“Training Poses,” by Sam Lavigne, lets visitors interact with machine learning.
Shed opens door for emerging artists
BY GABE HERMAN
The Shed is the newly established arts and
cultural center in Hudson Yards, and a new
program there gives a platform to local artists
trying to establish themselves in the art world.
Open Call, as the program is known, features
a variety of disciplines, including digital media,
sculpture and dance. The lineup currently features
52 New York City-based artists and collectives selected
from more than 900 proposals.
Open Call is split into three groups this year.
Group One ran from May 30 to July 6. Group Two,
which began June 19, is currently running through
Aug. 25 in a big gallery space in the Shed’s building,
at W. 30th St. and 11th Ave. Group Three will have
performances from Aug. 9 to Aug. 25 in the Shed’s
open-air plaza, when the roof will be retracted.
The current Group Two exhibit boasts 22 works
in a large gallery space. Many media are represented
in the works, which express a wide variety of
perspectives and ideas.
“Training Poses,” by Sam Lavigne, examines the
emerging fi eld of machine learning. Visitors interact
by posing to match fi gures shown on a screen,
and then observing how the machine interprets
their movements.
“A Kind of Pain,” by Moko Fukuyama, uses video
and a sculpture to examine ethical issues around
harvesting and eating fi sh, and society’s relationship
to fi sh and the natural world.
An interactive work, “Llevatelo To’ No Me Deje
Na,” by Gabriela Corretjer-Contreras, is a recreation
of a room where people can try on different
clothes, as a way of exploring Puerto Rican identity.
The piece offers insight into colonization and the
island’s history of invasion and exploitation.
A goal of Open Call was fi nding emerging artists
PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN
In Group Two of Open Call, “Meditation on
the Making of America,” by Kiyan Williams,
includes a map of America made from soil
and uses the African Diaspora to examine
issues of displacement and dispossession.
who show potential, according to senior curator
Emma Enderby. She said she is pleased with the
quality of all the works.
“It shows the real thoughtfulness of the artists
we’re showing,” she said. “They’re all extremely
unique works. But certain ideas keep surfacing,
showing a contemporary way of thinking, which I
thought was interesting.”
Enderby said that when the city gave $75 million
to The Shed, she and Tamara McCaw, The Shed’s
chief civic program offi cer, focused on how to
meaningfully apply that money in the center. Highlighting
local artists in the city was important, she
said, “in a place that’s been extremely diffi cult to
work and live in as an artist.”
Another Group Two work is “Hedges,” by Hugh
PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN
Hayden. It features a smaller, wooden version of a
typical suburban house, with tree branches sticking
out of it. Three mirrored walls surround the house,
creating the illusion of an endless row of houses.
Hayden, 35, said a theme of the work is camoufl
age. This can mean blending into nature but also
blending into society, as seen in the row of repetitive
houses. But the natural wood and tree elements
also evoke a natural environment, which animals
might blend into.
“Over all, my work is rooted in this idea of belonging,
being part of a larger whole,” said Hayden.
The trees came from discarded Christmas trees
on Park Ave.
“They would be mulch if I didn’t make something
out of them,” he said.
Hayden said “Hedges” also addresses the narrative
of the American Dream and homeownership,
which often can be an illusion and unattainable for
many, but is seen as a way of fi tting into society.
“Part of being an artist is the ability to change
someone’s perception of the world,” he said. “And
if I can do that with a tree, this ubiquitous thing,
if I can change the way you interpret the meaning
behind something more mundane, then it’s a way in
to have a greater effect or emotional impact.”
Hayden said the Open Call program gave him
the ability to make “Hedges,” helping provide him
with resources, plus a platform.
Enderby said that Open Call has been getting a
lot of visitors, including locals and tourists alike.
But she said it’s a work in progress to get the word
out about The Shed as a new addition to the city’s
cultural scene and a place to see all kinds of art.
Open Call will be an ongoing program at The
Shed. Group Four is scheduled to run in 2020.
Open Call is free but requires a ticket. More information
can be found at theshed.org.
18 July 18, 2019 TVG Schneps Media
/theshed.org