curatorial statement
This installment of Works on Water’s three year triennial turns to concepts of long-term care for our urban waterfront ecology and reconsideration of water time-scales. WoWhaus Resident artists’ and Tending the Edge artists’ projects call attention to marginalized ecological community members, and to water’s cycles of time and being.
Perrin Ireland’s work focuses on visual storytelling of soft tissue communities or creatures that inhabit Buttermilk Channel. andrea haenggi’s performance of conversations with the aquatic vegetation living, breathing, and thriving on the shoreline of the East River brings to us their wisdom in tending to each other, and evolving with humans, offering speculative responses from future flora to the question of survival in a warmer world. moira williams’ and Zoey Hart’s projects explore ways to include accessible ways to the water for and with NYC’s Cross Disability community. Rejin Leys invites New Yorkers to develop care for our Urban Waterways through the process of making paper by hand. Her hanging paper sculpture is composed of handmade paper by the people of New York City during Tending the Edge, that contain lines of poetry dedicated to the waterfront, that reach back to various moments in time.
Other artist projects focus on scales of time, calling attention to the cyclical time of water and the ways in which the water bears witness to history. Tyler Rai’s extended performance will draw attention to the tidal cycle. Scott Szegeski’s work is inspired by a 50-year old boat, CHONY, on display in the WoWhaus yard, and a series of prints of the boat and marine detritus collected as he sailed CHONY around Governor’s Island. Kate Liebman will be displaying clepsydra, a contemporary version of an ancient clock design that uses water to record the passage of time. Elizabeth Webb used the WoW residency period to connect with her grandfather—a Red Hook longshoreman whom she never met—via filmmaking, image-making and rowing trips across Buttermilk Channel from Governors Island to the Red Hook Shipping Terminal. Her images can be found along the eastern fence facing Red Hook Terminal. sTo Len and other WoW members have collaborated on a series of prints celebrating the timeless power of waterfalls. Nancy Nowacek’s Long-Distance Dedication (Now On With the Countdown), installed on the western edge of the island at the base of The Hills is a sound work inspired by pop songs from the 1970s, Greek Theatrical Chori and their renewed relevance and reverberations in 2021.
All of these works, which call attention to marginalized ecological community members, scales of time, and measures and methods of care compelled by the waters of our city, reflect Works on Water's core beliefs about Water Art. What does it mean to work on, in and with waters, as collaborators and kin? In our July 31 Triennial, Works on Water will share our Hydrofesto, articulating a vision for Water Art as the environmental art of the 21st century.
The Works on Water Triennial 2020 - 2022
Works on Water’s 2nd triennial began in 2020, and acknowledging the pandemic, the exhibition has become durational: a three year show. Tending the Edge, a continuation of Walking the Edge (2020), opened the 2021 triennial summer. It featured 15 artist performances and interventions in response to the lens of the next Comprehensive Waterfront Plan. artist works invited NYC mayoral candidates and New Yorkers alike to see themselves as island inhabitants and flex their power to affect change.
The 2021 Triennial Summer continues with two day-long exhibitions at the WoWHaus on Governors Island, showcasing installations, performances and public engagements from the Works on Water 2021 artists-in-residence and Tending the Edge artists, on July 31 and October 30.
The projects listed below will be exhibited in the first installation of our two-part Triennial exhibition this summer. The planned activities will take place on July 31 from 12:00pm - 9:00pm. Most of the projects will be sited within the front and back yards of the Works on Water house in Nolan Park. The artists featured in the exhibition are Andrea Hanaeggi and the Estuarial Council of the Weeds, Zoey Hart, Perrin Ireland, Rejin Leys, sTo Len, Kate Liebman, Nancy Nowacek, Scott Szegeski, Tyler Rai, Elizabeth Webb, and Moira Williams.
MAP OF TRIENNIAL PROJECTS
1. andrea haenggi
2. Elizabeth Webb
3. Kate Liebman
4. Zoey Hart
5. moira williams
6. Nancy Nowacek
7. Perrin Ireland
8. Rejin Leys
9. Scott Szegeski
10. sTo Len
11. Tyler Rai
TRIENNIAL ARTIST PROJECTS
Program:
12:00pm - 9:00pm: Exhibition of Artworks + Open Studios in and around the WoWhaus
1:00pm: Unrolling of the Estuarial Council of the Weeds with andrea haenggi
2:00pm: Artist Talk with Perrin Ireland
3:00pm Audio Score: : Tidewater Studies with Tyler Rai
4:30pm Performance: Overflows + Disruptions: Soundings with moira williams
5:30pm Performance: : Tidewater Studies with Tyler Rai
9:00pm Film Screening: Tidewater Studies with Tyler Rai
VISTOR INFORMATION
The WoWHaus is at House 5B in Nolan Park on Governors Island
We will limit the number of people in the WoWhaus at any given time to 25, and ask that folks wear masks when indoors.
Information about getting to Governors Island can be found here. Please note that you need to make a ferry reservation in advance for getting to the island (no reservation needed for your return trip).
Please note that the WoWHaus is unfortunately not wheelchair accessible but most of the work will be sited outdoors and we would love to help make accommodations so everyone can experience this work. Please be in touch if you need assistance or have any questions: info@worksonwater.org