Ed Woodham is a multi-disciplinary artist and arts educator dedicated to working in public space. He is best known for the public art project, Art in Odd Places (AiOP), a festival that happens along the length of 14th Street in Manhattan every October. It’s a 10 day-long performance piece, created by a number of curators, artists and designers, and comprised of performances and installations from artists all over the world. Woodham insists on producing AiOP as an insurgent, without non-profit status, a budget, or permission from city officials because he wants to maintain the integrity of AiOP as an art project. These limits generate freedom from rules and regulations so Woodham and his collaborators can be more responsive to the site. They also limit production values to help artists avoid spectacle. His art practice is managing the work of many collaborators: his own. His work only succeeds if these collaborators trust the process, so Ed must approach his work with a generous spirit, and work to build that trust. Woodham has a background in theater and performance art. The limitations of the traditional artist/audience dynamic encouraged him to seek the spontaneity of the streetscape as a means of invigorating his practice, by offering pedestrians the possibility of an unexpected encounter with creative action. Woodham sees 14th Street as his studio, and he uses his work as a means of bringing awareness to the politics of public space, and the flow of energy that transgresses the urban landscape on a daily basis.
Click here to see the un-edited footage of Ed.
“This Is My Studio” video:
Images:
Linoleum cuts from Ed Woodham’s “Homopropaganda” series
“Homopropaganda is an initiative that aims to change the systems that create injustice for the LGBTQ (henceforth Queer) community by promoting a pro-queer agenda through performance actions and guerrilla marketing.”
Images from Art in Odd Places
Crystal Gregory, Invasive Crochet (photo by Ed Woodham)
Yoonhye Park, Bodies of Pyongyang (photo by Kenneth Hughes)
Olek, Thank you for your visit have a nice day (photo by Olek)
Liz Linden, Copy (photo by Ed Woodham)
Other Works by Ed Woodham
Costumed performance
Useful Tables at St Ann’s Warehouse (photo by Richard Termine)
