a yearly one-night visual and performance art festival, LUMEN takes place on what i had previously assumed was nothing but a place where you got off the best cheap thrill in town to head right back around to civilization –Staten Island. i figured if anything, it would just be an excuse to ride the ferry again, which i’ve always loved (especially since it’s my favorite four-letter word, FREE).
i can’t speak for the rest of the island, but they do know how to put on an art show the likes of which i’ve never seen before. of course, that might be because i’m a n00b and a little risk-averse when it comes to performance art so i was pretty much O_O the entire time. modern (visual) art, i think i can get. performance art, not so much. but no matter how you look at it, it’s definitely an experience! they drain a public pool (or never refill it?) and the installations take place in it and in the buildings around.
sidebar: practicalities it’s an easy journey from Manhattan. take the ferry, then the Staten Island Railway one stop (for the most part, train trips are timed with ferry arrival and departure, same building as the ferry terminal) — you can use your metrocard for this and the site is located right next to the Tompkinsville stop. you can also walk if you’re feeling hale, but i was lazy. don’t get there too early because much of the visual stuff is projected, so they are not turned on until the sun sets. keep in mind, though, that the ferry back to Manhattan only runs on the hour starting at 7. there are food trucks available if you’re hungry. also, much beer.
i apologize if i get attributions wrong in the pictures — i am going off the map and where i remember locations.
There was a projection on this after the sun went down. (Daria + Dominika Blazek)
She had a power drill with an attachment she used to create lots of bubbles, then sat in there and gathered, then blew foam in silence. (Elana Katz)
She painted herself white, then blue. (Alien Moon Partnership)
They formed a giant clock and there were tick and gong sounds. Every time it gonged they advanced a bit, and at every other “hour” they enjoyed what is there (money, water, bread, smokes, pin-ups, family). (Miao Jiaxin)
She moved around very slowly and sometimes brushed her hair through a fence. (Lital Dotan + Eyal Perry)
Video projections of people into bottles. (Gabriel Barcia Colombo)
there was also this great duet violin + voice performance inside the women’s locker room. you are seated in changing booths while they go around you and up and down the aisle, creating a very unique sound in that echo-y chamber. i wish i could tell who they were from the map — i think it might be Urban Research Theater, but i’m not sure.
And now I'm in a womens locker room listening to a duet https://t.co/3jTII0PAvv
— Jonathan Khoo (@jonk) June 16, 2013
there were also several people wandering around wearing umm, not much. i’m hoping they were sanctioned artists?
there were also a lot of projected video displays that i didn’t get pictures of (since single images wouldn’t do them justice).
i think i’ve had my fill of performance art for a while now, but it’s definitely something to check out if you’re in the neighborhood and want an evening pushing the boundaries of your art world.
Leave a comment