WorksOnWater

Led by Carolyn Hall (from the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Art Nature and Dance), assisted by Clarinda Mac Low and Eve Mosher.

Working creatively with water and waterways is inherently interdisciplinary, and requires artists and other creative people to infiltrate and col­laborate with many different sectors. The Power of Ten is an opportunity to intersect with people from different fields, and imagine collaboration. All thinkers and doers are welcome–scientists, social/environmental justice activists, designers, artists, performers, planners, architects, and more. 

Conversation facilitated by WOW curatorial team member and artist Nancy Nowacek

When did the narrative around our waterways become dominated by fear and danger? Instead of seeing the waterways as a threat and focusing on all the ways it can hurt us, the work of these participants shift the pervading rhetoric towards one of action. To face climate change, we must feel empowered to do so. WATER [em]POWER focuses us toward artists, organizations, and individuals who engage in building our relationship to the waterways as a means of discovery, knowing, and empowerment.

Led by Eco-Critic and NYU professor Una Chuadhuri
Participants include WOW artist and curatorial team member Sarah Cameron Sunde (36.5) and Awam Amkpa, author of Theatre and Post-Colonial Desires

What happens when the dimension of human life that has long been the very definition of predictability--the climate--becomes utterly unpredictable? How can art create new embodied knowledge for living in this time of "The Great Acceleration"? Eco-critic Una Chaudhuri and a panel of scientists and artists will engage Sarah Cameron Sunde about her ongoing project "36.5: A Durational Performance with the Sea."

How do we engage with an element that is simultaneously so vast and so small? From droplets and micro-plastics, to global shipping routes and surveys across centuries, this conversation will explore how artists and scientists turn to the furthest limits of size, space, and time to investigate both our relationship with water and water’s relationship to us.

Led by Emily Blumenfeld with Olivia Georgia from City as Living Laboratory and Damian Griffin from the Bronx River Alliance

In the funding world, Creative Placemaking is trending. But in the art world, "placemaking" itself is a problematic term because it can also refer to development. This conversation points us toward three terms: place making, place taking, and place keeping. Which one is at work in any given context? Who is doing the making, what is the motivation?  As we consider placemaking in collaboration with the waterways other questions come up as well: what’s worth keeping, what’s worth changing, what’s worth making anew? How does our work intersect with both environmental and economic justice?

Led by Rachel Karpf of Guerilla Science

It's no secret that bringing playful exploration into our work often leads to more surprising and impactful outcomes than staying stuck in our 'expert' brains. But how does play work when we're exploring the water? What does it mean to GET IN-- to get our hands wet-- figuratively, and literally? This conversation brings together Hudson River Park Trust Director of Science Carrie Roble, artist/scientist Clarinda Mac Low from Tryst, science-driven creative agency Guerilla Science, to flood us with ideas around physical engagement, interactivity, exploration, and playfulness on the water with a purpose.

Unexpected and profound disasters like Hurricane Sandy smash into the lives of everyday New Yorkers, forcing us to engage with our proximity and relationship to water.  But slow, ongoing crises like rising water levels, contamination, and toxicity are harder to see, more challenging to grasp, and harder to respond to. Across disciplines, artists and experts are engaging in work that analyzes and responds to the slow disasters of our water, making the invisible visible. We’ve assembled a group of them for this conversation-- come meet and hear them discuss their projects and points of view here.

Led by New Georges Artistic Director Susan Bernfield with playwright Sheila Callaghan, director Daniella Topol, Rachel Karpf of Guerilla Science and members of the creative team

Ten years ago, playwright Sheila Callaghan and director Daniella Topol set out to make a play about water. Their exploration covered multiple processes, two design teams, two coasts, water-related incidents worldwide —and many drafts and devisings.  New Georges producing Artistic Director Susan Bernfield will chat with Sheila and Daniella about their singularly rich and deep-rooted collaboration and the bittersweet experience of finally seeing their project produced.  We’ll add actors April Matthis and Polly Lee, who’ve been with the project most of the way (and whose current roles draw directly from the experience); and pull up to the present with current collaborators, including science dramaturg Rachel Karpf of Guerilla Science—all tracing the unexpected and astonishing journey to (NOT) WATER.

Led by WOW Curatorial team member Katie Pearl

Curatorial team member Katie Pearl invites all participants in Works on Water - artists, scientists, collaborators, experts, viewers, audience - to return to 3LD one last time. Together we’ll take a final look, reflecting on the exhibition. In light of the curatorial team’s original vision and their plans for a Works on Water triennial, what was our experience? What new connections were discovered? How has WOW provided (or not provided) space for needed civic and creative conversations?