The Arts in New York City

Continuance of Art

Upon entering Passerby I was completely confused of what was going on. I had gone there to see Push and Pull: A Furniture Comedy for Hans Hofman part of an ongoing presentation called PERFORMA07. Passerby was a small space in which the gallery event was going on, it is behind a bar and next to an auto shop. It was not located in the most cultured looking place of the city but it definitely had something to offer. Before entering the gallery, we had to pass by darkly lit area that set a mood for disappointment but upon entering the gallery the feeling that would hit you would be confusion.
You look around and what do you see? You see people walking around. They are putting things up, taking things down. Then you notice, some people are looking at you, you feel uncomfortable maybe you are not supposed to be here, this looks like someone’s room but really messy. Then pay more attention and you notice that they also have no idea what is going on. So you feel a little bit more comfortable and you step further in.
This was probably my best experience with an exhibition. This was good because it was one small space in which everyone was able to be part of the exhibit and everyone was art. I enjoyed the fact that we were able to decorate anything that we felt like decorating and take stuff away from things we felt like it had too much. I was able to put my own designs and creations up on silver reflective aluminum paper that represented the walls of our piece. We could do graffiti on it or could tear it down and it wouldn’t matter because it was part of our creative side and that is all that mattered when we were at Passerby while observing Performa07. The most incredible thing is that we were not mere expatiators; we were able to become an important part of the artwork. My hand became the brush with which I would be able to draw and paint with. We were able to move anything around; there were no restrictions to what we could do. Our inner artists were liberated as soon as we knew that we could do anything and that anything was everything that came to our mind. We could put a do not sit sign and across from it a sit please. There was a convergence of what the artist wanted us to do and what the people who attended the exhibit wanted other people to see or do.
This was one piece in which every single one of us was able to become an artist or part of the piece. Every moment in Passerby in Push and Pull: A Furniture Comedy for Hans Hofman was a moment that would never happen again. With each passing second the art that was unique would change. Someone moving would change the piece in its entirety, the only way to keep the piece constant was to not allow anybody to come in and see it, and that would have been a waste of artistic effort. With being in this piece we were able to explore ourselves not as observers of the art world but as artists in the art world and as part of art in the art world. Our ability to change our surroundings is what made Push and Pull: A Furniture Comedy for Hans Hofman so special.

Do you know why i named it continuance of art?