the best teacher is the most earnest seeker…

…a pearl of wisdom from GoodMeet@SALT!

What is Sanctuary and why do we seek it?

GoodMeet was pretty sweet.  We started the day as strangers and journeyed through a sound installation, spoke the ‘language of repose’, built a communal sanctuary and examined the relevance of rituals – among many other things.  ELMO* even made an appearance, though he was never directly invoked.

Documentation and photos can be found here – Session reports will be posted within 5 days.

*ELMO is not just a red muppet who loves being tickled, it’s one of the laws that govern GoodMeet – “Enough Let’s Move On” can be invoked during a session when you feel like you’re beating a dead horse.  The other law is the Law of Two Feet…

GoodMeet@SALT June 13

Where do you find sanctuary in contemporary New York City?

Come to a unique day-long, participant-driven event for people and organizations who provide sanctuary.

GoodMeet@SALT is an ‘unconference’ co-hosted by Erik Fabian of Double Happiness, LLC and Grace Hwang of SALT artspace that brings people from various backgrounds together in a unique format to examine the experience of sanctuary in NYC and consider how to provide people with spaces, products and services that are relevant and valuable.

Tickets are just $75 until June 1st!

The event will also feature work by artists and designers who are interpreting the concept or the need for sanctuary including:

LIGHT CANOPY, prototype of a green rooftop canopy designed by students from Pratt Institute
and YOU OR ME, a sound installation by artist Glenda Reed that explores personal reactions to daily confrontations with 8,000,000 neighbors in New York City.

sneak peek at Light Canopy: a rooftop installation at SALT

Light Canopy detail, rendering by MCP Sculpture and Design, LLC

Light Canopy is an innovative structure designed specifically for the rooftop at SALT artspace by architecture students at Pratt Institute under the leadership of Mark Parsons of MCP Sculpture and Design, LLC and sponsored by Matt Sperry of Sperry Tents and Sails.  Here is a working draft that shows the detail of “eyebrows” that allow the sunlight to peek through and produce an animated pattern on the floor of the roof!

Installation images to come!

Light Canopy, rendering by MCP Sculpture and Design, LLC

Documenting SALT

Many conversations have taken place about using the properties of salt as a model for the SALT Art Space. So as SALT moves forward, we believe it is important for us to “preserve” its activities and evolution. We have proposed a documentary photography project that I would like to tell you a little about…

Time period: April ’09- April ’10

This project was conceived as a way to:

- Create a WEB archive of SALTs evolution and activities

- Consistently engage people in the community and make them aware of SALT

- Create a coffee table style photography book of the project that can be sold for profit, but also used as a way to keep sponsors and partners connected to the vision and impact of SALT. This book is also intended to included interviews, sketches/architectural drawings, essays and poems.

The project is broken up into 4 categories:

- The transformation of the space and its different faces in use

- The people involved in making SALT happen; at all levels of involvement

- The changing neighborhood SALT is located in

- The people in the immediate neighborhood & the artistic community, that SALT is influencing

For example, here are some portraits of dedicated SALT volunteers, Grace Hwang (our fearless leader), Mark Gebel (carpenter) & Neil Brown (graphic designer).

and some images from around the neighborhood…

we’re legit!

March: springing… no CHARGING forward!

Hi Reader!

Welcome to the SALT artspace blog – so many exciting things have been happening in the last month, that I can hardly pause to catch my breath!  First order of big news: on March 7th, we signed a lease for a new space on 27th and Broadway!  (See the ABOUT page for more info)  This gallery/performance/gathering space has high ceilings, newly renovated wood floors, and a skylight with north-facing light!

What kind of work would SALT display?  I have some ideas of my own, but wanted to put some creative thinkers in one room to hear what they thought.  I hosted a “social supper at SALT” and invited 15 friends, old and new, who are interpreting collaboration and community in the process and product of their art.  Gathered around a candlelight table in our raw space we had a delicious spread of mushroom asparagus goat cheese tarts, fresh salads, mac and cheese, yummy bread, cupcakes, pie and cookies to feed our conversations.  But instead of discussing new projects, we had a lot to say about intentionality and space… place matters! If we aren’t intentional with our space, then our results will be accidental…

So how do you design the space to meet the needs of two seemingly disparate entities: a church and contemporary art?  Architects and designers, some seasoned, some aspiring and some newly unemployed came to a design charrette to put these dreams into plans.  These solutions will be displayed from April – June in a pin-up fashion, welcoming your comments and suggestions during our Work In Progress.  My personal fave is the plan that incorporates tents on stilts on the roof for artists!

And what does the space look like now?  Bathrooms are being constructed and tiles are laid out atop self-leveling cement as I type!  Hopefully they’ll be flushworthy by the time The Gallery Church holds their Holy Week and Easter Services… (details at www.gallerychurch.com)

If you are interested in being a part of any of this, email saltartspace@gmail.com!

In the meantime, cross your fingers for more timely updates!
Flavored, preserved and truly yours,
gH