Grace Under Fire, computer collage and ink, Michael Ventura.
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By Trenton Straube
Friday, September 07, 2007
Leonardo da Vinci spent four years painting the world’s most famous portrait, The Mona Lisa. But curator Brian Supler gives his artists a mere 24 hours.
On midnight Friday, Sept. 7, Supler inaugurates the Midnight Art Series, what he bills as “a 24-hour living art experience.” It’s a curated program where New York artists are brought together at midnight and given a project that they must complete within 24 hours. Similar to a reality TV program, only on a shorter timeframe—and live.
“I can’t give away the theme,” Supler said of this weekend’s event, but he added that the medium is performance art and that his guest curator is Zhenesse Staniez Heinemann.
The resulting show, free and open to the public, takes place at 11:45 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 8, at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument near 87th Street and Riverside Drive. It will last one hour.
Confirmed participants include Linsey Bostwick, Machine Dazzle, John Moran, AJO Adam Joseph, Sujin Lee, Neal Medlyn, Marie Nerland, Laura Diffenderfer, Zhenesse and others. Mst currently perform in New York theater.
Supler, who works in the fashion and marketing industry, tried out the formula for the Midnight Art Series earlier this year. That theme was “Grace Under Fire”; the medium, print on paper; and the palette, silver and purple. Ten artists participated and created 10 copies so that each participant could have a completed set.
Noah Brier was one of the artists (and blogged about the experience on noahbrier.com). “I found myself doing something so far from my regular routine that it was freeing,” Brier wrote. “Seeing all the work yesterday evening was amazing. Ten people took the same prompt and went in incredibly different directions: Bicycles, eggs, icebergs, typography, photography, illustration … It was amazing.”
A documentary of the experimental run “Series #1: Paper” was recorded and posted on web2.0television.com. And photographer Ryu Kodama will document “Series #2: Performance” this weekend.
“I just wanted to do something that was creative and not about making money,” said Supler, who has a major in art history. For his own creative outlet, he makes fabric art. “People give me clothing, and I have it reworked, taking lettering and creating mantras on it,” he explained.
But the Midnight Art Series is more than just an exercise in artistry. “I wanted to see if I could get 12 people to come together and create and share,” he said.
Midnight Art Series, “Performance #2,” 11:45 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, Riverside Drive @ 87th Street, free, midnightartseries.com.
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