Silverman Buildings: Jersey City, NJ

Smoke, But no Fire

SusanF — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:59:04 +0000

Smoke, but no fire
‘Release’ sparks conversation about public art, public fear

by E. Assata Wright
Reporter staff writer

2 days ago | 45 views | 0 | 26 | |

By now, most Hamilton Park residents and others who frequent the area have probably heard the back story to “Release,” the art installation on the construction site adjacent to the old St. Francis Hospital.

For those still unfamiliar with the story, here’s the CliffsNotes version to bring you up to speed: Downtown Jersey City resident Roger Sayre teams up with fellow conceptual artist and Brooklynite Charlotte Burke to come up with a conversation-starting public art project. Together, they conceive “Release,” a steam-based concept meant to evoke random clouds of fog. The piece makes its debut, but is shut down two days later by the Jersey City Fire Department after a resident calls 911 believing the steam is actually smoke and that “Release” is a piece of construction equipment on fire. (The timing of the installation’s debut proved to be inauspicious since it came shortly after the Boston Marathon bombings.

The Fire Department eventually gives the green light for “Release” to reopen on June 7 on the condition that the reopening is accompanied by an aggressive education campaign to let the public know that what they are seeing is art, not danger.

Fast forward to mid-June. “Release” is up and running again – though slightly modified from the original Sayre-Burke concept – and finally generating the public conversation the artists hoped it would from the outset.

Boring + boring = interesting?

The genesis of “Release” dates back several months ago when Brendan Carroll, a curator who puts together public art shows for developers Paul and Eric Silverman, approached Sayre about coming up with a show for ArtBloc.

A travelling public art space developed by Angus Veil, Jennifer Daugherty, and Tim Steele, ArtBloc is actually two conjoined shipping containers that curators and artists have used to exhibit art shows across the country.

_____________
Sayre said the biggest conversation that has been sparked by “Release has been about the nature of public art itself.”
____________“Generally the way the ArtBloc gets used is as a small art gallery where art is displayed inside those shipping containers. We knew we weren’t interested in that,” said Sayre, who has curated public art exhibitions at the Brunswick Window, at 158 Brunswick St., for the past 13 years. “Charlotte and I knew we wanted to use the containers as a more active part of whatever we came up with. We were also interested in this idea of putting together juxtaposing concepts. A shipping container is this very industrial thing. So, we knew we wanted to juxtapose that cold hard industrial object with something from nature.”

In time, they came up with “Release.”

Using two fog-generating machines – and a substance that, believe it or not, Sayre said really is called “Fog Juice” – the shipping containers fill up with steam that emits from the crevices of the containers after the machines have been going for about five minutes.

This steam then wafts through the air outside the containers for about 60 minutes. Depending on the weather and wind pattern on any given day, the effect can be either beautiful, or eerie.

“By itself, a shipping container is a pretty boring object,” said Sayre. “And the same can be said for fog. But I think it’s interesting that when you put two boring things together, boring plus boring can sometimes be pretty interesting.”

From a Moving Van to an Arts Complex

SusanF — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:57:45 +0000

Silverman Buildings: Jersey City, NJ

From a Moving Van to an Arts Complex

Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times

Works from Ray Smith’s “Here/Now” retrospective at Mana Contemporary, an art complex in Jersey City.

By ALLAN KOZINN

Published: May 16, 2013

JERSEY CITY — MANA Contemporary might be one of the art world’s best-kept secrets. From the outside, at the moment, it looks like what its shell actually is: a cluster of warehouse and factory buildings left over from a grimy industrial age, tucked into the heart of this city.

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Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times

From left, Eugene Lemay, the chief executive of Mana Contemporary; Yigal Ozeri, a co-founder; and Shai Baitel, vice president for strategy.

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Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times

Michael Zansky’s show “Giants and Dwarfs,” in a 5,000-square-foot gallery at Mana Contemporary.

But if Eugene Lemay has his way — and as both a businessman and an artist, he has a combination of financial backing and single-mindedness that makes it seem possible — Mana will be an irresistible arts destination within a couple of years.

“It’s not a dream,” Mr. Lemay, Mana’s chief executive, said matter-of-factly. “It’s going to happen.”

So far one building in the complex has been mostly rebuilt to house dozens of light, high-ceilinged artists’ studios, as well as all the ancillary services an artist could want, including a supply shop and framing, packing, conservation, restoration and storage. There are also music rehearsal rooms, and a dance rehearsal space, shared by Karole Armitage’s and Shen Wei’s troupes, with a glass wall so visitors can watch dancers at work.

A boiler room also serves as an exhibition space, with an avant-garde sound installation, “Tick Talk,” featuring an electronic score by Ziv Yonatan and visual pieces by Lily Rattok. New shows in four other galleries opened recently. A first-floor space has about 150 prints and 500 Polaroids by the Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki; “Obsession,” a group show drawn from the holdings of five collectors (and meant to illuminate the passions that drive them), take up two galleries on the first and sixth floors. And Mana’s Middle East Center for the Arts (yes, they call it Meca) is showing “Voices From the Interior,” an exhibition of video art by Palestinian women living in Israel.

To continue reading, please click on the link below:

www.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/nyregion/mana-contemporary-in-jersey-city.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

A note from Nancy- Architect/Interior Designer of Studio 1200

SusanF — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 19:05:18 +0000

Silverman Buildings: Jersey City, NJ

Eric

Thanks so much for taking time to give us a tour yesterday. Sandee and I left so impressed by what you have done. Although we both knew about the projects ahead of time, to see it all in person and to hear the stories about the evolution of the projects is so much better. The contribution that you have made to the local community and the urban texture in Jersey City is inspiring…, we will make it a point to come back and check out GP’s, and will now know that Smith & Chang is the hot new brand in retail….!

-Nancy

Historic Downtown Jersey City Farmers’ Market, Come Visit!

SusanF — Tue, 28 May 2013 15:36:59 +0000

Silverman Buildings: Jersey City, NJ

Historic Downtown Jersey City Farmers’ Market

Come visit and grab some delicious food!

Location: Outside the Grove Street Path train

Time and Date: Monday’s and Thursday’s from 4-8pm

Yumm!

GP’s “new do”

SusanF — Tue, 28 May 2013 14:26:01 +0000

Silverman Buildings: Jersey City, NJSilverman Buildings: Jersey City, NJ

“you’re only as good as your last haircut*” and yours is looking good George!

*Quote by Fran Lebowitz