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The Socrates Annual is the unveiling of the artists’ summer-long work,
which opened on Oct. 7. A variety of materials and styles are represented in
the exhibited work. But all of the pieces are interactive by nature.
One of the park’s exhibits, which is referred to as “the sandbox” by
Socrates Sculpture Park employees, is a interactive cube that visitors are
invited to enter. Three of the cube’s walls produce sound. Once wall is made
of string, the second of pipes and the third of textured paper. The box’s
creator, audio-visual artist Lionel Cruet, felt a need to respond to the park’s
landscape and community.
Cruet visited Socrates Sculpture Park two times before deciding to apply
for the fellowship, and was always impressed by the diversity of the park’s
visitors — a microcosm of the melting pot that is Astoria and Long Island City.
“The cube serves as sort of a metaphor for the park and its visitors,” said
Cruet, who added that his piece is only stable through the cooperation of six
different materials. All them can function independently but need to come
together to create art. Visitors are meant to be active participants and challenged
to look at their environment through different lenses.
This year’s artists are Leilah Babirye, Sherwin Banfield, Amy Brener, Lionel
Cruet, Nathaniel Cummings-Lambert, Ronen Gamil, Jesse Harrod, Carlos
Jiménez Cahua, Leander Mienardus Knust, Antone Konst, Joiri Minaya,
Nicholas Missel, Virginia Lee Montgomery, Nancy Nowacek, Audrey Snyder
and Joe Riley.
All exhibits are open to the public until March 10, 2019.
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