Pioneer Works Alternative Art School Fair
Mid-November, 2016
Pioneer Works, NY, United States
In mid-November we were invited to participate in the weekend-long Alternative Art School Fair (AASF) at Pioneer Works in Red Hook, Brooklyn, along with +50 other schools/institutions/project spaces.
Neither singular nor static, Arts Letters & Numbers is an emergent and collaborative endeavor with many parts and players: a conversation in action. In light of this, rather than having us on one side of a table and the audience of the AASF on the other, we embarked on a two-day workshop, bringing them into contact and creative exchange with the greater ALN network, which would gather the questions of the visiting AASF audience amongst with ours.
With the table gone we constructed a three dimensional wooden frame with an identical footprint, which acted as a space to gather the questions. Via a video link we hosted live poetry readings from groups respectively in Buenos Aries and Ithaca, projected to a screen in the frame. The grand finale was a pivotal moment in the life of one of our house on the hill: cutting through the third floor to make room for a staircase and create a new studio space in the attic—a real-time interactive piece between the people in the house and AASF audience, communicated through the transference of light via the video link between the two spaces.
We walk away from the AASF optimistic and with many new friendships.
Pioneer Works, is a non-profit organization, running artist residencies, exhibitions, and performances in their facilities in Red Hook, Brooklyn NY. They focus on community building and to provide spaces for alternative modes of thoughts. This fair will be the first fair they are hosting for alternative art schools, and for us to participate means a great deal.
