06.28.2003

THE FIRST LONG ISLAND CITY BLIMP DERBY @ Sculpture Center

Topic(s): performance | Comments Off on THE FIRST LONG ISLAND CITY BLIMP DERBY @ Sculpture Center

Date/Time: 28/06/2003 12:00 am


www.sculpture-center.org
SculptureCenter invites you to join us this Saturday, June 28 for RACE
DAY at The First Long Island City Blimp Derby, an event and
installation by Olav Westphalen, SculptureCenter’s 2003
Artist-in-Residence. RACE DAY will begin at 3 pm including a pre-race
performances by the sport-rock band New Humans Collective and by David
Hamilton Golland. Races will begin at 4 pm as teams vie for trophy made
by Westphalen himself.
Saturday’s remote-controlled blimp races are the central element of
this two-month project. Westphalen, who will act as the race
commentator, has designed and built a blimp race track within
SculptureCenter’s multi-story space. Among the eight teams who are
customizing their blimps and attire for the races are the Swiss
Institute, VH1 and The Wrong Gallery. After the initial race, the arena
will remain on view with the sound of the initial race day replayed
during exhibition hours. Each Saturday, pick-up races will occur at 2
pm allowing visitors to race the original blimps or bring their own
dirigibles.
The First Long Island City Blimp Derby will both entertain and confound
visitors’ expectations. It is a sculptural installation and a platform
that invites viewer participation. The Derby pits contemporary rhetoric
around art as social process against the spectacle and entertainment
environments of international art festivals and biennials without
subscribing to either.
The Artist
Art and athletic references overlap in Westphalen’s work highlighting
the abject side of spectacle, drama, and heroism in contemporary
culture. A German-born artist living in New York City, Olav Westphalen
has become known for using humorous strategies as well as elements and
conventions of vernacular culture to make ambivalent discursive
propositions. He has exhibited internationally including exhibitions at
the Whitney Museum at Philip Morris, New York; Los Angeles Contemporary
Exhibitions; Kunstwerke Berlin; Institute of Contemporary Art, London;
Kunsthalle Wien; P.S. 1 Center for Contemporary Art, New York; and
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. He is represented by
Maccarone Inc. NY.
SculptureCenter’s Artist-in-Residence Program
SculptureCenter’s Artist-in-Residence program creates an opportunity
for artists to create large-scale works in the exhibition space. Since
1987, the program has been host to several artists’ first solo shows
including Petah Coyne, Rona Pondick and Beverly Semmes.
ALSO ON VIEW:
IN PRACTICE Projects by: Frantiska + Tim Gilman, Kathleen Griffin, Myra
Greene, Joanna Malinowska, Dave McKenzie, and Alicia Renadette. In
Practice is an ongoing project series designed to support the creation
of innovative work and to provide artists, many of whom are showing for
the first time, with the opportunity to exhibit their work in a
professional context.
Gallery Hours:
Thursday – Monday, 11 – 6 pm. Closed Tuesday & Wednesday
Admission:
By suggested donation
Directions:
Subway: E or V to 23rd & Ely; 7 to 45th Road at Courthouse Square or G
to Court Square
Additional Information: www.sculpture-center.org
“>SculptureCenter presents
THE FIRST LONG ISLAND CITY BLIMP DERBY
An event and installation by Olav Westphalen
June 20 – August 16, 2003
FLICBD RACE DAY Saturday, June 28, 3pm
SculptureCenter
44-19 Purves Street
Long Island City, NY 11101
T: 718 361 1750
F: 718 786 9336
www.sculpture-center.org
SculptureCenter invites you to join us this Saturday, June 28 for RACE
DAY at The First Long Island City Blimp Derby, an event and
installation by Olav Westphalen, SculptureCenter’s 2003
Artist-in-Residence. RACE DAY will begin at 3 pm including a pre-race
performances by the sport-rock band New Humans Collective and by David
Hamilton Golland. Races will begin at 4 pm as teams vie for trophy made
by Westphalen himself.
Saturday’s remote-controlled blimp races are the central element of
this two-month project. Westphalen, who will act as the race
commentator, has designed and built a blimp race track within
SculptureCenter’s multi-story space. Among the eight teams who are
customizing their blimps and attire for the races are the Swiss
Institute, VH1 and The Wrong Gallery. After the initial race, the arena
will remain on view with the sound of the initial race day replayed
during exhibition hours. Each Saturday, pick-up races will occur at 2
pm allowing visitors to race the original blimps or bring their own
dirigibles.
The First Long Island City Blimp Derby will both entertain and confound
visitors’ expectations. It is a sculptural installation and a platform
that invites viewer participation. The Derby pits contemporary rhetoric
around art as social process against the spectacle and entertainment
environments of international art festivals and biennials without
subscribing to either.
The Artist
Art and athletic references overlap in Westphalen’s work highlighting
the abject side of spectacle, drama, and heroism in contemporary
culture. A German-born artist living in New York City, Olav Westphalen
has become known for using humorous strategies as well as elements and
conventions of vernacular culture to make ambivalent discursive
propositions. He has exhibited internationally including exhibitions at
the Whitney Museum at Philip Morris, New York; Los Angeles Contemporary
Exhibitions; Kunstwerke Berlin; Institute of Contemporary Art, London;
Kunsthalle Wien; P.S. 1 Center for Contemporary Art, New York; and
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. He is represented by
Maccarone Inc. NY.
SculptureCenter’s Artist-in-Residence Program
SculptureCenter’s Artist-in-Residence program creates an opportunity
for artists to create large-scale works in the exhibition space. Since
1987, the program has been host to several artists’ first solo shows
including Petah Coyne, Rona Pondick and Beverly Semmes.
ALSO ON VIEW:
IN PRACTICE Projects by: Frantiska + Tim Gilman, Kathleen Griffin, Myra
Greene, Joanna Malinowska, Dave McKenzie, and Alicia Renadette. In
Practice is an ongoing project series designed to support the creation
of innovative work and to provide artists, many of whom are showing for
the first time, with the opportunity to exhibit their work in a
professional context.
Gallery Hours:
Thursday – Monday, 11 – 6 pm. Closed Tuesday & Wednesday
Admission:
By suggested donation
Directions:
Subway: E or V to 23rd & Ely; 7 to 45th Road at Courthouse Square or G
to Court Square
Additional Information: www.sculpture-center.org