According to Leslie Koch, President of Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation, the island "welcomes artist projects that animate [its] houses and buildings left vacant since 1997. In the future, there will be a variety of opportunities for artists to create installations that are integrated into the landscape." This season's exhibition, This World & Nearer Ones is the most ambitious one held on the island so far and helps "deepen the visitor's experience of the island." Organized by Creative Time, the wonderful organization that's been introducing audiences to artists and public art for the past 35 years (both in New York and around the country), 19 artists and collectives were commissioned for This World & Nearer Ones to create site-specific works inspired by Governors Island. This World & Nearer Ones was curated by Creative Time's Mark Beasley.
The President of Creative Time, Anne Pasternak, says Beasley found inspiration in Governors Island's "present-day state of suspension between its history as a military outpost and its developing future." To help interpret the island's grounds, history, and future, she says Beasley invited the artists to "activate sites including fortresses, churches, and theaters, as well as ferries, piers, and trees." According to Beasley, the resulting projects raise questions regarding "certainty and the future" of the island. He continues, "The prevailing mood of the exhibition is one of doubt, tempered by the possibility of new beginnings... Many of the artists have responded to the island's sense of loss, of being something vacated, a place that exists post-life, emptied of human inhabitants." The works in This World & Nearer Ones "deal with or suggest the dialectic of presence and absence.... Governors Island is a modern ruin on the verge of rehabilitation. The works assembled in the exhibition employ Spiritualism, science fiction, poetry, spoken word, tonality and dissonance, temporary architecture, and the projected image to reflect displaced states and the neither/nor."
Even before arriving to the island you get to see two artworks from the exhibition - one on the ferry and one at the dock. Ferry, by British artist Mark Wallinger, is a simple piece consisting of two signs: "Goats" (on the left) and "Sheep" (on the right), both on the front and back railings of the upper deck of the ferry. The signs, written in thick, black, sans serif font on white backgrounds, "are not meant to divide people as they walk aboard the vessel, but rather to encourage each passenger to consider the moments in life when she or he must assess the options, weigh the pros and cons, and choose a side." Going to Governors Island, we selected "Sheep," and coming back to Manhattan, we opted for the center of the ferry which is closest to the exit - how's that for a smart choice?
New York and Amsterdam-based Lawrence Weiner's At the Same Moment, 2000, can be found emblazoned in red, enamel letters on the fender rack that guides the ferry in and out of dock. According to the exhibit's guidebook, "Weiner is a sculptor whose medium is language. His texts describe material processes and physical conditions; they delineate space and indicate location." This piece is a study of the "relationship between language and physical site." It "invites us to consider the spatial and temporal relations between two distinct places, and the ferry journey that links them together." Unfortunately, people seemed too busy admiring the awesome views of Lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty to contemplate Weiner's concepts.
Teresa Margolles' contribution is Muro Baleado/Shot-Up Wall, a found item - a cinder block wall from her native Culiacan, Mexico (also known as "Narco City"), riddled with bullet holes in the aftermath of a drug/gang execution that took place in front of it. The opening weekend of the exhibition, a masonry crew from Mexico installed the relocated wall in Nolan Park. It's a jarring and startling piece to find in the middle of such an idyllic, grassy, and peaceful environment.
British-born artist, Anthony McCall's, Between You and I, 2009, is a light sculpture mounted inside the empty Saint Cornelius Chapel. Two lights are projected from high above on the ceiling of the chapel emitting two lasso-like rays of light that form shapes and dance together and mingle with the visitors walking around in the darkness. The mixture of the soft, white light and the mist created by haze machines form ghost-like images that make you feel as if you can reach out and touch them. You can't help but keep looking up at the light, unintentionally reenacting scenes from Close Encounters or any movie whose characters "see the light."
German artist, Klaus Weber's, Large Dark Wind Chime, 2008, is a 13-foot chime made of tempered aluminum that hangs from a tree on the Parade Ground. The chime rings in deep, melancholic tones - specifically a tritone, "a series of notes historically associated with the summoning of the Devil." The tritone was called "the Devil in music" in the 18th century and has been considered "dangerous" in its ability to "arouse the Devil" and/or "evoke sexual feelings in its listeners." It's like the original Heavy Metal!
Edgar Arceneaux's Sound Cannon Double Projection or "ghost house" in Building No 406A on Colonels Row suggests that hearing, seeing, or feeling spirits are mere sensory tricks associated with light and sound. The 2009 piece, created with CD players and subwoofers create an unsettling, eerie feeling within the empty house with peeling paint and crumbling walls. Arceneaux creates this uneasiness by emitting infrasound throughout the house. The guidebook defines infrasound as "very low-frequency sound waves below about 20Hz... [that] can induce bizarre feelings such as anxiety, extreme sorrow, paranoia, or even the chills. " The result is a very creepy feeling inside the house, giving it a haunted vibe. The feeling was strongest in the second floor kitchen where the room felt as if it was subtly vibrating. Yikes!
In the neighboring Building No 407A, AA Bronson and Peter Hobbs held a seance, Invocation of the Queer Spirits, two nights before the opening of the exhibition using "historical, queer and marginalized practices as a way to heal the past and acknowledge the present." The remnants of the seance can be spied by peeking through cut-out holes in a wooden barrier enclosing the rooms where the ritual took place. Lots of sage, candles, empty food containers, alcohol bottles, papers, tree limbs, carnival/pride beads, feathers, and a variety of other props complete the spooky scene.
You must get yourself and a group of friends over to Governors Island before the season is out. Go for the gorgeous and quiet (albeit slightly creepy and ghost-townish) scenery and for Creative Time's This World & Nearer Ones. It's a great exhibit that not only helps navigate you around the island, but introduces you to exciting, new artists, fascinating art projects, and uncommon mediums. Definitely worth the Disney-like ferry lines! Be sure to stop by Creative Time's Visitor Center on the island and pick up A Guide to This World & Nearer Ones ($5) as well as information on Creative Time. The guide is packed with info regarding Governors Island (including a map), the exhibition, the artists, and more (I got most of the info in this post from the guide.) Learn more about Creative Time here and find out more about Governors Island here.
Teresa Margolles, Muro Baleado/Shot-Up Wall, 2009
Klaus Weber, Large Dark Wind Chime, 2008
I'm surprised you didn't mention the other-worldly feel of Governor's Island - how it feels like the abandoned town of The Others from an episode of LOST. But you're right - it's a great way to spend an afternoon.
Posted by: Todd | 09/02/2009 at 03:47 PM