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Scott Jordan calls himself a "digger," and he looks for urban artifacts on lots set for redevelopment, in old wells and in landfills. His stand caught my eye amidst the other generic stalls because it made a connection between consumerism and the city around us. Turn an object upside down and he has written about where it came from.
When my bandmate asked me if I wanted to attend his "friend's performance art wedding celebration at an art collective in Queens," I said yes without hesitation. Wonderland Collective is a community art space in Astoria that hosts a wide range of activities from capoeira to rowdy dance parties, concerts, drawing, hula hooping, open mics, art shows and more.
On Saturday, I checked out the substation at 53rd Street and 8th Avenue, across from Roseland Ballroom for Open House New York. As a member of the Transit Museum, I get first dibs on cool tours like this and the inaccessible Old City Hall Subway Station. This substation was part of the original IRT subway line and was built in 1904. It's still in use and is currently undergoing a renovation.
It's not just the re-purposing of historical architecture that's important about this gesture, it's the concomitant recognition and elevation of the electro movement amongst the venerated art pieces exhibited inside. Still however, there was an element of lo-brow mixed in...
Lots happening this weekend in NYC. Besides Comic-Con at the Javits Center and Open House New York, the Vimeo Festival took over Frank Gehry's IAC building tonight, turning the facade into a digital canvas! Plus a shot of some of the goodies in the goodie bag!
Untapped visited the hidden “backlot” facility of the Musées de Paris, located far from the tangle of tourists. In Ivry-sur-Seine, an industrial suburb southeast of Paris, a nineteenth-century industrial building now serves as storage and workshop for the fifteen museums operated by the Ville de Paris.
Untapped checked out the Paris Nuit Blanche festival this past weekend. The pinnacle of the event was the "3-D Bridge" by the We Love Art collective on the Pont Saint Louis, a large complex structure of lighted cubes with a DJ spinning chill electro sounds inside.
One of the most popular Untapped New York articles has been about the prisons of New York City. This fall, you can go into Rikers Island with Untapped New York to run a 6-week advocacy and legal workshop for some of Rikers Island's incarcerated juveniles.
This week marks the 9th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. Untapped caught up with Cristina Castro, founder of Make Out Not War and member of CODEPINK NYC to discuss some of their plans for public space takeover this weekend. The name Make Out Not War says it all--its members have been seen in periodic public displays of affection in Union Square and Times Square.
Untapped caught up with Jack Cesareo, alias Cupcake Man, at his studio in Harlem today. Jack started biking with an oversized cupcake in tow last month and it goes without saying that people are curious. Contrary to our capitalist-laden assumptions, he's not selling cupcakes--it's purely an art project. He photographs the cupcake juxtaposed against famous New York City landmarks and has plans to take it global.