May 17, 2012
RE:CONSTRUCTION
Re:Construction is a public art program produced by the Downtown Alliance. This initiative channels the energy of Lower Manhattan's rebuilding process by recasting construction sites as canvases for innovative public art and architecture. Each project uses standard construction barriers to embrace the ongoing nature of Lower Manhattan's redevelopment with original and whimsical design. The Downtown Alliance works closely with public and private developers to produce each installation.
2012 Projects Currently Up for Viewing
Photo Credit: Lisa Shimamura
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The Greatest City on Earth (Nassau Street between John & Fulton Streets)
The Greatest City on Earth is an ongoing series of skylines by artist, Linda Zacks. Linda’s art reflects her passion for the city of New York; she uses a combination of imagery and materials to capture the vitality of the urban, modern experience "that turns a jackhammer into a musical instrument." This ongoing series is inspired by the constantly evolving energy of the cityscape. Zacks’ powerful body of work captures the life and emotion in a city skyline evoking the frenetic and visceral to the quiet and serene moments that mark the experience of daily life in The Greatest City on Earth.
2011 Projects Currently Up for Viewing
Photo Credit: Kurt Langer
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Walks of Life (Church & Warren Streets)
Walks of Life captures the diverse faces of Lower Manhattan and portrays the mix of cultures, ages, genders and styles that can be seen at any given time. In this collection of moments frozen in time, the viewer can feel the vivaciousness and energy of New York City presented as a single snapshot. “The inspiration for Walks of Life came from the unique mix of people who live in downtown Manhattan, specifically in Tribeca,” says artist Claire Johnson. “I wanted to represent an extended community of people from all different walks of life in an image that layers them together with each other and with art, fashion and nature -- a representation of how we as New Yorkers are layered together into communities, neighborhoods and the city itself.”
Photo Credit: Felicia Tunnah
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Water Movements (Fulton & Pearl Streets)
In Water Movements, Rodriguez uses the language and pattern of cartography to make drawings of imaginary terrain. He explores a body of water’s ever-changing relationship to its environment, inventing a river that snakes around frozen lakes with tributaries that look like capillaries over a variety of topographies. Without the context of symbols and text usually found on a map, it’s up to the viewer to interpret the familiar cartographic iconography for rivers, mountains, valleys, and other land formations. "Sometimes water is still and quiet like a frozen pond, and other times it's so ferocious whole towns can be swept away,” Rodriguez said. “Water is as influential to its environment as it is influenced by it.”
Photo Credit: Ayelet Danielle Aldouby
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Men at Work (Liberty & Church Streets)
Men At Work , created by Maya Barkai, features figures from 148 cities, and is the second project in New York City from the Walking Men Worldwide Initiative TM. The installation offers a new look into the cultural presence of “Working Men”; these signs typically prevent passersby from entering active construction sites, thus becoming symbols of an environment being transformed and serving as a constant reminder of the never-ending process of urban renewal. The project was conceived as a collaborative effort of international photographers, each contributing a piece to the collage using an interactive platform created by Barkai. Learn more at http://www.walking-men.com/.
Photo Credit: Anthony Cortez
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Corbin Building (Broadway & John Street)
The mesh wrap is a depiction of how the Corbin Building will look once the restoration of its façade, windows, roof, ground-floor entrances, storefronts and interior is complete. The MTA, in its commitment to preserving the historic Corbin Building, is restoring it as part of the Fulton Street Transit Center project. The Corbin Building was built in 1889 and is listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places. The ground floor and basement level of the Corbin Building will be used as an entry and passageway to the Fulton Street Transit Center, providing an opportunity for tens of thousands of subway customers to enjoy this historic resource on a daily basis.
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half awake, half asleep - Maki Kaoru (Canal & Varick Streets)
half awake, half asleep by Maki Kaoru explores perceptual responses to nature. This work presents layers of abstracted, ephemeral images of blossoms, rays of light, and leaves that interact with the surrounding natural elements of LentSpace, drawing attention to the public space.
half awake, half asleep was created to play off of the subtle shifts in the natural light throughout the day, shadows of people passing by, or leaves and foliage behind the fence interacting with the artwork – encouraging the public to perceive these fleeting and mutable interactions which change throughout the day. The consultant on the project was Lisa Shimamura of Colab Projects.
Photo credit: Karin Bravin
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Drift - Rita MacDonald (24 John Street)
With Drift, artist Rita MacDonald takes her inspiration from a swatch of awning fabric and turns the stripe on its side to create a gesture of movement that mirrors the motion on the busy streets and sidewalks below. “I am interested,” she says, “in the connections and associations to place and time that simple patterns can hold.” The consultant on the project was Karin Bravin of BravinLee programs.
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Sour Gum Tree: Seasonal Glory - Larry Lederman (Nassau & Fulton Streets)
Larry Lederman’s vivid photographs of six of the seasonal phases of a sour gum tree bring a sense of natural beauty to an area that has seen immense changes in the past years with the construction of a state-of-the-art Fulton Transit Center. They will be up for viewing at Nassau Street between Spruce and Beekman streets and at Fulton Street between Pearl and Cliff streets. The consultant on the project was Karin Bravin of BravinLee programs.
Photo credit: ARTEA Projects
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Aquatic Dream - Tatyana Murray (Hubert Street between Washington & Hudson Streets)
Tatyana Murray's Aquatic Dream runs in TriBeCa along the Department of Design and Construction's Hudson Street Reconstruction project on Hubert Street between Washington and Hudson streets. The piece is inspired by water's varied currents and light reflections. It's a universe in constant flux. Through the piece's movement and tones, one slowly dives into a meditative moment amid the grind of the city. Ayelet Danielle Aldouby and Elinor Milchan of ARTEA Projects served as curators and consultants for the piece.
Photo credit: Jason Chiusano
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Life, Actually - Kinga Czerska (50 West Street)
Life, Actually by artist Kinga Czerska borders the Time Equities Inc. construction site at 50 West Street, and runs along the site's three facades, on West, J.P. Ward, and Washington Streets. Originally composed of three separate works, each with a different color variation inspired by a different element of nature, the three merge to create a holistic, puzzle-like composition. Czerska intends the work’s intensely structured surface to make use of the elemental, geometric forms to seek an order for the world around her, which is at times chaotic, yet at the same time graceful, precise, elegant, and balanced. The project was curated by Ayelet Danielle Aldouby and Elinor Milchan of ARTEA Projects.
Photo Credit: Maya Barkai
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Walking Men 99™ 2nd Edition – Maya Barkai (new 2011 edition at 99 Church Street)
o Driven from the associative vocabulary of urban circulation and metropolitan life, the “walking man” figure is an international celebrity that appears in various forms in cities around the world, transcending all cultures and languages. Printed in human scale, the “walking men” come to life as they are juxtaposed with one another, taking on a newly charged global and symbolic metaphor. The individual images were assembled in a collaborative process with professional and amateur photographers from around the world via www.walking-men.com, as part of Barkai’s Walking Men Worldwide Initiative™. The project is a cultural representation and a subjective interpretation of our urban identity.
2010 Projects Currently Up for Viewing
Photo credit: Jeff Simmons
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Restore the View – Richard Pasquarelli (Fiterman Hall)
For this project at CUNY’S Fiterman Hall on Barclay Street between West Broadway and Greenwich Street, Richard Pasquarelli used expansive images of the northern and eastern skies to create digital murals showing what passersby would see if the scaffolding, construction and surrounding architecture were not there. The piece opens the space visually and psychologically. It is presented by arts consultant BravinLee Programs.
Photo credit: Richard Pasquarelli
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Secret Gardens – Richard Pasquarelli (Chambers Street)
Presented with the challenge of creating an art installation for a construction barricade 5 feet high by 1000 feet long, artist Richard Pasquarelli imagined a scene that would contrast with a seemingly endless expanse of concrete and wire. As a jogger, he often caught glimpses of small private gardens hidden behind fences, hedges and ivy-covered walls. By introducing these spaces into an urban environment, he hopes to capture the imagination of viewers and transport them to a more serene and fantastical world. Secret Gardens was produced in collaboration with the New York City Department of Transportation’s Urban Art Program. Image courtesy of the artist and BravinLee Programs.
Photo credit: Ayelet Danielle Aldouby
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Star Sun Burst – Tatyana Murray (Hudson Street between Franklin Street & Ericsson Place)
Star Sun Burst is inspired by the Manhattan sky. It plays directly off the surrounding environment, picking up on the changes and nuances of the weather and time of day. The glowing effects of the reflective ropes are reminiscent of natural light strokes. The installation constantly evolves, depending on the placement of the sun and its intensity, giving the piece a life of its own.
"From the moment I got off the plane in 1994, my first time in New York City, I was struck by the brilliant white and blue light of the sky," said Murray, a London native. "Since this seminal moment, light has played an essential role in my work." Danielle Aldouby and Elinor Michlan of ARTEA Projects served as curators for the piece.
2009 Projects Currently Up for Viewing
Photo credit: Nina Bovasso
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Botanizing on the Asphalt – Nina Bovasso (Hudson River Park)
BravinLee programs' presentation of Botanizing on the Asphalt covers 400 feet of concrete jersey barriers at Hudson River Park, creating a lush, wild landscape. Nina Bovasso's signature flowers and dense colorful imagery have been printed onto a 3M graphic film that adheres to textured surfaces using heat and pressure. Passersby can view the intense and euphoric explosions of color and form along the West Street Bikeway with the Hudson River serving as a spectacular backdrop.
Photo credit: Caitlin Hurd
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Flying Animals – Caitlin Hurd (99 Washington Street)
Displayed courtesy of ARTEA Projects on the corner of Washington and Rector Streets, Caitlin Hurd's Flying Animals is inspired by suburban and rural landscapes and domesticity to symbolically weigh the promises of happiness and predictability against everyday's complicated realities. The mural aims to create a contrast between the hectic city and the tranquility of rural life.
Past Projects (no longer available for viewing)
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