God Save Queens

Historically, it was one of the three cities whose approval was needed
to create the City of Greater New York. Long Island City was once home
to several large factories and mass bakeries and still is the home to
the largest fortune cookie factory in the United States.  F. Scott Fitzgerald’s account of Queens was evident in his book, "The Great Gatsby".  He wrote, "this is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like
wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the
forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a
transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling
through the powdery air".

Flux Factory, located in Long Island City has organized a show called, "NY, NY, NY, So nice we named it thrice".  There are over 100 artists that have participated.  Joel Morrison and Hiroshi Shafer are included in this group and they created a piece called, "If You Blow Me, I’m Gonna Take Off".  Joel Morrison and Hiroshi Shafer both walked the desolate streets to and from the N,R train in Long Island City, Queens.  These two artists individually and collaboratively produced works that takes you to the death tower of Citigroup in Long Island City and the space between the low buildings that it attempted to conquer.  This collaborative effort is a combination of collage, sculpture, photography and installation.

Hiroshi Shafer is a sculptor with a strong architectural background.  He created small kinetic devices for respiratory crevices–nose and mouth.  These small wonders are made of fine spiral wires with a paper propeller at its ends; minute replicas of the unembellished wind spinners.  The propeller moves with every breath of inhale and exhale.  The photographs are a double exposure of different women wearing these devices in their noses amidst locally recognizable locations in Queens.  This atmosphere is made up of exhaust from car repair shops, dirty electricity, factory waste, and chemical byproducts.

Joel Morrison’s work is a balance of collage, painting and sculpture.  He created a replica of the Citigroup Building using elements aforementioned, and the installation is suspended in an "up, up and away" position.  This building was completed in 1990, which allowed it to be the tallest building outside of Manhattan, with 50 stories.  The idea was to bolster a
business district that would create a real neighborhood with low crime, clean streets, good schools and affordable residential real estate.  Until now, there has not been the change that big business hoped for.  People are still on the periphery of the structure’s symbolic virility.

The collaboration of both artists is an illustration of merging competitive advantages.  Idea exchange and the "two minds are better than one" principle is an challenging exercise in ego management.  The give and take of defining the title, borrowing and lending expensive tools and discourse on artistic capabilities and sensibilities leads to a creation of value.   Shamim M. Monin states, "keeping the mission on track and genuine while remaining open to new relationships and business models can offer innovative platforms more adaptive to the character of art as it is being produced".  Joel Morrison and Hiroshi Shafer’s piece, "If You Blow Me, I’m Gonna Take Off" flies its audience over the East River and presents the "queendom" that never was.

Joel Morrison graduated with a Fine Arts Degree in Painting and a BA in Psychology at University of Iowa.  He recently showed his work at 2007 Conflux Festival (street installation), Just Another 3704558 (Asshole); CSV Gallery, Lets Bolt; and Rare Gallery, Seed Project.  If you would like more information please visit his website:  www.joelmorrison.com

Hiroshi Shafer graduated from Tokyo Zoukei Art University as a Sculpture major and Bunka Gakuin, Tokyo with an Architecture major.  Some of the group shows he’s participated in this year include, INTO ORBITING REVOLUTIONS @ Grace Exhibition Space, Wunderkammer @ The Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, and Grizzly Proof @ Flux Factory.  If you would like more information please visit his website:  www.hiroshi-shafer.com

NYNYNY
So Nice We Named it Thrice
Curated by Jean Barberis, Melanie Cohn, and Chen Tamir. Original concept by Jean Barberis.
at the Flux Factory
December 14, 2007 – January 2008
Opening, Friday Dec. 14th, 2007 – 7pm
Gallery hours: Fridays – Sundays, 1-5pm. Closed Dec. 23rd and 30th.

"New York, New York, New York is an interactive, multimedia installation. It is a continuation of Flux Factory’s interest in urban landscapes and takes inspiration from the Panorama, Robert Moses’ scale model of New York City in the Queens Museum of Art. Members of the Flux Factory art collective will work in collaboration with over 100 artists from all five boroughs and around the world to re-imagine the public and private spaces of New York".

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:

Boris Achour, Sandy Amerio, Carla Aspenberg, Leah Beeferman, Dominique Blais, Lise Brenner/Uli Lorimer/Katrina Simon, Adam Brent, Adam David Brown, Jason David Brown, Ben Bunch, Paul Burn, Ian Burns, Matthew Callinan, Anibal Catalan, Emmy Catedral/Valerie Opielski, Andrea Christens/ Takashi Horisaki, Emily Clark, Cluster8 (Parsons the New School for Design), Lewis Colburn, Daupo, Johannes De Young, Andrea Dezsö, Brandan Doty, Thomas Doyle, Kerry Downey/Alan Resnick, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Montpelier, Gregor Eldarb, Stephane Gilot, Tamara Gubernat, Ira Joel Haber, Aya Kakeda, Devrim Kadirbeyoglu, Israel Kandarian, Stephanie Koenig, Miwa Koizumi, Yunmee Kyong, Katerina Lanfranco, Maria Levitsky, Matt Levy, Ellen Lindner, Katja Loher, Marie Lorenz/Douglas Paulson, Molly Lowe, Marian Macken, Mapping it Out (Eugene Lang College/The New School for Liberal Arts), Evie McKenna, Mary-Anne McTrowe, Greg Martin, Simone Meltesen, Ian Montgomery, Kirsten Mosher, Martina Mrongovius, Joel Morrison/Hiroshi Shafer, Heidi Neilson, Jo Q. Nelson, Rashaad Newsome, Lothar Osterburg, Miguel Palma, Gail Pickett, Bridget Parris, Bruno Persat, Annie Reichert, Leonora Retsas, Renée Ridgway, Jaimie Robson/Kristal Stevenot, Karl Saliter, Jon Sasaki, Jean Shin, Mike Peter Smith, Soft City (Rose Bianchini, Sarah Couture McPhail, Yvonne Ng, Catherine Stinson, Jason van Horne), Claudia Sohrens, George Spencer, Joel Braden Stoehr, Etosha Terryll, Nick Tobier, Joseph Craig Tompkins, Momoyo Torimitsu,Christopher Ulivo, Gabriela Vainsencher, Jason Van Horne, Vydavy Sindikat/Anytime Development, Lee Walton, Barbara Westermann, Lauren Wilcox, and Ian Wojtowicz.

DIRECTIONS:

Take the Queens bound V, R or G train to 36th St ( WARNING G train has
not been going all the way through to 36st so please transfer to the 7
train at Court Square refer to 7 train directions below) (take the 36th
St. exit, not the 34th St. one). Walk east on Northern Blvd (away from
Manhattan) past Hess gas station and turn right on corner of Pathmark
(42nd Place). Road curves a bit to the left (where it turns into 43rd
Street w/o informing you). Flux Factory is on right beside Midtown
Express (and often hidden behind Midtown Express trucks). #38-38. Look
for our sign above the door!

N & W trains to 36th Ave and walk south on 36th Ave (HINT: The
Dunkin’ Donuts is on the SW corner). Walk until you hit Northern Blvd
(10 blocks). Left on Northern Blvd and turn right on corner of Pathmark
(42nd Place). Road curves a bit to the left (where it turns into 43rd
Street w/o informing you). Flux Factory is on right beside Midtown
Express (and often hidden behind Midtown Express trucks). #38-38. Look
for our sign above the door!