what to see in new york!

PULL

September 10-November 8, 2008

The other day I went to hear the artist, Jane Philbrick talk with exhibit curator curator Eric C. Shiner and MASS MoCA curator Denise Markonish. They discussed the creation and meaning of Philbrick's large-scale installation currently showing at Location One. Philbrick made the work during a residency at a security alarm system factory in Connecticut, as a part of Markonish's ambitious "Factory Direct" program.

"Factory Direct" put artists into some of the many struggling factories that used to abound in the state. There are fewer and fewer these days, but for a long while the nutmeg state was a manufacturing epicenter. The program highlighted the various ways and means of production we engage in, on a micro and macro scale. It also allowed artists and non-artists to work together, and to realize commonalities between their modes of production.

Clearly, Pull was a successful collaborative effort between the artists and the employees of the factory, to the point where they still help to install the piece in it's re occurring incarnations.

This talk was illuminating on a number of levels. First, the artist, Jane Philbrick, is articulate and a skilled public speaker. She talks with precision, deliberation and dramatic effect about her process. The piece, constructed just after 911 conjures up the hysteria and pomp associated with creating a sense of public safety, and the knowledge that this is really only a sense, only theatre. That no one is really safe anymore. Attached to this is the fear mongering and manipulation by our government, to use and exacerbate our fear to political ends. She spoke poignantly of this, and at the same time, the other two curators, both orchestrators for "Factory Direct", provided fun and interesting highlights of the process of going into the factories, making work on such a large scale, the various problems and joys of translating the artistic working process to outside of the studio and gallery milieu.

That being said, the work is now very much a gallery piece.
I would imagine that there would be enormous obstacles involved in putting a large work which signals false emergency alarms, loudly and brightly, into any sort of public sphere.

The work was shown at Artspace in new haven, then in a more rural setting in Sweden, and now in Location One.

I wish it were possible to put it outside somewhere, inviting the innocent bystander to walk in and sound the alarm- the problem with the work is that it inevitably preaches to the converted. The lefty liberal arty types who go to such exhibits are likely very much in agreement with the artist already, and the naughtiness and surprise involved with pulling the alarm box handle is strongly mitigated by it's gallery surroundings. Clearly, one is supposed to do it, one is ALLOWED to do it, even encouraged, thus removing the real edge the work might otherwise have.

This talk was by far the liveliest, most articulate one I have been to in a long time. I always appreciate hearing more about the work I see, but the three speakers were so comfortable with each other, and had clearly been through something together during the formation of this piece. That made the talk special, and very happily relaxed and unpretentious.

I admire the optimism behind initiative's like "Factory Direct"- I would love to participate in such a thing-and Phibrick's resulting work is of a really high standard. Fun-yet-serious, very visual (and aural!), it smoothly combines concept with realization. Best of all, it is not uni-dimensional in it's concept- the piece is open ended and leaves the thinking to the viewer, with a rich amount of mental fodder to chew on.

If you are in the area, by all means go visit.

There is a lot of art out there right now, but not all of it is this satisfying.

"PULL is an installation of of 430 fire alarm strobes, 312 smoke detectors, six speakers, 84 fire alarm control panels in our main gallery exploring the nature of security, fear and war. "
Free admission, open to the public.

HOURS: Tuesday-Saturday 12–6PM

Location One:

26 Greene Street

(between Grand and Canal St)

New York NY 10013 - tel. 212.334.3347

Subway: Canal Street stop on N,R,Q,W - 6 - A,C,E