Phew. Big NYC weekend of Conflux and Creative Time and Art in Odd Places!
Wow - there is a TON going on in New York this weekend.
FIRST OF ALL, an old friend, and my favorite: the Conflux Festival which is, in it's own words:
"the annual New York festival for contemporary psychogeography, the investigation of everyday urban life through emerging artistic, technological and social practice. Visual and sound artists, writers, urban adventurers and the public gather to explore their urban environment."
I've participated in three different Conflux Festivals -- two sound walks and one panel at the New Museum -- and have consistently found the projects (not to mention the adventures in finding tem) to be innovative and invigorating. Highly recommended. This article gives a good introduction to the Conflux experience. Keep an eye/ear out for pieces by Sabine Gruffat and Bill Brown ("Love Box"), Katarina Jerinic ("Public Utility Trail Network," Eric Bessel and Shawn Stucky ("Letters to a Stranger") and Providence's very own Rachel Jendrzejewski ("Daydream.") Update: in the course of writing this blog entry, their servers have become overwhelmed. Could be a very popular Conflux indeed!
SECONDLY, the Creative Time Summit: Revolutions in Public Practice, which begins its second year of bringing more than forty artists, activists and other cultural producers together to discuss the political implications of socially engaged art practice. Unfortunately, Creative Time Summit is sold out but luckily you can watch the entire thing streamed online from the comfort of your bedroom. Lucky you!
AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST, the Art in Odd Places Festival ("exploring the odd, ordinary and ingenious in the spectacle of daily life") finishes up this weekend, with more than thirty artists creating works investigating the idea of 'chance' along 14th Street in Manhattan, from Avenue C all the way to the Hudson. You may come across new walking rituals, public projections, roving boom boxes, and site-specific dance along your way. Todd Shalom and Juan Betancurth will lead Elastic City's "Lucky Walk" which will attempt to consecrate urban territory and find meaning in its symbols.



