to Let

To let updates

2010-06-29T17:25:00.002-04:00

The final two installations were removed this spring and the to Let program will not be continuing.

Thanks to all the artists and everyone that came on the walking tours and viewed the installations!

Iterations of Finanzkrise

2009-11-28T12:12:00.008-05:00

Some may have noticed a small change, if you’ll forgive the expression, in the installation at 208 E. State Street, “Finanz krise/Crise financière/Crisi finanziaria.” An element in the assembly that had been provided by American Arts and Crafts has sold. This was a steel wine bottle holder in the shape of a dog.

I had been anxious about how to approach an installation on the Commons, not wanting to do any “plop art” that paid little or no attention to the specificities of the site. So, I spent a lot of time walking up and down the Commons, attempting to figure out precisely what the aesthetics of this place had to offer me in terms of a visual language. How would I be able to manifest something within the Commons that would be both outside of it (that is, be legible as a difference, however slight) and continuous with it? Which is to say, how could I fit into the Commons, and make something that thinks with the Commons? The relationship between thinking and acting was on my mind, particularly thinking and acting as it related to the marketplace.

At the time, I was reading Hannah Arendt’s Life of the Mind, where she ponders the ways and means to bring thinking out of hiding, to “tease it into manifestation”:

“The best, in fact the only, way I can think of to get a hold of the question is to look for a model, an example of a thinker who was not a professional, who in his person unified two apparently contradictory passions (...) Best suited for this role would be a man who counted himself neither among the many nor among the few, who had no aspiration to be a ruler of men, no claim even to be particularly well fitted by his superior wisdom to act in an advisory capacity to those in power, but not a man who submitted meekly to being ruled either; in brief, a thinker who always remained a man among men, who did not shun the marketplace, who was a citizen among citizens, doing nothing, claiming nothing except what in his opinion every citizen should be and have the right to. Such a man ought to be difficult to find: if he were able to represent for us the actual thinking activity, he would not have left a body of knowledge behind; he would not have cared to write down his thoughts even if, after he was through with thinking, there had been any residue tangible enough to set out in black and white.”

Arendt is of course describing Socrates. I was thinking of another philosopher of the marketplace: “I am Diogenes the Dog. I nuzzle the kind, bark at the greedy, and bite scoundrels.”

"Finanzkrise/Crise financière/Crisi finanziaria" - Anthony Graves - 208 E. State St.

2009-10-02T13:43:00.006-04:00

“Finanz krise/Crise financière/Crisi finanziaria” is situated in Ithaca’s familiar and agreeable downtown pedestrian mall, The Commons. I often find myself on The Commons on sleepy afternoons, slowly strolling from store to store, lost in a retail daydream. As I stood there this past weekend, carefully studying this newly unveiled work and taking notes, I watched as locals floated past 208 East State Street lost in a similar kind of reverie. These dreamers were unfazed by the sudden appearance of Anthony Graves’ new work in the abandoned store’s display window.

Upon further reflection, I think the installation went undetected for two reasons, the first of which is the work’s resemblance to the other casually arranged window displays that line the Commons’ walkways. In Graves’ version, mock-neon script spells out something on the display wall (it’s difficult to parse without some investigation and the “To Let” didactic) as a sculpted, stylized dog and an unused work lamp peer out at us from atop a small shipping pallet. The display itself is not unattractive, just unremarkable, due to its limited color scheme, familiar visual language, and comparatively spare composition.

But it is not just the familiarity of Graves’ display that makes it so easy to pass by. It is also the display’s explicit advertising of our impulse to overindulge. It is this impulse which we wish to repress, ignore, and conceal, and it is this impulse which has caused our current global financial crisis. One is reminded here of the two definitions of heimlich (as in Freud’s unheimlich or “uncanny”): it is both the familiar and agreeable, and, what is concealed and kept out of sight.

It is these two terms that form the crux of Graves’ intervention. The uncanny is deployed through the work’s conflation of symbols of global and local capital (with Bank of America representing the former and American Crafts representing the latter). The effect is not unlike that moment in which a dream unexpectedly turns into nightmare: it has the power to stop us in our tracks.

— Nathan Townes-Anderson

Untitled - Blake Fall-Conroy - 235 S. Cayuga St.

2009-10-02T10:53:00.002-04:00

The merger of red, white, and blue police beacons into the American flag motif enhances the flag's primary purpose as a means of identification and marker of territory ("This spot is American") by heightening its visual impact with lights and motion. This merger also serves to reinforce the supposed ideologies of the United States that are already present in the flag's symbolism on an international scale-- things typically defined "clearly American." Such ideologies include the belief in the rule of law, unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, liberal democracy, legitimized authority, economic success, and acting "for the common good" of all people, among others.

Installed in the Cayuga garage, the flag claims the space (a long vacant commercial space next to an international financial services firm inside a newly constructed seven-story parking garage), not only as American territory, but perhaps as the recent culmination of a long history of developing American ideology.

So, that being said, I believe strongly that the intentions of the artist in creating a piece are unimportant compared to any meaning that is gleaned from a work by its audience. While I may personally think that the beacon flag is representative of one thing more than another, I think its audience could draw many different conclusions, both positive and negative. I hope the installation will facilitate this discussion.

"Night and Day" uninstalled

2009-10-02T09:57:00.001-04:00

Roman Hrab's photo and sound installation in the former "Night and Day" was taken down this past weekend.

Updated to Let map

2009-09-28T13:09:00.002-04:00

to Let mention in Ithaca Times

2009-09-28T13:07:00.001-04:00

Here's an observation piece by Railey Savage in this week's Ithaca Times that includes thoughts on to Let.

Some Criticism from the Commons

2009-08-14T14:53:00.001-04:00

Artists' Talk/Conversation - tonight

2009-08-07T11:57:00.003-04:00

In conjunction with their video "In the morning," Michael Chang (visiting from Copenhagen), Jan Kather and many of the other participating artists, will engage in a conversation about their video pieces and the way collaboration fosters the creation an artistic community.

Friday, August 7, 2009 - rain or shine
7:30 PM
Ithaca Commons Amphitheater

See previous post for further information on "In the morning."

"In the morning" - Michael Chang and Jan Kather Collaborations - 136 E. State St.

2009-08-07T11:49:00.004-04:00

In the morning of August 5, 1962, actress Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home. In the morning of June 28, 1969, Greenwich Village Stonewall Inn was raided by police and the gay liberation movement began.

Inspired by these two events, Danish artist Michael Chang and regional artist Jan Kather have created a video installation. Tammy Renee Brackett (Alfred), Tom Oberg (Elmira), Graham McDougal (Ithaca), Dan Reidy & Wendy Taylor (Elmira), John Criscitello (Ithaca), Wilka Roig (Ithaca), Janeen LaMontagne (Waverly), and Marty McCutcheon (San Francisco) were invited to contribute to this installation.

to Let Manhattan?

2009-07-21T08:38:00.002-04:00

An article in this weekend's NY Times reports that commercial vacancies in NYC will reach 10% by the middle of next year. Imagine them filled with installation art.

Participate in to Let

2009-07-20T08:53:00.002-04:00

We currently have open submissions for to Let. If you'd like to propose a project/installation, please see our mission and submission guidelines at www.theworkingrelationship.com

Strong preference will be given to work that addresses the location, space, neighborhood, or history of the area. Email us for a current list of available properties.

"A Plastic Garden" uninstalled

2009-07-16T18:01:00.003-04:00

105 S. Cayuga was rented.

Lindsey Glover discussing "A Plastic Garden"

2009-07-13T14:50:00.003-04:00

Here's Lindsey Glover discussing "A Plastic Garden" with a group taking a walking tour during the "to Let" opening.
Thanks to Jan Kather for this video!

to Let featured n Tompkins Weekly

2009-07-13T07:43:00.003-04:00

Here's a link to their home page. Click on "current issue" on the left.

After 7/20/09, click on "past issues" and select the 7/13/09 issue.

"Colonial Left" uninstalled today

2009-07-10T12:27:00.003-04:00

111B The Commons has been rented (yay!).
Which means "Colonial Left" was taken down today (boo!).

This is the nature of the to Let program. We hope that spaces will become occupied and are glad to have the opportunity to show work in the mean time. Get a look at the current installations because you never know when they'll be gone.

Thanks to Michelle for creating a thoughtful piece - mimicking an antiques shop, a museum display and many a tacky '70's living room at the height of bicentennial mania - and questioning our relationship with colonialism. With Colonial Barbie!

Keep an eye out for new installations in empty spaces.

to Let opening

2009-07-04T08:51:00.008-04:00

Thanks to everyone that came out for the to Let opening yesterday! Please let us know what you think of the installations by commenting on the posts. Or ask an artist a question, etc.

Here are some photos from last night. Many thanks to two of our fantastic interns, Mollie Miller and Elaine Oh, who gave the walking tours.

Lindsey Glover had open studio hours at The Flower Shop, the evolving phenomena behind her installation, A Plastic Garden. Last night had an impromptu music performance.

Natalie Campbell gave a talk on the taxonomy of clouds in relation to her installation, The Weather Metabulator.

to Let map

2009-07-03T10:28:00.005-04:00

We've posted a download-able map to the participating properties here.

to Let featured on News Channel 10

2009-07-02T22:37:00.003-04:00

Check out a nice little piece on to Let on the regional news channel. Scroll down the page for video.

to Let opening events - Friday, July 3

2009-06-30T09:30:00.003-04:00

Join us this Friday from 4:00-6:00pm at the Bernie Milton Pavilion in the center of The Commons to inaugurate to Let!
Walking tours will depart at 4:30pm and 5:30pm.
Maps of the participating properties will be available.
Food, conversation and many of the artists will be on hand.
Lindsey Glover will be having an open studio in her space at 105 S. Cayuga St. (The Flower Shop).
Michelle Illuminato's space (111B The Commons) will be featuring projections which are up only for opening night.
SP Weather Station will delivery a twilight presentation (at about 9pm), "The Taxonomy of Taxonomies of Clouds" at The Amphitheater on The Commons (just a bit west of the Bernie Milton Pavilion).

"Night & Day" - Roman Hrab - 135 The Commons

2009-06-25T10:13:00.020-04:00

Two sources of inspiration / information are the basis for Night & Day. Firstly the Internet, and this website. It is a link to a web cam located on Ithaca Commons, which takes a live shot every 15 seconds of a section of the Commons. It is owned and operated by a local graphic design firm. When I first came across this website, I found it raised many issues regarding the surveillance of the public realm via the web and social networking. The camera page also has a live Twitter feed as well as a link to a ‘best of” web cam photo page on Flickr.

Rather than appropriate images from this Flickr album, I collected images directly from the web cam until I came across a pair of stills that conveyed a sense of solitude and foreboding. One image was taken during the day, the other at night. From these images I made large-scale prints that were manipulated to resemble security camera shots. A final print, an aerial view of the Commons from Google Earth, serves as a pop cultural “You Are Here” marker for this psychogeographical mapping.

Secondly, the name of the store, Night & Day, instantly brings to mind the Cole Porter classic. The song has been recorded by countless artists, from Frank Sinatra to Billie Holiday and many others, and is best known as a song of longing and yearning, of unrequited love. But when taken out of its 1930’s musical context, the lyrics begin to seem a bit more sinister in intent when juxtaposed with the 21st century realm of the Internet, surveillance, web cams, and social networks.

An audio loop plays a recording of artists and musicians reciting, whispering, singing, and playing their own versions of Night and Day, with these issues in mind. Their voices are heard in the vestibule of the store, sometimes solo, sometimes paired in twos or grouped in disharmonic quartets or octets. Together with the images, the audio is an eerie reminder that there is always someone unseen watching the public realm, night and day.

The recordings are performed by:
Yura Adams
Carrie Chalmers
George Hrab
Roman Iwasiwka
Andrew Kowal
James Mongan
Wayne Montecalvo
Jennifer Murray
Kathleen Thum
Tricia Wright

Here is a mix of all performances. At the installation site, this mix and other versions play in random order on a continuous loop 8am-10pm.

Roman Hrab's website

"Cenotaphs for a new era" - Tom Oberg - 109 S. Cayuga

2009-06-20T13:01:00.010-04:00

Two Glass cubes

h30" x 37" x 24"
h29.75" x 25.5" x 16"

Sculpture can be viewed as the total occupation of space. The two cubes
represent the spaces occupied by two very different men with two very
different views of the worlds they occupied.

On March 29, 1849 Henry "Box" Brown had a crate built and mailed himself
from Baltimore to Philadelphia. The trip took 27 hours; the crate measured
h30" x 37" x 24"

On October 12, 1969 Charles Manson was arrested at Barker Ranch in
Death Valley and charged with arson and grand theft auto. Manson was
found hiding inside a bathroom cabinet  measuring h29.75" x 25.5" x 16".

Henry "Box" Brown, born into slavery in 1815, mailed himself across the
Mason-Dixon line to freedom in 1849. Brown escaped to England after the
Fugitive Act of 1850 became law. Brown became active in the Abolitionist
movements in both America and Britain, writing two versions of his
autobiography and exhibiting a moving panorama depicting the brutality of
slavery, titled "The Mirror of Slavery". Brown stayed on the British show
circuit for 25 years, until 1875, eventually returning to the U.S. with a
magic act.

*"... having been enabled to snap my chains and escape to a land of liberty
– I owe it as a sacred duty to the cause of humanity, that I should devote
my life to the redemption of my fellow men"*

Charles Manson, born November 1934, a career criminal whose criminal
record culminated in an infamous 1969 killing spree perpetrated by his
followers known as the Family. Manson, believing that the racial tensions
of the 1960sbetween blacks and whites would soon turn into open warfare,
began to plan the release of an album whose songs would trigger the
impending race war. Manson believed that upon hearing the lyrics, the
blacks would rise up and murder the whites. The blacks would triumph
but would need to be ruled by the Family, which would ride out the conflict
in "the bottomless pit", a secret city beneath Death Valley. Manson's
followers precipitated a series of gruesome murders to – in Manson's
words " ... show blackie how to do it".

Manson song title from the album* The Family Jams: "First They Made Me
Sleep in the Closet/I'm Scratchin' Peace Symbols on Your Tombstone".

"Sweet Dreams" - Paul M. Nicholson - 111 N. Tioga

2009-06-20T09:58:00.005-04:00

“Sweet Dreams” employs two 1’ by 1’ foot blocks that sparkle as if made out of sugar. On top of each cube sits a white coffee cup and saucer, drank to near the bottom. These remnants of a warm conversation remind us that a very familiar human interaction has just taken place.

Thousands of people sit down in local banks all across the country. They sip coffee with someone they’ve known for years. They share intimate details of their lives, their hopes and dreams, and plans for the future. The piece alludes ultimately to the shared risk and responsibility; it also reminds us that some of the sweetest dreams are financed more by saccharine than sugar.

The unfinished dark liquid leaves a perfect black circle in the bottom of the cup. When left on top of a pristine white cube, a transformation occurs changing the objects into to a pair of oversized dice. The resulting roll is “snake eyes”, symbolizing the ultimate losing roll.

Paul M. Nicholson's website

"Colonial Left" - M. Michelle Illuminato - 111B The Commons

2009-06-20T09:57:00.002-04:00

Without thinking about it, we experience traces of our Colonial history in our everyday lives, from the Colonial-style mirror we look into in the morning to the wagon wheel in our neighbor’s front yard. We use these items without ever questioning how they came to us and what it means to incorporate them and by extension what they represent, in our lives.

"Weather Metabulator" - SP Weather Station (Natalie Campbell, Heidi Neilson), Daniel Larson - 208 E. State St.

2009-06-20T09:45:00.003-04:00

The Weather Metabulator is a collaboration between SP Weather Station (Natalie Campbell and Heidi Neilson) and Daniel Larson (PhD Biophysics, Cornell U., 2004) and was recently installed at the Queens Museum as part of the Queens International 4.
An adapted 1950s-era medical device, the ‘Metabulator’ translates real time analogue temperature measurements into a continuous chart readout. The Weather Metabulator uses an integrated circuit temperature transducer installed outdoors which produces an output current proportional to temperature. This analogue electrical signal is relayed along a wire from the transducer to a digital circuit inside the Metabulator, which translates the signal into the movement of a servo. The servo powers a motor which moves a pen which creates a real time drawn readout of temperature in the gallery.
The drawing produced by the chart readout of temperature data functions as a displaced “landscape” drawing. It is a representation of a specific place (through temperature data); at the same time it evokes maps of topography/elevation.

Weather Metabulator Components:
Integrated circuit temperature transducer, Wire, Instrument amplifier, Analogue to digital converter, Pulse width modulator, RC Servo and motor, AC synchron motor, Metabulator with existing stylus apparatus. (More technical information including circuit diagrams are available here)

SP Weather Station's website

"A Plastic Garden" - Lindsey Glover - 105 S. Cayuga

2009-06-20T09:41:00.004-04:00

Using ‘junk’ material, such as Styrofoam, plastic bags, and cardboard, I reinvent these materials and install them within the vacant storefront, transforming it into a lush, vibrant green un-living ecosystem. Using the ledge just below the two windows as a base, I will construct a scene that appears from a distance to be a living-breathing biosphere. Lit with small, battery operated LED lights the scene would be illuminated at night, much like looking into a fish tank or peering into an artificial environment at the zoo. The foliage would come alive though color, form and light, despite its construction from dead material. I plan to take scraps and discarded material I find in the streets, in the woods, and fields, transforming them into objects of desire and giving them a life beyond dismissal.

Lindsey Glover's website.

Welcome to the "to Let" blog!

2009-06-20T09:32:00.001-04:00

If you live in Ithaca, you may have already seen some suspicious activities in vacant storefronts around the commons - a garden with handmade plastic flowers and Styrofoam strata, an antique medical device spewing printouts, a seeming antique store with something amiss - these are the first installations in the to Let art program.

This blog is a place to learn more about the individual installations and to have conversations sparked by the art. The artists will check in from time to time, so please leave them questions under the main post for their installation.

For more information on to Let, including a map of participating properties - click here.

to Let is a program created by The Working Relationship and supported by The Downtown Ithaca Alliance and local landlords.