On March 13th, A Blade of Grass hosted a conversation about the use of PlaNYC as an inspirational tool, and the work both planners and artists are doing to engage the citizens of New York in the infrastructure that surrounds them every day. Artist Mary Miss and lawyer John Osborn raised many critical issues about sustainability and communication. Watch the videos from the event below!

PlaNYC is a bold initiative that has the potential to make New York City one of the most environmentally conscious urban centers in the country. But how visible is this initiative to New Yorkers today? Mary Miss' audacious project inspired by PlaNYC, City as Living Laboratory, Broadway 1,000 Steps, seeks to turn the entire Broadway corridor into a place where artists and citizens can collectively dream of a sustainable future. John Osborn has been an active participant in PlaNYC, and is working on demonstration ...

While the relationship between the artist and the viewer is a favorite conversation topic of the art world, it is often discussed in a one directional kind of way, as if the artist’s role is to bestow a sublime message onto the viewer. Sitting with Marina, the performance piece Marina Abramovic debuted in her much-discussed 2010 retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, exemplifies this attitude. In the work, she would perch unflinchingly for 12 hours at a time in the museum’s atrium while visitors sat opposite her. Sitters assert being overwhelmed with the aura Abramovic exuded, at times reduced to tears. While Abramovic complicates the artist/audience dynamic, allowing museumgoers to become her partners-in-crime rather than just passive viewers, she remained stoic, seemingly unaffected by her companions.

But the tension between the artist and the audience isn’t a one-way street; in fact, artists can learn a ...

On January 17^th, A Blade of Grass had the pleasure of hosting Eyal Danon (Director & Chief Curator of Israeli Center for Digital Art) and Reem Fadda (Associate Curator of Middle Eastern Art, Abu Dhabi Project, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation) in a public discussion at The 8^th Floor. Danon was in New York City through a Professional Development Grant from arts organization Artis.

View the videos from the discussion in this blog post!

Danon and Fadda worked together, as part of a larger group of Israeli, Palestinian and other international artists, on a project called Liminal Spaces which took place between 2006 and 2007. This group held a series of conferences and artistic actions that explored the difficult social and political pressures facing Israel and Palestine. The artists who came together considered how they could propose creative tools that would confront these issues and support social change. Liminal Spaces ...

One of the aspects that seems most missing from socially engaged art is the purpose. Not the roundabout, overarching purpose but the direct, underlying one―the face to the force. In an effort to engage a broad audience, a socially engaged artist might cast a wide net, and in turn lose the overriding message. There also exists the possibility that outside forces can use defocused intent as a critique.

As an example, the Occupy Wall Street movement was criticized for its lack of “face,” though the tactic was methodical and intentional, perhaps because it took on all concerns at once. But the undocumented immigrant movement has shone like an arrow in its trajectory. And it has always seemed guided by a fletching of people-powered art. 

Despite obvious objections from many, the undocumented youth movement was integral in convincing President Barack Obama to pass a policy of deferred action this past ...

Over the last decade there has been a continuing struggle to define the purpose, nature, and usefulness of contemporary art. As we seek to define emerging categories like participatory art, socially engaged art, social practice and so on and grapple with terms and language that clarify what they are and what they do, the forums and structures that push them forward are shifting like tectonic plates. This is not an entirely new idea, brought about by game changers like The Internet, Social Media, and Increased Access to Information.  Culturally, our world is shrinking, and it affects artistic practice in response to social, economic and political issues.

Over a relatively short period of time, the climate of art exhibitions has adapted to a more international sensibility and audience. The roles of exhibition makers and audiences alike are changing and redefining themselves to encompass a new hybrid of cultural production. All of ...