#Michael Chukes
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art as social practice and with/in public policy
Antigone in Ferguson: A modern tragedy is now a Greek tragedy
David Freedlander (Daily Beast, 2017)
A body, killed dead by the state, lies unburied in full public view. The authorities say that the corpse deserves to be punished, that the body is that of an invader’s, someone who is a danger and a threat to the community. Chaos ensues, as the community grapples with notions of justice and fairness.
This is the brief story of Antigone. And it is the story of Michael Brown, too, the unarmed African-American teenager who was shot by police on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, setting off days of clashes between protesters and police.
Reading about Antigone in Ferguson (and now I forget why I was chasing the idea of modern day remakes through an internet wormhole) and the article above sent me in multiple directions
Besides Theater of War, the [NYC’s New York City Department of Cultural Affairs called Public Artists in Residence] program has brought the Cuban artist Tania Bruguera into work with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs on a project called CycleNews that involves immigrant women cycling through their neighborhoods with handcrafted pamphlets letting residents know of services available to them, and taking the residents’ concerns back to governmental agencies.
It also brought artist Mary Miss to work alongside the city’s Department of Design and Construction on a project that gets artists to collaborate further on city planning projects.
“It’s about bringing the creativity of artists into the public sector to see how these artists can be problem solvers and creatively envision different ways of looking at some of the issues we face,” said Tom Finkelpearl, commissioner of cultural affairs. “There is something an artist can do that is like therapy without calling it therapy. It has a different angle on it.”
[Photo of CycleNews featuring Mujeres en Movimiento; a project developed by Tania Bruguera]
For her PAIR residency, Tania asked the question: how can immigrant communities begin to trust the government and how, in turn, will the government demonstrate that it trusts immigrant communities? To address this question, Bruguera joined forces with long-time collaborators Mujeres en Movimiento, who use tactics from art and community organizing to advocate for neighborhood improvements, as well as Kollektiv Migrantas, a participatory design collective specializing in migrant rights. Together, the group created CycleNews, a two-way bike messenger service to communicate trusted, first-hand information between city agencies and immigrant communities.
For CycleNews, the Mujeres trained with MOIA to develop strategies to educate and engage immigrant residents about rights and services available to them through MOIA. Working with the Kollektiv Migrantas, Bruguera, the Mujeres, MOIA, and DCLA co-created picture-based materials outlining critical MOIA services to share with the Corona community. Every weekend for the duration of CycleNews, the Mujeres became creative bike messengers, delivering this specially-crafted information on acid yellow CycleNews bicycles. As messengers, the Mujeres served as direct points of contact between immigrant communities and government institutions and bring first-hand feedback, ideas, hopes, and fears to City officials.
Public Artists in Residence at NYC’s Dept of Cultural Affairs
PAIR is based on the premise that artists are creative problem-solvers. They are able to create long-term and lasting impact by working collaboratively and in open-ended processes to build community bonds, open channels for two-way dialogue, and reimagine realities to create new possibilities for those who experience and participate in the work.
Through a series of conversations, DCLA and a partner City Agency decide on a broad population, challenge, and/or goal the partner agency wishes to focus on. With Commissioner-level support, DCLA issues an open call for artists or recommends artists based on artistic excellence and demonstrated knowledge of the particular social issues addressed in the residency. The final artist selection is made in partnership with both agencies.
Each PAIR is a minimum of one year. The residency begins with a research phase, during which the artist spends time at the agency meeting staff and learning about its operations and initiatives while also introducing their art practice and process to agency staff. The research phase concludes with a proposal from the artist outlining one or more public-facing participatory projects that will be implemented in partnership with the agency. Artists receive a fee, as well as in-kind resources such as desk space with the partner agency, an access to DCLA’s Materials for the Arts.
Current Public Artists in Residence (PAIRs) - 2019: Taja Lindley; Laura Nova; Julia Weist; Janet Zweig
Past Public Artists in Residence (PAIRs): Rachel Barnard; Tania Bruguera; Onyedika Chuke; Bryan Doerries; Tatyana Fazlalizadeh; Ebony Noelle Golden; The Lost Collective; Mary Miss; Social Design Collective and Christine Tinsley
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★ Vaibhavi Merchant on choreographing Prabhas for Saaho, and reuniting with Salman Khan for Dabangg 3!
September 1st 2019,
Your filmography recently has mostly been either under Yash Raj Films (YRF) or Salman Khan Films. Then how did Saaho happen?
There are those few people who call me a few times, and I'm there for him. Not just YRF or Salman, but even Excel Entertainment. I'm really fond of Farhan (Akhtar) and Ritesh (Sidhwani). Similarly, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, with whom I've worked with so many times. Shyam, who is his brother-in-law, was co-producing the film in North. He asked me if I'd be interested, and I said why not. Going into Saaho, I was a bit skeptical because I had to carry forward Prabhas' legacy, immediately after Baahubali. But we got along really well later.
You have collaborated with Salman, right from 'Dholi Taro' in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) to now, Dabangg 3. How has your relationship with him changed in these 20 years?
It has just been the same. He's not changed at all. I can shamelessly say I'm biased towards him. My journey with him started when I was an assistant in the song 'Jai Maa Kali' in Karan Arjun. I recently shot a song with him in Jaipur. I requested him to be at the location at 11 because then we need to shift the location. At 11:05, that man was in my frame. My jaw still drops when he does such things. You have to see his body right now! He randomly took his T-shirt off. I was amazed by this man who can give anyone a run for money. That's why he's a superstar. His stardom does not affect him at all. The Salman I know from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam is more mature and wiser today. He has also developed a keen sense of business acumen. He keeps very busy but is never too busy for the ones he loves.
There have been a couple of instances, of him being credited by the media for designing the 'Rangtaari' song in Loveyatri, and coming up with the 'Jag Ghoomeya' hook step in Sultan. How do you react to these reports?
I take it very lightly. For me, it was a joke. People don't know what technicians actually do. I'm not coming up with dance steps. I'm actually the director for that particular sequence. You reduce it to a dance step so I become a little upset. I had mentioned it also to Salman is quirky in a way. He knows his audience so he experiments sometimes. He'd come up with something very magical with a few steps. I love that about him! In Dil Bole Hadippa, Rani (Mukerji) and I would ask the lightman to dance to see how he'd react to it. If I like it then maybe I'd draw something from it for the song. So there's no ego that if it's my song, then it has to come only from me.
You recently posted a picture with Dabangg 3 director Prabhu Deva from the sets. How has his dance and choreography affected your career?
Prabhu, Salman and I also worked during Wanted. But he wasn't available on the set when we shot my song 'Le Le Maza Le'. But he always kept a track of my work, and liked it. Obviously, the nation loves him, and he's India's answer to Michael Jackson. I know when Jackson came to India, Prabhu was invited to perform on the same stage as him. I was extremely excited about how talented and how humble he is. There's a lot of respect for him as both a technician and a person.
Excerpts from interview
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Top 10 Female Choreographer in India
1. Saroj Khan:- Saroj Khan another name or original name is Nirmala Kishanchand Sadhu Singh Nagpal. Saroj Khan learns to dance when she was work with B. Sohanlal. After that first, she works as an assistant choreographer and with the Geeta Mera Naam she works as an independent choreographer. In her career, she also works as a judge in reality shows like Nach Baliye, Jhalak Dikhla Jaa and Nachle Ve With Saroj Khan.
2. Farah khan:- Farah Khan is the best choreographer in the Indian film industry. Farah Khan was inspired by Michael Jackson. She learns to dance from herself and starts her career as a choreographer. She also works in reality shows like Dance India Dance, Indian Idol 2, Bigg Boss 8.
3. Geeta Kapoor:- Geeta Kapoor join Farah Khan troupe at the age of 15 years. After that, she assists Farah Khan in many Bollywood movies. Geeta Kapoor is the best judge in Indian reality dance shows.
4. Vaibhavi Merchant:- Vaibhavi Merchant started her career with the movie “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” with the song of Dhl Baaje. After that, she choreographs many songs.
5. Kala:- She is a trained classical dancer. She starts her career as an assistant choreographer at the age of 12. She also works in dance reality shows as a judge like Maanada Mayilada seasons 8, Jodi no. 1, Idea D4 Dance Season 1.
6. Shakti Mohan:- Shakti is the winner of the dance reality show that is Dance Indian Dance season 2. After this achievement, she performs many Bollywood films song. She mainly performs contemporary, ballet and Bharatanatyam.
7. Rujuta Vaidya:- Rujuta Vaidya is the all-rounder dancer. She performs all the dance styles like Bharatanatyam, Kathak, and hip-hop. Vaidya learn classical dance form and trained by the Saroj Khan.
8. Hema Malini:- She is the Bollywood actress, director, politician as well as a Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer also. Hem Malini was famous by the name of “Dream Girl”. She is the most popular female actress in the Indian film industry.
9. Pony Verma:- Rashmi Verma is the real name of Pony Verma. She is also a popular choreographer in the Indian film industry. Pony starts her career with the movie of Yeh Tera Ghar Yeh Meraa Ghar and she works as a judge in the reality show that is Chak Dhoom Dhoom.
10. Mallika Sarabhai:- She wins many national and international awards for her great contribution to arts. She is famous for her dance style that is Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. She also works and shown her talent in the field of dancing, writing, acting, and theatre.
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Hyperallergic: Christopher Walken Heads, Winged Feet, and Other Sculptures Alight Along the East River
Onyedika Chuke, “FMA: The Untitled Circa_2000’s or The Forever Museum Archive/the untitled/a template for memorial architecture,” concrete and steel, on view at Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic)
Traces of snow now linger beneath the shadows of sculptures in Socrates Sculpture Park’s EAF16: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition, which debuted in September and is weathering winter through March alongside the East River in Queens. The works from the annual fellowship competition, which offers funding and on-site studio space, must endure the extremes of New York cold seasons, yet from an augmented pick-up truck full of butterflies to miniature busts of Christopher Walken, there is a diversity of sculptural forms.
The park marked its 30th anniversary last year, having opened in 1986 at a former landfill and dumping site, so it’s fitting that many of the pieces address the area’s history, and future. Dachal Choi and Mathew Suen’s “AQ625: Site on the Move” might not look like much in the park — just an ominous billboard with the roots of a landmass dangling above the skyline — but it’s complemented by an elaborate website that further considers a speculative future when the Socrates Sculpture Park is in the sky. The site includes six art projects that engage with this elevation, including Choi’s “Potted Socrates” with an interactive cut-out library of the park’s people, plants, and objects, and Michael Sims’s “Socrates At” traveling diorama of the suspended landscape.
Bryan Zanisnik, “Monument to Walken,” cement, comic, wood
As for those Christopher Walken heads that have sprouted up in cement around a small grove of trees, they’re not quite as random as they appear. This “Monument to Walken” by Bryan Zanisnik recognizes the actor’s connection to Queens, with his birthplace in Astoria, a discovery which is explored in a framed comic by Eric Winkler (you can read it online). Elsewhere, Liene Bosquê’s “Terracotta Impressions” has a building foundation from reclaimed bricks from buildings torn down in Long Island City, involving casts of architectural elements. Some are casts from the wall that borders the park, which incorporates unused tombstones. The installation has a similar celebration of the urban environment as her collaboration with Nicole Seisler, in which they roamed Manhattan with a cart of clay, the results of which were exhibited at Cuchifritos Gallery in 2015.
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Interior of Andrew Brehm’s “AMAMML” (video by Randall Tilson)
EAF16 does reward spending time with it for unexpected details, such as Andrew Brehm’s “AMAMML” truck with its interior swarmed with artificial butterflies (hint: turn the keys on the door for insect action to the tune of the Doors), or Lia Lowenthal’s “Dilated Surpintel,” a baby grand piano built with flying buttresses and mosaic patterns referencing a cathedral space. However, it is recommended that you grab a guide at the entrance, as some of these touches are easy to miss, like the prison photograph on one side of Sable Elyse Smith’s flashing roadside sign “And Here is a List of Names,” or the small pair of conch shell-adorned sandals joining Onyedika Chuke’s eye-catching “The Forever Museum Archive,” featuring Hermes feet flying on a reflecting pool. Two of the interventions also require a bit of planning. The next staging of Madeline Hollander’s safety protocol-inspired movement is March 12, while Dylan Gauthier’s next kite performance, to accompany his triangle-trussed sculpture tribute to Alexander Graham Bell, is January 21.
Below are more photographs from EAF16, from a winter day exploring this sculpture park on the Queens shore.
Entrance to Socrates Sculpture Park
Galeria Perdida, “All Else Is Pale,” AC plywood
Dylan Gauthier, “Accidental Flight,” 3D-printed nylon components, epoxy, aluminum, PVC coated polyester, braided kite line
Liene Bosquê, “Terracotta Impressions,” ceramic and reclaimed brick from LIC demolished buildings
Liene Bosquê, “Terracotta Impressions,” ceramic and reclaimed brick from LIC demolished buildings
Olalekan Jeyifous, “Condition of Exile,” wood, metal, acrylic
Onyedika Chuke, “FMA: The Untitled Circa_2000’s or The Forever Museum Archive/the untitled/a template for memorial architecture,” concrete and steel; Galeria Perdida, “All Else Is Pale,” AC plywood
Lia Lowenthal, “Dilated Surpintel,” baby grand piano, plywood, stain, glass mosaic tiles, 3D-printed stainless steel, enamel
Dylan Gauthier, “Accidental Flight,” 3D-printed nylon components, epoxy, aluminum, PVC coated polyester, braided kite line
Elizabeth Tubergen, “Apparition,” granulated rubber, binder, hardware, wood, foam
Sable Elyse Smith, “And Here is a List of Names,” illuminated sign board, plastic letters, flashing arrow
Travis Boyer, “Selena Open Casting,” stell, cement, porcelain, plastic
Dmitri Hertz, “97/6 Dalmatian, 43/2 Swiss Cheese,” cement and steel
Dachal Choi and Mathew Suen, “AQ625: Site on the Move,” inkjet vinyl on billboard
Andrew Brehm, “AMAMML,” vehicle, moth wings, electronics, lights
Andrew Brehm, “AMAMML,” vehicle, moth wings, electronics, lights
Lea Cetera, “Design Within Reach,” painted steel, aqua resin, hardware
Installation view of EAF16: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
EAF16: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition continues through March 13 at Socrates Sculpture Park (32-01 Vernon Boulevard, Astoria, Queens).
The post Christopher Walken Heads, Winged Feet, and Other Sculptures Alight Along the East River appeared first on Hyperallergic.
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