveries with the general public.
L. Mylott Manning
ROAD KILL STUFFED ANIMALS
L. Mylott Manning
Mutilated stuffed animals soaked in dirty water
are placed at 14th Street locations. The fabric carcasses resemble the
aftermath of real animals that have been hit by a vehicle but delve
further into psychological symbolism as the viewers realize the
uncannily realistic animals are made out of cloth.
Time/Location:
Saturday, October 11, 18, 25 (12-4pm). 14th Street btwn University
Place & Broadway; btwn Third & Sixth Avenues; btwn Ninth
&Tenth Avenues.
L. Mylott Manning lives and
works in New York City. She holds a B.F.A. from Rhode Island School of
Design. Her artwork incorporates qualities of absurd humor, while
addressing complex issues such as dysfunction and the search for
belonging.
Renny Molenaar
14TH STREET GOLD
Renny Molenaar
Garbage found along 14th Street is painted gold
with the goal of transforming all the street refuse in a given day into
a precious object.
Time/Location: Friday-Sunday, October 3-5; 10-12; 17-19; 24-26. (12-5pm). All of 14th Street.
Renny
Molenaar's work has appeared at the Neuberger Museum, the Spazi
Contemporary Art Artists Space, Bullet Space, the Brecht Forum, Lehman
College Art Gallery, Fashion Moda, Longwood Arts Project, and the
Nuyorican Poets Café. He has created numerous installations and
interventions in the streets, rooftops, and other alternative spaces.
Aakash Nihalani
LANDSCRAPERS
Aakash Nihalani
Brightly colored tape outlines rectangular
shapes in the urban landscape. In a city made up of rectangular
buildings, windows, and blocks the artist plays with a shape that is
symbolic of New York City. In the attempt to draw attention to
forgotten dimensions and overlooked layers, he creates reminders and
portals with cubes that allow pedestrians to see the lines they are
surrounded by in a new light.
Time/Location:
Saturday, October 4, 11, 18, 25. (12-2pm). Bricks, sidewalks,
crosswalks, windowsills, and other locations on 14th Street.
Aakash
Nihalani is a Brooklyn-based artist and designer. His recent work
explores the use of colored industrial tape as a medium for street art.
Cara Phillips
ULTRA-VIOLET BEAUTIES
Cara Phillips
An outdoor photo studio is set up in Union
Square and the Meatpacking District. A special UV filter is used to
take portraits of people on the street, so as to offer members of the
public a chance to see their possible future and reconsider the fear of
flaws that pervades our society
Time/Location:
Thursday, Friday, October 16, 17. Union Square; Friday, Saturday,
October 24, 25. 14th Street & Ninth Avenue. (10am-1 pm & 3-5pm).
Cara
Phillips is a Brooklyn-based photographer. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence
College, she also writes a photo blog and is the co-founder/curator of
Women in Photography, an online exhibition project featuring the work
of emerging and established female artists.
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Jan Lynn Sokota
FIND YOUR HAPPINESS / Edition 2008e
Jan Lynn Sokota
Small yellow-brass coins bearing a new symbol
for happiness are strategically placed to be found, picked up, and
taken by pedestrians. The coin image is based on international symbols
seen on signs throughout world locations such as airports, parks, banks
and bathrooms.
The inscribed message is: "In finding, found; your
happiness."
Time/Location: Saturday, October 4,
11, 18, 25 (11am-3pm). SW corner of Union Square at 14th Street btwn
University Place & Broadway.
Jan Lynn Sokota
was born in Manhassett, New York. She graduated from New York
University's Gallatin School in 1999 with an MA and earned her BFA from
SUNY Purchase. She has worked as an editor in Broadcast News since 1988. www.coinartist.com
Margot Spindelman
THE STREET SEES YOU
Margot Spindelman
Pedestrians pick up postcards from participating
businesses along 14th Street: one side of the card has a picture of an
unusual object to find on 14th Street. There is text on the reverse
describing the object's function and clues about how to find it. This
search forces the pedestrian to engage with the street in a completely
different way by looking at the ground to see what normally remains
unseen.
Time/Location: Ongoing throughout October. 9 W 14th Street; 7, 209, 325, 328 E 14th Street .
Margot
Spindelman is a painter living and working in New York City. She is
represented by the Katharina Rich Perlow Gallery. Special thanks to
Malcolm Leach and Joel Gil.
Elena Stojanova
FRAME THE PEDESTRIAN
Elena Stojanova
Paper picture frames placed around everyday
objects construct an atmosphere and establish a context for
understanding and interpreting the artistic nature of an object. In
this case, the ordinary and unremarkable are given the importance of a
work of art, and pedestrians are offered something to reflect on as
they go about their daily lives.
Time/Location: Ongoing throughout October. 14th Street btwn First & Third Avenues.
Elena
Stojanova is an MFA student at the City College of New York. She works
primarily in urban areas and has taken part in several international
exhibitions. Her work appears in Graffiti Women: Street Art from Five
Continents.
Benjamin Bellas and Justin Cooper
LOG ROLL 2008
Benjamin Bellas and Justin Cooper
A large sequin-covered log is rolled from one
end of Manhattan to the other on 14th Street. This process intends to
provoke spontaneous interactions with pedestrians, as well as leaving a
physical trail of sequins and log parts that happen to fall off during
the piece.
Time/Location: Saturday, Sunday, October 25, 26. (9am-9pm). Beginning at 14 Street & Avenue D.
Benjamin
Bellas and Justin Cooper are interested in constructing narratives
around actions that playfully rupture the membrane of quotidian life.
They have worked together on numerous projects and have shown both
nationally and internationally in galleries in Los Angeles, Chicago,
Hong Kong, and Vancouver. Thanks to Stuart Keeler.
Matthew Blair
CHAIRWALK
Matthew Blair
The artist walks the length of 14th Street, from
Avenue D to the Hudson, with a small wooden chair bound to his left
foot. Tied under the foot with the heel to the seat, the artist walks
among the crowds with an awkward gait, rising above his natural height
with the chair as a hindrance and vantage point.
Time/Location: Saturday, October 11, 25. (3-5pm). Beginning at 14th Street & Avenue D.
Matthew
Blair lives and works in New York and advocates a difficult
re-examination of context known as Post-Art. He has shown work and
performed internationally. He is co-founder of Samizdat and the
Sanctuary of Hope in Ridgewood, Queens.
Arielle Falk
ALEGRIAS-PERFORMANCES 01, 02, & 03
Arielle Falk
In these walking performances the artist wears
and removes multiple layers of ski masks that cover her face. The masks
represent layers of perceptional distortion and the "suffocating
never-ending presence of our own selves," which includes notions of
identity and sexuality. This project addresses the masks people wear in
everyday life: how we choose to show ourselves as well as how we choose
to see others.
Time/Location: Saturday, October 11, 18, 25 (12-2pm). 14th Street btwn First & Eighth Avenues.
Arielle
Falk is a Brooklyn-based video and performance artist. A recent
graduate of New York City's Eugene Lang College with a major in
Performance Studies, her work deals with themes of identity, sexuality,
personal danger and endurance, disconnection, comedy, masochism, and
voyeurism.
Patrick Grenier
TALES OF THE CLOGGED AND PERPENDICULAR
Patrick Grenier
Performers dressed as an 18th century Dutch
peasant and a 19th century Victorian dandy perform a historically
symbolic ritual on the extreme ends of Manhattan. The peasant,
representing the earlier setting of farmland and meandering village
streets, pours earth and water from the East River over the image of
New York's organized grid drawn by the dandy. The odd couple and their
ritual demonstrate the opposing sides of New York Cities evolution,
specifically the 1811 Commissioner's Plan which created the grid above
14th Street.
Time/Location: Saturday, October 4,
18, 25 (12pm). North side of 14th Street & Avenue C. (1pm) South
side of 14th Street at Ninth Avenue & Hudson.
Patrick
Grenier has created an interdisciplinary body of work that probes the
role of artists in society to foster change. The artist states, "Art is
the imagining of possibilities, a glimpse at a reality that could be."
His aim is to juxtapose socio-cultural situations to stimulate
discussion and challenge dominant forces.
Yvette Helin
THE PEDESTRIAN PROJECT
Yvette Helin
Performers wearing black, custom-made costumes
modeled after generic road sign graphics walk and hold impromptu
performances, blending social commentary, sculpture, comedy, and beauty
to create an unforgettable 14th Street experience. This project is an
ongoing performance work originally created in 1989.
Time/Location: Saturday, October 4 (2-5pm); 11 (3-6pm); 25 (2-6pm). 14th Street btwn First & Ninth Avenues.
Yvette
Helin is an artist and costume designer who always had an interest in
exhibiting her work in public places. Her initial Pedestrian Project
was an answer to her desires and has been performed worldwide.
Sara Holwerda and Nick Tobier
CULTURAL CROSSING GUARD
Sara Holwerda and Nick Tobier
An interactive performance inspired by the
regalia of school crossing guards as fashion police. The goal is to
have pedestrians to "fit" their neighborhood stylistically: Guards will
tuck or un-tuck a shirt, improvise a Mohawk, apply eyeliner, affix
designer labels, roll or unroll hems of pants, etc. These actions will
illuminate the drastic cultural shifts of the area, while also
questioning the authenticity of personal expression and challenging the
pedestrians' personal space.
Time/Location: Saturday, Sunday, October 11, 12 (12-3pm; 6-8pm). 14th Street & Eighth Avenue.
Sara
Holwerda is drawn to the surreal, costumed and choreographed events
occurring in daily life. She lives and works in Chicago. A native New
Yorker, Nick Tobier is a lifelong participant-observer of street life
and the social life of public places. He is an assistant professor at
the University of Michigan.
,
Ken James
CHRISTMAS IS COMING
Ken James
The artist drags a log across 14th Street. In
transit, the log will erode slightly, leaving a line drawn across
Manhattan. By bringing nature and physical labor to the urban
landscape, the artist opens a dialogue on what constitutes "work" in
New York City, as well as the disconnect from the natural landscape.
Time/Location: Saturday, October 25 (10am-3pm). 14th Street beginning at Avenue D.
Ken
James co-founded Fellow Travelers Performance Group in 1992 to create a
hybrid of traditional and experimental dance theater, involving the
voices of choreographers, dancers, musicians, visual artists, directors
and actors. Their work charts human interactions, the place of the
individual in society, power and image.
Jesse La Flair
ARTARCHY
Jesse La Flair
A mime performance of a continuous wall tagging,
the projection of a stop motion film by a hidden projector mimics spray
paint markings. As the video is projected, the artist appears to
repeatedly write on the wall "It's ok, it's only art," followed by a
red circle encompassing an "A". This symbol normally represents anarchy
however in this performance the artist shifts the meaning of the symbol
to Artarchy.
Time/Location: Friday, October 3;
Saturday,Sunday, October 11 & 12; Thursday-Sunday, October 16-19;
Wednesday, Friday-Monday, October 22 & 24-27 (6-8pm). 412 E 14th
Street.
Jesse La Flair's is a New York-based
artist whose work covers mixed mediums, performance, and sculpture. He
searches to captures the emotional experience and beauty within single
moments.
Katherin McInnis
COLLECTIVE SIGHT
Katherin McInnis
A series of collaborative cell phone movie
events explore and reflect urban public space. Just as some of the
earliest moving images ever made document scenes on 14th Street,
participants are asked to shoot video with their cell phones in the
same locations. Each event's videos are combined into a single finished
work that can be viewed at
Time/Location:
Saturday, October 11 (11am). South side of 14th Street & Broadway;
Sunday, October 19 (2pm). SW corner Union Square; October 26 (2pm). E
14th Street & Fifth Avenue.
Katherin McInnis
works with video and photography, studying issues of public space,
landscape, and community histories. Her projects have been shown
internationally in museums, galleries, and film festivals and she works
with the art collective Neighborhood Public Radio.
Laura Napier
PROJECT FOR A STREET CORNER
Laura Napier
A television monitor placed in a street-level
cafe window displays live video feed of a nearby busy sidewalk. The
artist and friends appear on camera and carry out a series of actions
to highlight and disrupt the ordinary behaviors of pedestrians.
Time/Location: Friday, October 3, 17 (4-6pm); Saturday, October 18 (4-6pm). 348 W 14th Street.
Laura
Napier's photographs reveal how objects, architecture, and invisible
social codes influence the behavior of people in public places. She has
shown at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, PS122 Gallery, and the Bronx
River Art Center. Thanks to DubSpot Café.
Calla Thompson
RE-UNION
Calla Thompson
The artist, dressed in coveralls and an orange
safety vest, will walk on a planned route around Union Square while
distributing graphic buttons and window clings honoring Union Square
history. Central to the history of the labor movement in the United
States, 14th Street was the site of New York City's first Labor Day
Parade in 1882, a protest that ended at the southwest corner of Union
Square.
Time/Location: Friday, Saturday, & Sunday, October 3-5 (9am-5pm). The perimeter of Union Square.
Calla
Thompson is a Baltimore-based artist who examines the ways in which
power is enacted and exchanged. Working with mixed media, her works
have been exhibited in South America, the United States, and Canada,
including New York and Toronto.
Yoonhye Park
DANCE WITH DEATH
Yoonhye Park
While wearing a white Korean funeral dress, the
artist wanders 14th Street carrying a skeleton. The physicality and
appearance of the girl and skeleton moving from place to place intends
to provoke the sentiment of the city to confront death resulting from
the brutality of the current political situation, revealing the
overlooked truth that death is ever-present in our contemporary society.
Time/Location: Saturday, October 4, 11, 18, 25 (2- 4 pm). 14th Street btwn Union Square & Second Avenue.
Yoonhye
Park explores the cultural landscape measuring its surroundings with
her own body in order to create visual language. Her artistic interests
are often expressed within the communal elements of the public space,
examining the consequence of seeking an identity while under the
constraints of societal and political pressures.
Edith Raw
WHITE TRASH
Edith Raw
The artist walks, stands still, cavorts, rolls
around, and lies on the sidewalk in a costume made of trash. A
videographer will document pedestrian reactions and non-reactions to
the idea of "human garbage" and inanimate trash that gets ignored,
walked on, blocked out, cursed and thrown onto the streets of America
on a daily basis in epidemic proportions.
Time/Location: Saturday, October 4, 11, 18, 25 (2-5pm). All of 14th Street beginning at Avenue D.
Edith
Raw is a poet, performance and visual artist originally from Chicago.
She has performed and exhibited in a variety of venues in Chicago, New
York City, Washington D.C., and Albuquerque, NM.
Hayley Severns and Angela Rose Voulgarelis Illgen
MEANING CLEANING
Hayley Severns and Angela Rose Voulgarelis Illgen
Volunteer teams sweep the sidewalks starting
from the extreme ends of 14th Street. Using brooms and wearing cleaning
gloves the artists push the debris from East or West continuously until
they reach Union Square, where the dirt and grime will be carted away.
Intending to "activate the space," the project plays with the expected
roles and unsaid rules that come along with partitioning the "high
brow" and "low brow" of public spaces.
Time/Location:
Saturday, October 4 & 18 (12-4pm). 14th Street btwn First &
Tenth Avenues; October 11 (12-4pm). 56 W 14th Street.
Meaning
Cleaning is collaboration between Hayley Severns and Angela Rose
Voulgarelis Illgen. They have collectively cleaned public spaces since
2006. Performing together, they document the process of activating
public spaces, taking responsibility for shared environments, and
bringing notions of domestic work into public spheres.
Miryana Todorova and Hatuey Ramos-Fermín
NO DELIVERIES TODAY
Miryana Todorova and Hatuey Ramos-Fermín
A series of boxes painted in bright colors are
continually loaded, unloaded and moved from one place to another on a
cart. The normally mundane job takes center stage as the delivery moves
at a high speed and with no clear destination. Pedestrians will be
forced to interact with the "moving" process while the colorful
delivery boxes continue to question: who sent them, to whom do they
belong to?
Time/Location: Friday, October 3 (2pm-6pm); Sunday, October 26 (10am-2pm). 14th Street btwn Union Square and Seventh Avenue.
Miryana
Todorova, originally from Sofia, Bulgaria, lives and works in New York.
Her work studies crowds and situations of social interaction, crossing
boundaries in public space. Her projects combine painting with direct
public interventions which have taken place internationally in Sofia,
London, Rome, Barcelona and New York.
Hatuey
Ramos-Fermín, born in the Dominican Republic and currently based in New
York, explores notions of migration and globalization through
performance, video, photography, sculpture, and installation. His work
traces the meaning of a shared public-private space in relation to
cultural specificity. Thanks to Daniela Kostova, Stanislava Georgieva,
David Ricart, Anne Phillips-Krug, Toby Klinger, Philip Dusel, Ivar
Theorin, Jabari Owens-Bailey, Nobutaka Aozaki, Clark Stoeckley and many
others.
Gretchen Vitamvas
CAMOUFLAGE PROMENADE
Gretchen Vitamvas
Two performers walk the length of 14th Street
from East to West, directly across the street from each other wearing
the same 1868 era full-skirted day dress. The performers' mirror
movements but different surface patterns reflect the dichotomies of
uptown/downtown and highbrow/lowbrow and the changing face of New York
City through time.
Time/Location: Sunday, October 5, 12, 19, 26 (1-2pm). All of 14th Street beginning at Avenue D.
Gretchen
Vitamvas has been based in Brooklyn for the past 10 years. She received
an MFA from Queens College/CUNY and a BFA from Carnegie Mellon
University. Her recent group shows include Vested Interest at the John
Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygen and Pathogeographies (Or Other
Peoples Baggage) at Gallery 440, UIC, Chicago.
Caroline Woolard
SWINGING UNDERGROUND
Caroline Woolard
The artist rides the L train on a swing that
doubles as a bag. In a refusal to use her eyes to identify or condemn
others, the project encourages collective imagination, taking the
monotonous commute to the playground with an innocent game.
Time/Location: Saturday, Sunday, October 11, 12; 25, 26 (3-5pm). Last car, L train btwn First & Eighth Avenues.
A
graduate of Cooper Union and a recipient of the school's Elliott Lash
Award in sculpture, Caroline Woolard's work examines subjectivity in
architecture, art, and design. She has been involved in other
psychogeographic events including New York's Conflux Festival.
ABOUT
Art in Odd Places
Art in Odd Places reminds us that public spaces function as the epicenter for
diverse social interactions and the uncontrolled exchange of ideas.
Ed Woodham, Director & Curator
George Spencer, Curator
Joseph Alexiou, Assistant Director
, Web Designer
Jorge Garcia, Map Designer
Interns:
Idris Brown
Khadijah Brown
Laura Godshall
Tavia Sanza
Ashley Spierer
Art in Odd Places is a project of . Bonnie Stein, Executive Director.
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