Calling all adventurous artists who would like to have their artwork loaded onto a barge that seconds as a gallery. Artists must be cool with the thought of their works floating down the Erie Canal, to then be viewed in NYC. If you’re the type of artist who yearns to showcase your work in floating barge galleries, then we have the perfect venue for you!
The floating barge project is called Displacement: Barge Prototype, Phase I of the Cultural Commodities. Show orchestrators are Burchfield Penney Art Center and TECCORP (Trans Empire Canal Corporation). Currently a full-scale 100 x 30 x 16 wooden barge prototype is being constructed in the Center’s East Gallery (see lead image). Other pockets of the gallery will be dedicated to site specific garage-related art, installations, projections and performances that could find their way onto the barge. Works of art might change depending on the port hosting the barge.
“As with many other aspects of this exhibition, which started off with open public discussions about a multi-phase project, the goal is to bring to life exhibition practices,” says D. Olivier Delrieu-Schulze, the brainchild of the project.
Starting August 7, 2014, the process of accumulating the artwork begins. Artists are welcome to bring in their works during ‘Load-In Thursdays’ bi-weekly starting at 6pm (20 artists will be allowed at a time, and pre-registration is required). Please call 716-878-6011. Artwork will be left with the center for upwards of a week in order to Shuttle Gallery.
“Curatorial procedures are usually hidden behind doors,” said Scott Propeack, Burchfield Penney associate director and curator. “We want to establish an open format for people to have a better understanding of how art enters into their everyday lives.”
The theme of the project intends for the floating barge to interact with the Erie Canal and its environs, much as it has in the past. The canal was a lifeline for many, and goods were constantly coming and going on the waterway. Much of the culture that found its way to Buffalo, did so via the Erie Canal.
“Exploring methods and looking to invent new ways for public engagement. Subsequent phases of the nomadic, collaborative Cultural Commodities project will include transporting the prototype to a barge for the 550-mile canal tour from Buffalo to New York City and back, and mooring it potentially at Silo City or Buffalo Harbor. “Negotiations are underway to obtain an actual barge for the canal and river voyage,” said Propeack.
Alternating Thursdays are also known as “Curation Thursdays” when the Burchfield Penney and TECCORP team will give up time to examine the works of art and offer their feedback regarding the potential fit for the barge’s “Shuttle Gallery”.