Urban Omnibus

by Nicole Miller
September 9, 2020

Posts from the Edge

With the exception of the Bronx mainland, New York City is an archipelago of islands large and small (the exact number of which is still a matter of debate). The inverse of all those masses of land, of course, is the water that surrounds them: rivers, creeks, harbor, bay, ocean. If an island consciousness has been on the rise in recent years, it would certainly be incomplete without an appreciation for how the city’s relationship to water has changed over time. Once primarily the domain of heavy industry and shipping, the city’s shores have evolved into some of its most celebrated cultural “amenities,” too, stoking the imaginations of developers and planners.

Whether as a site for a shipyard or a park, New York’s waterfront has long been at the leading edge of visions for the city’s future. Yet it holds significance beyond the prerogatives of logistics and leisure. Water ties people to landscapes past the city’s limits, and to the natural substrates of its urban fabric; it connects them to ecologies that are more than human and histories that complicate (or even refute) “progress.” Works on Water is an arts organization committed to exploring these enigmatic relationships through creative practice. In collaboration with the Department of City Planning — the agency developing a new waterfront plan to be released this year — Works on Water, along with Culture Push, launched a unique participatory project called Walking the Edge. Continue Reading…

Five Art Accounts to Follow on Instagram Now

Coronavirus cases in New York are at a reassuring low, and the state is on its way to reopening. That includes art galleries, which are starting to welcome people back, mostly by appointment. I recently visited two, but am mostly remaining cautious and spending the bulk of my time at home. At this point, everything in my apartment looks incredibly uninteresting (except for my cats), so I’m grateful that Instagram continues to provide a small portal of escape.

The accounts below make me feel, think and see in new ways — something I’m always searching for, but that feels especially vital right now. Continue reading…

HYPERALLERGIC

by Allison Meier
June 21, 2017

The Inaugural Triennial on New York’s Waterways Drops Anchor

Works on Water, a new triennial on New York’s waterways, hosts an exhibition on local artist engagement with the city’s tides and currents.

Walt Whitman famously celebrated New York as a “city of hurried and sparkling waters! city of spires and masts! City nested in bays! my city!.” Over a century since the poet’s death, New Yorkers tend to look inland. Sure, many residents still rely on ferry service for their commutes, but most of us rarely interact with the rivers and harbor. Yet there is active engagement by some artists, whether boat-building, intrepid voyages on the often polluted currents, or quixotic attempts to build a bridge from Brooklyn to Governors Island. READ MORE…

BROOKLYN RAIL

by Nicole Miller
July 14, 2017

Works on Water

In June, while art dealers and collectors flocked to the fairs in Basel and Venice—where you could nab one of Damien Hirst’s massive, bronze shipwreck fabrications for a cool five million dollars—a different sort of exhibition launched in downtown Manhattan. Works on Water is the inaugural triennial devoted to works made on, in, or with water. Unlike Hirst’s Treasures, which raids maritime mythology for luxury goods, Works on Water is rooted in the social practices of artists responding to changing urban ecologies. Presented by the theater company New Georges, with 3LD Art & Technology Center and Urban Water Artists, in collaboration with Guerilla Science, the month-long event brings together visual and performing art with environmental and social science. Through its gallery programming and off-site expeditions, curators make the case for an emerging genre that is interdisciplinary, collaborative, and community-based—a counterpoint to the global commodity-fetish. READ MORE…

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