Forest/Trees

Dirge, Artists Addressing Displacement

July 02, 2017

Dirge brings together artists inspired by a unifying topic— displacement. The particular jumping-off point is the story is of Dead Horse Bay, or Barren Island. By the Rockaways, it was an island inhabited by mainly immigrant communities until 1936, when it was converted into one of the city's largest landfills, as well as the specific spot where the horses that were no longer being utilized as the main source of transport would go. Basically, the island went from home to many, to a mountain of decomposing equine corpses. New York has dealt with displacement in many forms throughout history, causing forced relocation of communities— and therefore a domino effect of both physical and emotional issues on a much larger scale. These artists used their craft and creativity to speak about this controversial topic through a variety of mediums, dedicating their work to a conversation about conflation and the mental anguish that is losing a home.

Photos and text by Anna Zanes

Dirge will be up through July 28th at JTT

Art

Fine Art Through the iPhone

June 30, 2017

There is no denying that the capabilities of mobile-phone cameras have altered not only communication by elevating it to a visual experience, but has infiltrated the arenas of fine art, converting analog photographers and being used throughout various creative mediums in increasingly elevated environments. The MET has commissioned a dozen artists to explore this concept, by inviting an artist of their choosing as a 'conversation partner' with whom they spent five months engaging in a dialogue using only their cell phone cameras. Both a fascinating experience as an observer of these images, the exhibition is an opportunity to interpret conversations completely void of traditional text dialogue— a method of interaction that is only rising in normalcy as technology advances. Witty, warming, and morbid at times, the show is a worthwhile trek uptown. Out of respect, all photos below were taken on a phone.

Photos by Sam Eisenberg
Text by Anna Zanes

'Talking Pictures: Camera-Phone Conversations Between Artists' will be open through December 17th, 2017.

Art

A Curator Providing Coping Skills

Featured artists included Emily Bornstein, 'Due Champ', Bradley Soileau, Jake Goelman, Jesse Miller Gordon, Hein Koh, Austin Lee, Mariel Rolwing Montes, James Orlando, Nick Stewart, Jordan Strafer, David White and Chloe Wise.