Photo by lafotographeuse

Photo collage by Sienna Shields

ARCHEOGRAPHY III (SUSPENDED GARDENS), a performative installation conceived collaboratively with Monstah Black.

This multi-disciplinary exhibition was on view from February 21, 2009 through March 29, 2009 at SUPERFRONT’s original gallery in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.  The project explored an integration between choreography and architecture, in which a design workshop and dance workshop shared responsibility for producing a performance and site-specific installation over the course of 6 weeks.

The installation and dance work began with an investigation of Le Courbusier’s early drawings of interior “free plan” space.  The site specific installation, designed and built by both architects and dancers over the course of a 6 week workshop, appropriated motifs from a set of drawings entitled “Les Jardins Suspendus.”  The architectural project investigated these perspectives of interior scenes, which feature ropes, punching bags, and landscaped indoor turf.

The choreography tested this environment through movement that included climbing, spinning, and walking up walls.  Elements of capoeira, parkour and hip hop are integrated with modern dance.  Live performances featured house dance collective Afro Mosaic Soul with performance artist and curator Monstah Black.

ARCHEOGRAPHY III (SUSPENDED GARDENS) was the third in a series of Archeography Projects at SUPERFRONT, which presented the combined work of architects and choreographers from fall 2008 through summer 2009.  To review the project’s history, please see
http://newyork.superfront.org/category/exhibits/archeography/

Writing Boxes for the Novel Project at Flux Factory with co-designer Kwi Hae Kim. According to the brief issued by the arts collective Flux Factory, which acted as the curator and client for the project, a writer was to be placed into this space for one month to write a complete novel. The Writing Boxes responded to this by integrating the notion of writing and fiction into the design concept, referencing the dead letter boxes of early twentieth century espionage. The project improvised with materials gathered from arts donors. The starting goal – to provide spaces for writing as a solitary act and also as fiction and performance – was achieved with packing crates and hanging acrylic walls that acted as curtains. The writer finished 172 pages in 4 weeks. Spring 2005.

A cross between streetwear and cafe furniture, the Streewearable Cafe Table was conceived and developed in collaboration with artist Chloë Bass for her “Tea Party” performance at CULTUREfix gallery in the Lower East Side.  The wearable furniture is designed for dyadic units: lovers, parent and child, prisoner and parole officer, artist and gallerist.

Photo credits:

Ariana Marini – photographer | Kaome O’Faire – model | Molly Donovan- model

Exhibit design for the Laundromat Project’s 2009 Create Change Public Artist Residency Program Exhibit, a group show produced by Brooklyn non-profit the Laundromat Project at SUPEFRONT gallery in the fall of 2009.  Installations and exhibit design were conceptualized and built in collaboration with Laundromat Project Create Change artists: Carlos Martinez, Michael Premo, and Tracee Worley.

SUPERFRONT, gallery renovation, Brooklyn, NY. 650 square foot gallery renovated from office demolition. Ceilings raised, brick walls exposed, floors repaired, windows replaced.  Open plan renovation for interdisciplinary gallery, which also hosted performances and design workshops.  Renovation incorporated design and construction of custom furniture, including fold-out bar. Design-build project. 2007.

1432 Atlantic Ave | Design-build project Live/Work Studios A + B. Two live-work studios maximize the given 350 square foot space by sharing one window. A bedroom nook occupies the upper half of a repurposed stage platform with the bed overlooking the window onto the backyard (right). Studio B tucks a bedroom above the existing bathroom and ducks under the platform to situate a desk and working area next to the same window (left) while maintaining privacy and separate egress. Spring 2009.

Inspired by the CIA’s documented use of rap music as an element of sleep deprivation torture, BLACK SITE #2 consists of a multi-media installation that hybridizes ad hoc detention with ad hoc performance. Two microphones are fed into sound exciters and surface transducers that turn wall and furniture elements into speakers. Visitors are invited to use the microphones to engage in a competition, a game, or any form of performance. Using components often deployed in video game production of ‘virtual’ experience, multiple levels of transduction create a range of output from audio to tactile effects. 2010-2011.

BLACK SITE #2 from Architecture Conglomerate on Vimeo.

AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM. Prince Georges African-American Museum and Cultural Center with Bernard Tschumi Architects. Developed Schematic design and design development documents for museum in Prince Georges County, Maryland with a focus on initial massing, gallery interior design, landscape design, and green roof strategy. The 76,000-square-foot facility is anticipated to hold 34,000 square feet of permanent and temporary exhibit space, a 200-seat auditorium, community meeting rooms, classrooms, and a museum store. 2009-2010

GARDEN HOUSE. Residence for artist Chloe Bass, conceived for Detroit, MI location but not yet sited. Conceptual schematic for single level residence with extensive indoor planting, open kitchen, and a balance between privacy and maximum daylight. 2010-ongoing.

Grand Ave artist studio - before wall was removed to join 2 studios

Double artist studio at 20 Grand Avenue Studios, Brooklyn, NY. Design-build project combined two artist studios by demolishing part of an existing wall. Spring 2011.