“It’s not a typical show for us where it is like a huge thematic production. It’s a much smaller intimate show,” says Faile’s Patrick McNeil.
Faile partner Patrick Miller strikes a satisfied note, “It’s good, I feel confident about the work. I feel confident within about where we’re at within a given time. You can always go and tinker and keep playing but I’m happy with the body of work.”
Okay, so sometimes we get too excited. Not by spectacle, or hype, or insider clubbiness – but by the art. Somehow Faile made this painted wood show feel electric.With fragments of images, snippets of phrases out of context, flashes of celebrity, skin, and irony, “Bedtime Stories” is an apt analogy for a lucid dream state, big city life, and our current fascination with glowing digital rectangles of all sizes.
The white box gallery isn’t always suitable for Street Artists; The raw energy of the street can feel stale when trapped inside and shows like this sometimes merit criticism from those who want to “keep it real”. But in typical Faile fashion, “Bedtime Stories”, opening tonight at Perry Rubenstein Gallery in Chelsea, is a considered, well presented multimedia manifestation that energizes the space. The one sculpture, a tree-trunk of titillation in the center of the chamber, serves as a jagged graphic lightening rod for the flashing neon particles that swirl around the space.
The first New York gallery show in three years for Street Art collective Faile opens tomorrow at Rubenstein Gallery; a heavy graphic quilt of past, present, and “jimmer-jam”. With the 12-piece “Bedtime Stories”, Patrick and Patrick debut a densely packed wood painting show of story, texture and humor in a quite intimate setting.
All Hands on Blocks
Checking on progress as they finished final pieces last week, Brooklyn Street Art was treated to completed block tapestries and works in progress in their buoyantly buzzing studio. Long days have turned to long nights at the end of this parsing of pieces, and the output exceeds the storage.
It’s a hard charging exploration of process, with the selective re-combining of broken-apart wood canvasses.
“Bedtime Stories” is a glut of hand-packed eye candy; steel girded graphic thoughts crashing and merging deep into the diamond mine of Faile’s visual verbiage, delivered with storytelling finesse. Each individual piece is a near-dizzying puzzle of pop plied with rigor chock-a-block against the restraints of an unbending welded frame.
Brooklyn Street Art: These new pieces feel very dense.
Patrick McNeil: It’s like eating chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream and chocolate pudding and a cup of hot chocolate. They are a lot to take in.
Patrick Miller: They need space.
As they talk you get the idea that they needed some psychological space from the constrictions of a themed show and they became enamored with the wood painting process more than the exact outcome. It’s clear that the new approach has been gratifying.
Patrick McNeil: This isn’t really an exhibition about message, it’s more about process. Not to say that it is devoid of any message. It’s just been more about building than about going out and trying to make a statement with the visual.
Patrick Miller: Yeah I think that’s more what we talked about a little before – about how it was about getting loose and have fun making images again and not feeling like it was one big overarching theme that was going to drive the whole body of work. Given that we were really interested in exploring the medium, I think the message is kind of coming through in the process.
Patrick McNeil: Yeah I think our last two shows were so theme related that I was like, “Let’s not think about the space as much.’ It’s more like, let’s just make a body of work and when it’s show time let’s collect it all and see what hangs right and looks good in the show and go about it that way. We wanted to be more organic in the process instead of so structural.
Patrick Miller: Some of our recent previous shows were “a series of” paintings that either ran together or lived together in some way –although these actually do too in a way.
Brooklyn Street Art:Well each piece contains your DNA so they kind of have to reflect your story.
Patrick Miller: Right, they all start as a bigger piece, and then those get broken apart and built back into other pieces. I feel like when you look at them all and they are all spread out you can really see; “Oh, that’s a part of that, and this is a part of that”. So in that way I feel like it is a “Faile” kind of thing.
In the middle of the studio a large wooden canvas painted blue with a black lined pulp inspired tryst is lifted by three studio assistants to rest on blocks against the wall so that it’s bottom can be painted. Later this thick wooden canvas will be sawed into cubes, but for now it is a complete 4’ x 6’ duotone.
The process of creating can encompass many pieces developing at once. A smaller or midsize piece that grows beyond its’ original boundaries is re-located into a larger frame where it has more freedom to grow.
“We don’t want to see any go out without enough lovin’, ya know”
Often a piece will get re-worked multiple times to finally strike the balance that it needs – a intuitive sense that both Patricks have and trust in the other. Studio assistants have also learned the language of Faile and can tell when something probably needs reworking.
Patrick McNeil: There’s a lot of made up words; Shimmer-sham, Jimmer-jam….
Brooklyn Street Art:Shimmer-sham? Jimmer-jam?
Patrick McNeil: Yeah you’ll be like, “That needs a little shimmer-sham right there and some down there.”
Brooklyn Street Art:And does shimmer-sham mean the same thing, have the same definition for everybody?
Patrick McNeil: Yeah, pretty much. Patrick Miller: Pretty much.
Ask the studio assistants, and they’ll tell you the same; In a close-knit group that works long hours together making art, it’s not unusual to develop a vocabulary and shorthand that speaks to the art and the process.
Brooklyn Street Art (to studio assistant Sarah): If one of the Patricks said, ‘we need more Jimjam over here’… Sarah: Jimmer-Jam (laughter) Brooklyn Street Art:What would that mean? Sarah: Um, it really depends on the context I would say. Patrick McNeil: And the gesturing involved. Sarah: And the gesturing, yeah Brooklyn Street Art:So if the gesturing is very insistent, then it might mean… Sarah: It usually is in reference to something that’s already happening. If it needs more of something or less of something. Also Zibber-zabs. Brooklyn Street Art:Zibber-zabs? Which is analogous to Patrick Miller: Which is very different! You could have a problem..
Brooklyn Street Art:Are there other vocabulary words? Sarah: Um, those are the two that are most frequently used. Jimmer-jams and Zimmer-zabs. (to the others) Can you guys think of anymore? Maggie: Did you say Shim Shams? Male assistant: “Could use a little more lovin’ ” Sarah: Yeah, that’s a P. Miller one. Brooklyn Street Art: What would ” lovin’ ” mean in this context? Patrick Miller: It’s like ‘you need to push it a little more’ Brooklyn Street Art:More attention? Patrick Miller: Yeah. We don’t want to see any go out without enough lovin’, ya know
It’s not likely that would ever happen in a Faile show, they care too much. A loose tension. Structure and play. The rebel yell. Details don’t slip by, meanings are hardly incidental, and everything is considered. Smartly aware of concepts like brand and marketing, they stay on message and deliver the goods. New patterns and texts must be vetted and go through a background check. Just kidding.
Brooklyn Street Art:What is “Bedtime Stories”? – A reference to your parents, your mates, your children, Madonna, Peter Rabbit?
Patrick Miller: I think we’d been searching for a title. We’d been talking about different things along the way. One of the pieces in the show is called “Bedtime Stories” and it’s a part of one of the new images. I think one thing we kept thinking about was that there was a period when we were both really interested in quilt making. We did a lot of research on it.
Brooklyn Street Art:Quilt making?
Miller: Yeah, and we kept saying throughout this process to each other how quilt-like these wood paintings were to us in a way. How much the process reminded us of that kind of craft feeling; Old American quilt making and that tradition. There was something about that – and bedtime, and beds. And then “Bedtime Stories” obviously refers to the narrative quality of the pieces and there is so much of that built in. As they come together and we take bits out of one thing and put it into another thing it starts to make new stories. There is sort of this tension between the pieces and how much visual experience that is in all of them and the bedtime being this quiet special moment. All those things, for me, made me feel like bedtime stories was a good fitting title.
Brooklyn Street Art: (to McNeil) You didn’t have anything to add to that?
Patrick McNeil: That’s pretty much it.
Patrick Miller: It won out over “Block Shock”! (laughing)
Brooklyn Street Art:Yeah, that name has a certain alliterative quality right?
Patrick McNeil: It really is shocking through blocks. They are kind of shocking pieces in the sense of the denseness of them and how much is in them.
Brooklyn Street Art:In a way these pieces are also analogous with dream states and what you remember the following day.
Patrick Miller: It’s true.
Brooklyn Street Art:They could be very intense pieces but…
Patrick Miller: And dreams, like, your memories of them are so fragmented. You are kind of left with “I remember this part and that part”, and that’s how these pieces are. They are assembled parts that make up this kind of weird tapestry.
Brooklyn Street Art:Right, and the parts of the dream that you remember are the most vivid, emotionally charged ones, or psychologically charged parts, not the subtle parts.
Patrick Miller: Yeah, and that’s a great way of seeing it.
Brooklyn Street Art:And you guys are not really marketing subtlety
Our Weekly Interview with the street, this week featuring Chris from Robots Will Kill, ECB , El Mac , Hellbent , JMR , LMNOP, Mumblefuck QRST , RTTP , Sten & Lex, Vivian Sisters , and Wing.
Hush’s work has been described as a sensory assault of shape, color, and character. Inspired by the portrayal of the female form in art, the artist builds up and tears down layers of paint and images as he works, “letting the canvas and marks take their own path.” The result is an enigmatic synthesis of anime, pop-infused imagery and graffiti that exposes the conflict between power and decay, innocence and sexuality, and the fusion of Eastern and Western culture. Hush continues to evolve his style with this latest batch of pieces, which merges his early anime and pop-art influenced graffiti technique with an exploration of Romanesque iconographic imagery. The new works are bigger, deeper and richer than anything he has produced to date. About the Artist: Hush is stimulated, influenced and driven by his cross cultural experiences. Having originally trained as a graphic designer and illustrator at Newcastle School of Art and Design, his work has taken him across Asia and Europe, whilst simultaneously developing his prominence as a contemporary artist. Hush now resides in the UK painting in his studio daily. EMAIL: mail@studio-hush.com
Our longest post ever – scarily long. First we start off with a bunch of cool Street Art that is evocative of Halloween.
Then we hear a special Halloween/Election message from Christine O’Donnell, a look at tonights’ events including Unified Love Movement’s installation across from MOMA, Erik Burke’s Closing Party, and Crest Hardware’s Pumpkin Carving Party (tonight). Also, video of Dan Witz’s disturbing WTF Street Art, and the most popular person to dress up as.
Unified Love Movement – Alison and Garrison Buxton in Manhattan Tonight
Garrison and Alison Buxton invite you to come celebrate the unveiling of their Unified Love Movement installation across from the MoMA at 20 West 53rd St. The Buxtons are honored to manifest their latest vision on Halloween weekend via chashama’s “Windows at Donnell” program. The exhibition runs October 29th – November 28th, 2010 and is viewable 24/7. This visual fruit is timely and ripe for viewing. MORE HERE
Bring Your Carved Pumpkins To Crest Tonight
FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO THE WEBSITE. FOR THE OFFICIAL RULES LOOK UNDER THE HALLOWEEN TAB ON THE MENU BAR http://cresthardwareartshow.com
“This Land is My Land” Closing Party Tonight at 17 Frost
Lady GaGa Costumes Are All the Rage This Year. You can blow 50 bucks on one of these, or just visit your local hardware store and glue-gun stuff to your swimsuit.
Rebellious Outcast: Demystifying The Greek Mythological Monster
In an effort to understand themselves, humans have invented gods and monsters for millenia.
Ovid described the Minotaur as a “part man and part bull”. The Greeks thought of it as a monster best kept in a labyrinth, a wild untamed man-beast who took only his own advice. At best, the Greeks achieved with the Minotaur a warped parabolic mirror of themselves but at worst (and in most cases), they shift the responsibility of their own actions unto creatures; divine, pop and otherwise well out of reach of their own realm.
Chicago based street artist TipToe has been inspired by the Minotaur for some of his recent creations; two versions of the mythological beast have recently pounded the pavement of Brooklyn. He explains to BSA the psychological and societal dynamics that come into play for him when creating the pieces:
“Lets start with the original myth. The Minotaur is the bull-headed offspring of the Queen of Crete, conceived in an adulterous affair with the Cretan Bull who was gifted to Minos, the King of Crete, from the god Poseidon. In an effort to hide the shame brought to his kingdom, Minos commissioned the construction of the Labyrinth and condemned the Minotaur to it.
In doing so, the Minotaur was freed from the social conditioning of Parental Guidance or Societal law; making the Minotaur Pure, in that he had nothing but his own intuition for guidance. Though I don’t necessarily think that the Minotaur is violent or evil; these traits, I think, were imposed upon the Minotaur by those condemned to the darkness of the Labyrinth there after. These shallow people, lost in the dark, would surly stumble upon the beast and be stricken with terror and violent inclination, but these traits were reflections of themselves. They imposed their own ugliness upon the Minotaur, so the Minotaur became a mirror of their own predisposition.
The Labyrinth through out the years has come to represent: social imposition; boredom; the institution; the dark recesses of the mind where one hides their repressed impulses; all of which, in a way, are definitions of hell. For me the Labyrinth is the city itself and the Minotaur, like the street artist, is its champion, to be embraced (not destroyed).
I believe it was Nietzsche who said, ‘Be careful when you cast out your demons that you don’t throw away the best part of yourself.‘ ”
On October 29th, 2010 from 6-8pm, Garrison and Alison Buxton invite you to come celebrate the unveiling of their Unified Love Movement installation across from the MoMA at 20 West 53rd St. The Buxtons are honored to manifest their latest vision on Halloween weekend via chashama’s “Windows at Donnell” program. The exhibition runs October 29th – November 28th, 2010 and is viewable 24/7. This visual fruit is timely and ripe for viewing.
ABOUT THE INSTALLATION:
As our modern world goes totally bananas, Unified Love Movement is all about increasing unity, positivity, acceptance, growth, and, yes, love. For this installation, the Buxtons invited two of NYC’s artistic gems on board to help blow the doors off the outdated religious school bus. Leo Villareal, brilliant blinkity-blink LED maverick, and Scott Draves, creator of the mesmerizing Electric Sheep entities, lend their brilliance to the mix.
Unified Love Movement portrays four figures from four of the world’s faiths – Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Each is transmitting their love, energy, and prayer to their respective godheads. Though superficial differences do exist, these religions share profound similarities at their cores, including messages of tolerance, sharing, compassion, forgiveness, and infinite love. To depict the infinite openness of the divine without overusing conventional religious references, the Buxtons chose to represent Metatron, the celestial scribe and messenger of the divine, in its sacred geometric form. Emanating from the center of the exhibit, the geometric LED array of Villareal subtly pulses cool white light while Draves’ vivid, bleeding-edge Electric Sheep projections undulate infinitely colored waves over all who choose to engage.
Unified Love Movement is the Buxtons’ foremost project to date, inviting the viewer to participate and contribute to its spiritual expansiveness by realizing the innate commonality of our human experience and then caring enough to do something about it. Perhaps we can then put our minds and hearts together to create a better world.
Garrison and Alison extend a special, huge thank you to chashama and MMT for their very generous support of this project, which would not have happened without them. The contributions of many keep the world lively.
{http://chashama.org / http://mmt.com}
An injustice to anyone is an injustice to everyone. As above, so below. Love eternal.
There is an idea worth spreading! JR, Street Artist, is the 2011 recipient of the TED prize:
“JR creates what might be called “pervasive art.” Working with a team of volunteers in various urban environments, he mounts enormous black-and-white photo canvases that spread on the buildings of the slums around Paris, on the walls in the Middle East, on broken bridges in Africa, and across the favelas of Brazil. These images become part of the local landscape and capture people’s attention and imagination around the world.”
Read more on the TED site and watch this gorgeous and moving video testifying to gutsy proactive engagement with the world and the power of the creative spirit that transcends silly art school armchair criticism.
Chris Stain for No Longer Empty
Chris Stain (with help from his buddy Burt Reynolds) transforms an 84 foot wall in Brooklyn with a tribute to the working class that built this city, specifically those who worked in Dumbo and the Navy Yard.
“30 Days in Brooklyn”
Rusty Ralston wants to bring his photo essay out to the streets of New York in December. He needs your help too!
Brooklyn Artist Tara McPherson Prepares for Show at Jonathan Levine
To know her is to love her. Hell, we don’t even know her but still love her from afar… as her reputation as an artist and a fine person percolates around here in Brooklyn. Also, what a great role model for girls and young women who want to make their life their art and their art their life. Check out preview pics over at Arrested Motion.
Beautiful Losers
Recently released in it’s entirety, this influential and beautiful film is now available to you here for free. It’s the story of a group of artist kids on Manhattan’s Lower East Side who encouraged each other to continue to experiment and grow – in only the germinating way that NYC can do it. We know how important community is for artists, and thankfully New York is still a fertile soil for discovery and innovation.
Education continues to be hotly discussed and chronically underfunded, much to the detriment of current and future workers in the US. Despite the rhetoric of the last ten years, many children have been left behind. For some reason we can save banks but not schools. As elsewhere in the social strata, the gap widens between those with access and those who don’t stand a chance.
A recent show in Manhattan featured Street Artists and others to raise funds and re-kindle the education discussion about how the collective “we” is in danger in the US when it comes to preparedness in science and technology among other areas. Street Artist Specter participated in the Re:Form School show and is now thinking about how to translate that experience into his work on the street.
Explains Specter, “My new series, ‘Undereducated,’ continues the discussion of the RE:FORM SCHOOL art show and the release of Waiting for Superman. A text-book sculpture was placed at the entrance of P.S. 277 in the South Bronx’s 7th District. Old text books are renewed to inspire students, bring art to their streets and force attention to disastrous cuts in arts education. By placing art around schools we can expose students to different ideas and present art where it has been cut out.”
Two different approaches to portraiture are working side by side in Brooklyn right now- and the styles are distinct.Comparing the two in the charged energy of an October day, you’ll agree the contrast is pronounced – drawing attention to individual techniques and influences. Sitting with the portraits for a few minutes, one sees that their similarities may lie in something weightier.
Sten and Lex began working in mundane portraiture on the streets of Rome in 2001 – a romance that continues almost a decade later. Drawing their inspiration from black and white images of European businessmen and the women who love them in stilted studio photos from the 1960’s and 70’s, they have plundered successive decades of posed formalized faces that are at times stoic, frank, and slyly droll.
Gaia is a study in energy, with increasingly loose lines thrown out and reigned in to wrap around the subject, whether man or animal. With visions of historical painting and European masters dancing in his head, Gaia is honing a vocabulary of symbols and signifiers while cross-shifting between painterly color layering and kinetically charged line drawing. It all accumulates in character more weighted than you might expect.
There lies the commonality of this combination – for such youthful protagonists, a certain weight, whether psychological or spiritual, anchors their explorations even as each is scaling new heights. It’s a highly charged, playful, and smartly grounded combination that reflects the serious times we are in.
When you ask them about their influences, Sten and Lex quickly call up old Italian films that pre-date them by Fellini, Pasolini, Rossellini, and Visconti. They also draw inspiration from photographs and portraits from magazines and from vintage photos found in outdoor flea markets in the many cities that they visit. They love the feel of the grain on those vintage photographs and it is that grain that comes across in their work with stencil.
Using a stencil technique they created called “Hole School”, faces appearing as dots and lines are selectively removed from the image. The resulting grey-scale is striking as if they had blown up everday men and women from vintage photos in magazines or daily newsprint.
More recently they have introduced another reductive technique, which they call the “Stencil Poster”. The duos’ work begins by wheat pasting a poster on a surface then cutting the stencil directly on the board. The pieces are removed and the stencil remains on the board, where it is painted black and then removed to reveal the final product underneath. Oftentimes pieces of paper are left on the final portraits like adorning ribbons that also convey a sense of decay and an ephemeral existence.
As they start a new decade they are toying with the idea of using more contemporary images, perhaps their own photographs of friends and ordinary people. But they’ll stay in love with the past and as they put it: “Contemporary art is too difficult to understand”
Gaia talks about his progressing ease and excitement with painting in flame tinged color that he began this year on the street and continues to challenge his creative skills, versus his black and white pieces.
“Logistically is easier to paint free hand in color. Painting in color is layering, free hand. With Black and white I need the projector because each line is very specific. Color work is always more vibrant and uplifting. Black and white work can be morose and dark. I enjoy black and white in my own personal work. The color work is more fitting for a community art because is more palatable and more exciting. People are initially sort of turn away by the black and white work on the street. Not to say that street art’s only merit is to uplift people. If the work is more permanent perhaps it would make more sense to make the art more accessible but if the art is not on a legal wall then the art is more making a statement. The intention is not necessarily happiness but more message or communication or contention,” says Gaia.
A lady, perhaps in her late 60’s or early 70’s with small wire-rimmed glasses stood on the pavement grinning in front of our flickering video projection time-lapses of Street Artists putting up work. She only turned from the screen once to make sure that her posse was also watching. When the video ended, with shoulders pinch up toward her grey fluffy hair, she clapped her hands quietly in front of her smiling mouth, and went back to the sidewalk to talk to her friends about it. She asked them if they had seen it. They had. A bit of wonder for us, her excitement.
We like to think that all of the artists involved in the first ever Nuit Blanche festival in New York received a similar experience for all of their efforts. As artists, few things make us happier than when we get to see the faces of the public enjoying the art being presented.
In New York there aren’t many venues where both the artists and the public get to mingle and talk directly with each other in an open and unrestricted environment: No VIP rooms, no PR handlers, no spokespeople, no velvet ropes, admission tickets, no one looking down their nose. The organizers of “Bring to Light” made this possible for one glorious night in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Perhaps 10,000 art lovers got out of their homes to enjoy one evening of free enlightenment without restriction.
With a five-hour convulsing light carnival by 60 artists, many of whom are well known for avant garde innovation, “Bring to Light” brought to life this former maritime hub of North Brooklyn that once blustered with lumber yards and rope factories. Now a rusty hopscotch of weathered industrial architecture, burned out lots, and faded hopes, Greenpoint in recent years has bloomed with the lifeblood of artists overflowing from neighboring Williamsburg. Aided by a crisp autumn night and Greenpoint’s Open Studios weekend, where artists open their doors to the public, “Bring To Light” was suddenly pulsating with the feet of thousands of art fans. All manner of projectors blasted on the walls with myriad images, forms, and shapes, some breathtakingly beautiful. Other artists created sculptures and installations that worked as light vessels and amorphous creatures while collaborative dancers entertained groupings of appreciative observers.
The show’s organizer DoTank:Brooklyn, calls itself a public vessel for interdisciplinary exploration, and Nuit Blanche seemed like the perfect showcase for everything these (mostly) urban planners are about. More interested in taking action than talking about it, their collective sense of focused urgency is like a refreshing gale of cool October air. Since they actually know how to plan and work with local civic and citizen groups, they were able to pull off New York City’s very first Nuit Blanche event in less than 3 months, and on a shoestring budget.
While DoTank had the initial idea, the Nuit Blanche ball started rolling when festival producer Ethan Vogt got involved to steer the effort in late July. DoTank had experience organizing participator events in public space and Ethan brought his background in film production and a passion for creating cinematic experience outside of traditional venues.
DoTanker Ken Farmer, originally from Memphis, Tennessee usually is riding his bike around the city or working as a consultant at Project for Public Spaces, a nonprofit planning, design and educational organization. He likes to ride his bike around the city and scope out cheap places to eat, or “blue collar hollas”, as he calls them.
A Boston born New Yorker since ’02, Ethan Vogt is a filmmaker who makes documentaries for organizations, music videos with found footage, and has produced three feature films with Andrew Bujalski. Now developing a masters thesis about Media in Performance and Architecture at NYU, Vogt hopes to produce Nuit Blanch for at least the next couple years in New York.
Brooklyn Street Art spoke to both guys about the success of their first Nuit Blanche in New York.
Brooklyn Street Art: How do you feel about the event, now that you are a few days on the other side of it?
Ken Farmer: We could not be more excited about how things turned out. Great weather, great crowd, great support from the community and a great response from both people who attended as well as those who have seen post-event coverage.
Ethan Vogt: Yeah, we are all just thrilled with how it came together – I’ve heard nothing but positive things from artists, visitors, and Greenpoint residents. I would say it exceeded our expectations and we were just in awe of what we had “organized” and “produced.”
Brooklyn Street Art: How long has this event been in the planning?
Ken Farmer: The idea began in July and planning really began in August. We were on pins and needles until the last minute getting the permits approved due to apprehension about an event with no prior history in NYC. Luckily, some key leaders like Councilman Stephen Levin and Borough President Marty Markowitz really believed in the event and helped us get over the hump.
Brooklyn Street Art: Would you call yourselves artists?
Ken Farmer: I’d say…artist and organizer…maybe that’s a curator?…of public spaces.
Ethan Vogt: Sure, I’d say I’m an artist and creative producer. I actually was going to do a projection project for the festival before I got too busy producing. You can see some of my projections and photography online. I feel like my art-making allows me to be a better producer, I often think about what I would want from a producer if I was the artist and then try to be that kind of producer.
Brooklyn Street Art: Who had the idea of launching New York’s first Nuit Blanche, and why did you think it was important to pursue and execute?
Ken Farmer: DoTanker Ted Ulrich organized a similar event in Atlanta and other team members had experienced Nuit Blanche events in other countries. We knew that it provided such a creative transformation of public spaces. Given our interest in short-term interventions to transform the way public space is experienced…we had to try.
Brooklyn Street Art: Can you talk about one of your favorite projections or performances from Saturday night?
Ken Farmer: We had some pretty well known light artists like Chris Jordan and Ryan Uzilevsky, but the thing that amazed me was the way the art, performers and crowd coalesced into a seamless experience. It wasn’t about individuals or feature pieces, it was about the transformed landscape that emerged collectively. This was our curatorial goal, but the reality far exceeded our expectations.
Ethan Vogt: So many of the pieces were amazing, it is hard to choose. I loved the percussion performance, “Scaffolding” by Tom Peyton with Terence Caulkins, Eddie Cooper, Lily Faden, Leo Kremer, and Mike Skinner, I also thought that the way that crowds were interacting with “A Small Explosion” by Kant Smith, “Light & Glass Dance” by Miho Ogai, “Oculus” by Nathaniel Lieb & Sarah Nelson Wright, and “Untitled (Drums, Lights) by Peter Esveld & Philippo Vanucci was remarkable and a very vibrant way of people connecting to artwork that I haven’t seen very many other places in my life.
Brooklyn Street Art: What role does public art play in the life of a neighborhood or a city?
Ken Farmer: It should be a manifestation of its surroundings showcasing the local identity. And it should compel us to appreciate our surroundings–aesthetically, whimsically, critically. But it is frustrating how often it falls short.
Ethan Vogt: I’m no expert on this but I think public art should encourage reflection, debate, and connection. New public spaces like the “High Line” in Chelsea are the kind of thing that I believe embodies this and I would love to someday be involved in producing a project like that.
Brooklyn Street Art: We’re always talking about the intersection between Street Art, Urban Art, Public Art, Performance, Projection Art – do you think that there is a growing interest among city dwellers in reclaiming public space for art?
Ethan Vogt: Yes, Yes, Yes! – I think this festival really struck a chord and that people looking for an authentic, non-consumer, artistic, participatory, and community experience.
Ken Farmer: I think there is a growing interest in authentic, and interactive public art. We are in a beautiful era of D.I.Y. culture. The big, corporate commissioned public art pieces in lifeless lower Manhattan plazas are old news. People want something more relatable and more dynamic. We are seeing a proliferation of low-cost, pop-up elements in public spaces. Some may see it as art, others as amenity, either way…its terrific.
Brooklyn Street Art: Were you surprised how difficult it could be to pull this off?
Ken Farmer: The difficulty lies in the need to do everything by the books. We intend to make this an annual tradition that gets better every year. So we dotted the “i’s” and crossed the “t’s”, which was costly, fiscally as well as temporally, but essential to building community support.
Ethan Vogt: It was extremely difficult to get all the pieces together to make this work but the reward of the experience was well worth it and things will certainly be easier next year.
Brooklyn Street Art: Do you think most people who see the show have any idea the amount of work that goes into it?
Ethan Vogt: I’m not sure if they have a sense of the work but I don’t care, I’m just glad they came out and had a night to remember. Hopefully they might continue to support us next year.
Ken Farmer: Hopefully they don’t know how much work goes in. I think the biggest barometer of the event’s success was how calm it felt. It was amazing to have that big of a crowd, with that many artists and that much excitement, yet have things seem so orderly.
We are extremely appreciative of how the crowd received the event…Thank You New York!
DoTank:Brooklyn is always looking for new partners. Please contact them at info@dotankbrooklyn.org
“Bring to Light” was organized by: Do Tank: Brooklyn Michael Doherty, Ken Farmer, Aurash Khawarzad, Tom Peyton, and Ted Ullrich
Produced by: Ethan Vogt, Furnace Media
Co-produced by: Pepin Gelardi, Jacquie Jordan, Annie de Mayo, Anna Muessig, Stephen Zacks
Please visit the Bring To Light site and click on their Kick Starter Campaign. They are only a few hundred dollars from reaching their fundraising goal. They need your support!
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
