Marfa Dialogues/NY debuts in New York City

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This interdisciplinary project brings together more than 20 leading cultural, academic and advocacy organizations citywide to address climate change in art, activism and science.

The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Ballroom Marfa and the Public Concern Foundation will bring the Marfa Dialogues to New York in October–November 2013 as part of a continuing examination of climate change science, environmental activism and artistic practice.

Marfa Dialogues/NY will feature two months of programming including community forums, art exhibitions, musical performance and environmental panels, all accessible to the public and available via broadcast and digital media. Ballroom Marfa will present an art exhibition of environmentally engaged works at the Rauschenberg Foundation Project Space (455 W. 19th Street in Chelsea) and will orchestrate additional events with Marfa Dialogues programme partners at that location.

A calendar of events is at www.marfadialogues.org , along with context and discussion for participants. For more about previous Marfa Dialogues, see ballroommarfa.org/dialogues  .

More than 30 of New York’s leading cultural and academic institutions are participating in Marfa Dialogues/NY, hosting a variety of events ranging from an installation on the High Line to a food truck that will provide an unconventional serving of foods vulnerable to climate change. The two-month calendar of events features a mix of environmental panels, live theatre, major art exhibitions, installations, community forums, musical performances and more – all accessible to the public and available via broadcast and digital media.

Additional partners include WNYC,  the Judd Foundation, Creative Time, the Buckminster Fuller Institute, Hester Street Collective, Waterwash, EcoArtSpace, Dia, and Cape Farewell. A selection of events is given below.

Socrates Sculpture Park
Long-term exhibition, Opening: 5 Oct. 12p.m.
32–01 Vernon Blvd, Long Island City
Introducing a series of green roofs atop shipping containers that have been an architectural staple within the park for over two decades. In collaboration with a team of horticulturalists at Plant Specialists , NY-based artist David Brooks will ‘green’ three containers into works of art that explore New York City's strategy to reduce its carbon footprint through green roofs. Also on view in the park will be tree wood by Toshihiro Oki architect pc, a Broadway Billboard by Wangechi Mutu, and the 2013 Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition, featuring 15 new commissions by emerging artists. (See also Jenny Kingsley’s article on Living Walls in Cassone October 2011)

High Line Art
Long-term exhibition: 10 Oct.–4 Dec., 5p.m.–10p.m. Daily
The High Line
Presenting Solar, an exhibition in video format featuring recent videos by acclaimed international artists who use their work to explore the spectacle of nature and the sense of cosmic stupor that captures humans when faced with the sublime vastness of our planet. Solar features works by Rosa Barba, Neil Beloufa, Camille Henrot and Basim Magdy. (For more on the High Line see Victoria Keller, ‘Getting high in New York City’ in Cassone, December 2011

Ballroom Marfa
15 Oct.–30 Nov.
Rauschenberg Project Space, 455 W. 19th Street
The Ballroom Marfa-curated visual art exhibition The Quiet Earth includes recycled cardboard and gas station paintings by Robert Rauschenberg, architectural drawings of desert spaces by Donald Judd, new work by Maya Lin, and four large pyramid vessels by Agnes Denes in an exploration of human consciousness and our dialectical relationship with the planet.

Mary Miss/City as Living Laboratory
27 Oct., 12 p.m.–4p.m.
Starting at Bowling Green – ending at 23rd St.
CaLL/WALKS, a programme of BROADWAY: 1000 Steps, is a series of walks and panel discussions taking place along the length of Broadway between Bowling Green and 240th Street. The fall 2013 WALKS will afford artists an opportunity for preparatory dialogues with scientists and community representatives to bolster their vision, insights and creative thinking with technical and contextual information and feedback. Shifting Domains, a panel moderated by Suzaan Boettger, will examine the CaLL Framework as well as other artist strategies that are recasting the role of the artist as affective catalysts for social change. (See also Victoria Keller on ‘Broadway: Sculpture with nature’ (free article) in  Art News, Cassone September 2012

IMC Lab & Gallery
Opening Reception: 11 Oct. 7p.m.–9p.m.; long-term exhibition.
‘Climate, Data, Art: Seeing Measurements in New Ways’ is an exhibition showcasing the work of data artists on the subject of climate change. Data-driven art is part of a growing movement of artists focusing on the graphic side of data analysis. The pieces included will illustrate climate change data in creative and informative ways, blending media and art genres, communicating issues we cannot grasp through statistics and data tables alone. The exhibition will be curated by Isabel Draves, Founder of LISA (Leaders in Software and Art).