May 11, 2007
Flux Factory presents
Paterson, a collaboration between Flux Factory and a city
Flux Factory is proud to present Paterson, an artistic collaboration between Flux Factory and an entire city :: June 2-July 14 :: Opening Party: Saturday, June 2, 4pm at the Paterson Museum, Paterson, NJ :: For further information: Website, Phone: 718-707-3362, Email contact: Stefany Anne Golberg, info[at]fluxfactory.org
What Are We Doing? Flux Factory has assembled a team of artists and art professionals to create a proposal for a monument to the city of Paterson, New Jersey. We will keep a headquarters at the Paterson Museum which will act as a meeting place, research library, and installation. We are going to immerse ourselves in Paterson in order to come up with ideas that reflect the real people and the real experience of the place. During our six weeks in Paterson there will be daily events like walking tours, lectures, readings, discussions, performances, get-togethers, picnics, boat and bicycle rides, and debates, all free and open to the general public (not including transportation). Tours will be given by Flux Factory and Patersonians alike. Please visit our website for an updated list of event schedules.
Why Paterson? Paterson, New Jersey is a special place. Founded as the first planned industrial city by Alexander Hamilton and others, it played a major role in the industrial and economic development of the United States. But Paterson is also part of the cultural imagination of our country. William Carlos Williams wrote an extended lyric poem taking Paterson as his title and subject. The important American artist Robert Smithson considered Paterson and the surrounding Passaic Valley to be a source of artistic inspiration. Indeed, Paterson and the American Imagination are deeply connected.
Anything Else We Should Know? Monuments are often a disappointment, to say the least, though human beings have been building them since the beginning of civilization. There are places and people we all want to pay homage to. But the end result is often dull and lifeless, the very opposite of the subject being memorialized. What is a monument? Is it an ode to bygone days? A celebration of the past or an expression of the future? We think that “Paterson” will create an artwork out of the process of thinking through these questions. Most fundamentally, this project carries forward an idea of collaboration that animates everything we do at Flux Factory. Flux Factory projects are always about bringing groups of people together in order to create an experience. In this case, the idea of collaboration is being pushed to a whole new level: a collaboration that involves an entire city. Indeed, more than an entire city, since a basic assumption of this project is that Paterson is a lens through which one can discover things about the American experience in general and involve people from all over the world.
PATERSON PARTICIPANTS: Jean Barberis, Mikey Barringer, Angela Beallor, Jason David Brown, Christine Conforti, Joseph Costa, Giacomo De Stefano, Peter Duyan, Alita Edgar, eteam, Neil Freeman, Dana Gramp, The Ivanhoe Artists Mosaic of Paterson, Suzanne Joelson, Joe Milutis, The Paterson Museum, Leonora Retsas, Joe Ruffilo, Shuli Sade, Ruth Stanford.
*Conceived and Organized by Stefany Anne Golberg and Morgan Meis*
‘Paterson’ is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and Queens Council on the Arts, as well as generous support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Greenwall Foundation, and Carnegie Corporation of New York.
EVENTS AND TOURS
*PLEASE NOTE: Schedules may be subject to change, so please visit our website, www.fluxfactory.org, for more information. Most tours, unless otherwise indicated, are walking tours. Please wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to walk.
Town Hall Meetings: Discuss the project with the design team. This is open to the general public—Patersonians and New Yorkers alike. Make your voice heard!
Where to meet: Paterson Museum
Dates: Every Thursday evening from June 7-July 12
Time: 7:00pm
Opening Party: Reception and introduction to the project
Where to meet: Paterson Museum
Date: Saturday, June 2
Time: 4:00pm
Paterson reading group with Joe Milutis: The “Paterson Reading Group” will be an informal discussion of William Carlos Williams’ epic poem Paterson, meeting on throughout June, and featuring tours and special guests. Participants will be expected to furnish their own copy of ‘Paterson’; we’ll be using the “revised edition” with annotations by Christopher MacGowan. To register for the reading group and receive updates and meeting locations, please email joe_milutis[at]brown.edu.
Sunday, June 3; 2pm
Introductions; tour of the Passaic Falls, Paterson Museum;
dutch-treat dinner at Griselda’s.
Monday, June 11; 7pm
Discussion of Book I of Paterson.
Monday, June 25; 7pm
Discussion of Book II of Paterson;
walk on Garrett Mountain
Monday, July 2; 7pm
Discussion of Book III of Paterson;
visit to Paterson Public Library
Monday, July 9; 7pm
Discussion of Books IV and V of Paterson
Special Tour with artist duo eteam: More information to come
Where to meet: TBA
Date: Saturday, June 9
Time: TBA
The Expert’s Historic Tour: Tour with Paterson Museum Director Giacomo De Stefano
Where to meet: Paterson Museum
Dates: Sunday, June 10
Time: 2:00pm
The Flâneur Tour: Three cooperative, unstructured car drives through Paterson with artist Neil Freeman. PLEASE NOTE: Because of space, these tours are limited to 3-4 participants each. First come first serve. Please RSVP to 718.707.3362.
Where to meet: Paterson Museum
Dates: June 10, June 16, June 30
Time: 11:00am
The Pilgrimage Tour: Jean Barberis takes you on a stroll that starts in Grand Central Station and leads you all the way to the Great Falls in Paterson. Actually, it’s only 20 miles, so don’t be shy! Beverages are on us.
Where to meet: Grand Central Station, NYC
Date: Saturday, June 16
Time: 11:00am
The Paterson Art Scene-War Stories from Those Who Know: Artists Joe Ruffilo and Don Kommit give you the lowdown on Paterson’s rich artistic and literary history, from personal stories of Kerouac and Ginsburg to the present.
Where to meet: Paterson Museum
Date: Saturday, July 23
Time: 2:00pm
The Religious Institutions of Paterson: Their Architecture and Influence on the Community: The city of Paterson has nearly 140 places of worship. This tour will focus on the design of a few of the institutions and their effects on the growth and development of the community. Led by Leonora Retsas.
Where to meet: Paterson Museum
Date: Sunday, June 24
Time: 2:00pm
Wednesdays at the Ivanhoe: Visit the one and only Ivanhoe Artists Mosaic, a nonprofit arts organization, meeting house, and gallery in Paterson, for their monthly "Open Mike" with the opening reception for "Love Affair with Paterson" a tribute to all there is to love about the world's first planned industrial city. See website for details and directions to all events, www.ivanhoeartists.org.
Where to meet: Ivanhoe Wheelhouse, Spruce Street between Market St. and McBride Ave, next to Burger King
Date: Wednesday, June 27
Time: 8:00pm
Industrial Archaeology Tour: Tour the city’s unbelievable old mill buildings and industrial architecture with Shuli Sade and others.
Where to meet: Paterson Museum
Date: Saturday, June 30
Time: 1:00pm
Cinematic Visions of Paterson: Films about Paterson, films by Patersonians, and unexpected films… An event with Mikey Barringer. To be followed by a party at the Ivanhoe.
Where to meet: Paterson Museum
Date: Sunday, July 1
Time: 3:00pm
A Re-Tour Of The Monuments Of The Passaic: Travel with Peter Duyan as you re-create, re-walk, and re-photograph Robert Smithson's experience of monumental discovery through Passaic, New Jersey. What are today's New Monuments? Lets find out.
Where to meet: Port Authority NYC. Meet at the 190 bus gate going to Paterson. Roundtrip tickets between NYC and Paterson are $9.00 and can be purchased at the bud station. Call 646.708.2360 for more info.
Date: Saturday, July 7
Time: 10:45am
The Paterson Mystery Tour: Stefany Anne Golberg and Morgan Meis take you on a tour of Paterson full of special discoveries and hidden places…To be followed by drinks and more at The Ivanhoe
Where to meet: Paterson Museum
Date: Sunday, July 8
Time: 2:00pm
Closing Party: Details TBA. See www.fluxfactory.org for updates. Date: Saturday, July 14
There are a number of great festivals happening in Paterson this summer! Check them out:
African American Heritage Parade: June 16, 2007, beginning at 10:00am. Parade starts at the Masonic Temple on Broadway
Puerto Rican Parade and Festival: The festival will happen on Marshall Street from August 24-16. The parade will be on Main Street on August 26
Getting to Paterson from NYC
By Bus: From Port Authority, take the 190 bus to Paterson. For Paterson Museum, take the bus to the end of the line, Broadway. Buses usually leave every 15 minutes. Go to www.njtransit.com for more info. Cost: $4.50 each way
By Train: From Penn Station. Must switch trains in Secaucus. Go to www.njtransit.com for more info and schedules. Cost: $5.25 each way
By Car:Follow Route 80 West and signs to Paterson. For the Paterson Museum, get off at Exit 57-A/B, to Downtown Paterson.
For detailed driving directions to the Paterson Museum, visit www.thepatersonmuseum.com
Flux Factory is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization.
Posted by jo at May 11, 2007 08:28 AM