Skip to main content
Jun 26

Sous Observation/Spaces Under Scrutiny

By

In participation with Quebec Digital Arts, NYC, this exhibition brings together six recent installations by eight Quebec artists. Movement, space and sound are central to their works, which explore the perception of time, observation/surveillance, the connections between seeing and hearing, and the coexistence of analogue and digital.

Underpinning these installations is a machine or the idea of a machine. At times, it lies at the heart of the artwork and reveals its inner workings; at other times, it is more discreet, opting for a subtle form of camouflage.

Featuring: Catherine Béchard & Sabin Hudon, Martine Crispo, Manon Labrecque, Lorraine Oades, François Quévillon, and Thomas McIntosh & Emmanuel Madan 

Curated by Nicole Gingras

For more information about Quebec Digital Arts, NYC, click here.

May 29

Anxious Spaces: Installation as Catalyst

By

Clocktower’s second annual group exhibition Anxious Spaces: Installation as Catalyst featured a collection of artists whose work incorporates dynamic and time-based elements, ranging from robotic interactivity to performance events to social intervention. Knockdown Center’s expansive architecture and mysterious sub-chambers create a dream environment for site-specific and installation art.

Will Ryman presented Cadillac, a life-sized, 1958 Eldorado Biarritz convertible fabricated entirely out of resin and Bounty paper towels. In Molly Lowe‘s Growth, a sound/video piece and “garden” environment, the miraculous minutiae of plant life become alien and sinister. Lucas Abela‘s installation was made from medical intravenous drip equipment forested together and wired to audio gear to generate overlapping complex surround polyrhythms, turning into an instrument/drum machine orchestra to be performed en mass by attendees. Tim Bruniges‘ Normalize (the pull of the earth), created in collaboration with SIGNAL, was a site-responsive sound installation engaging material tension and acoustic resonance of the architecture. Aurora Halal took over a subterranean annex where a floating video was projected onto transparent screens, cloaking the mysterious cave in holographic effects.  Prince Rama presented Fountain of Youth 11:11, a water installation in the backyard’s roofless ruin. Audra Wolowiec exhibited Concrete Sound, a modular series of cast concrete forms based on the geometric shapes of sound foam used in recording studios and anechoic chambers, installed as a wall relief.

May 12

II Machines Live: Lydia Chrisman and Lilja Birgisdóttir

By

As part of the ongoing exhibition II Machines: Clive Murphy & Trevor Tweeten, the Knockdown Center and Rawson Projects presented a special evening of live performance by dancer Lydia Chrisman and Icelandic artist Lilja Birgisdóttir.

Lydia Chrisman debuted an original dance piece inspired by the sculptural installations exhibited in II Machines. She collaborated with Trevor Tweeten in the creation of the film for his sculpture Running in Eight Directions. For the evening’s performance she continues to extend the vocabulary of movements and rhythm highlighted in Tweeten’s ambitious film installation.

Lilja Birgisdóttir performed an original musical work that began with her solo voice, which was then looped repeatedly, slowly building up to form a choir of vocals filling the immense Knockdown Center space. Rawson Projects exhibited Lilja Birgisdóttir and Clive Murphy at NADA NY art fair on view May 14-17.  Jessamyn Fiore also organized Birgisdóttir’s solo show at Rawson Projects gallery titled If your colors were like my dream, on view through June 21. More information available at www.rawsonprojects.com

May 06

Non-representational Spatial Sound Composition Workshop

By

A workshop by Daniel Neumann

This 2 day workshop catered to sound artists, noise producers, composers of electronic and electro-acoustic music, as well as experimental musicians and sound designers, interested in deepening their practice and exploring spatialization as a creative element.

The workshop gave a historical overview on the subject with some technical background and explored aesthetics and techniques for spatialization. One objective is to practice listening as a phenomenological activity: the listener immersed in inner spaces / distance and continuity / sound as intersubjective space.

For more information and schedule click here.

Apr 21

Internet Yami-Ichi

By

Knockdown Center is pleased to present the U.S. debut of Internet Yami-Ichi (Internet black market), where artists, creators, and makers will come together to sell and trade Internet-related items in a flea market style bazaar. The Internet Yami-Ichi invites vendors and visitors to browse face-to-face, to “log in” to an intercultural exchange of the Internet and real world. Artist duo Exonemo and online collective IDPW.org organized the first Yami-Ichi festival in Japan, which has since spread to Berlin, Brussels, and now New York, for its largest iteration to date. The Internet Yami-Ichi in New York coincides with the first ever World Wide Yami-Ichi Weeks (WWyW), simultaneous events taking place in Taichung, Taiwan; São Paulo, Brazil; Linz, Austria, and Seoul, Korea.

The event is a manifestation of the enthusiasm, desires, and freedoms of the early days of the Internet. A time when users – not corporations – controlled data. As IDPW.org puts forth, “Once upon a time, the Internet was supposed to be a place for liberty.” Since then the Internet has evolved and impacted life in many ways. We are ever-more dependent on smart phones and digital communication to interact with the physical world. The desire for quick communication has spawned countless memes and emojis, now used like a second language. Social media and data sharing sites are hubs for friendships and knowledge. Privacy, anonymity, and freedom of speech have become critical points of debate as companies enforce copyright laws, activities such as “liking” are tracked and monetized, and forum trolls wreak havoc on message boards. The Internet Yami-Ichi brings these experiences in virtual space to the real world – creating a humorous and timely discussion of Internet culture.

The Japanese word “Yami-Ichi” translates directly into the English “black market”, though due to an emphasis created by mixing different Japanese writing systems the word “yami” takes on double meaning of “sick for” / “addicted to” etc., so a more accurate translation might be “Internet Obsessive Market.”

Organized by Exonemo, IDPW.org, Chris Romero, Eri Takane, PARTY Inc., and many others, the New York edition of the Internet Yami-Ichi will host over 100 vendors who will communicate and share their love for the Internet and reveal the depth it contains. Coinciding with the event will be an exhibition featuring the works of IDPW.org artists and performances.
Vendors:
Adam Okrasinski, Addie Wagenknecht, Albert Negredo, Allison Parrish, Andrew Badr, Angie Shen, Anime Research Group, Annie Malamet, Ansh, Aram Bartholl, Arcangel Surfware, ART404, Ayyoko Confidential, Babycastles, to.be, Tokyo Twilight, Chris Romero, Carla Gannis, Caroline Sinders, eteam, Social Clinic, Claire, Clement Valla, Corinna Kirsch and Dylan Schenker, Daniel Johnson, Daniel Johnston, Darren Kong, David Huerta, David Kraftsow, Dries Depoorter, Louise Drulhe, Dorita, Ed Bear, Elena Garnelo, Emily Sheehan, Emma Stamm, exonemo, Fabien Mousse, Hannah Epstein, IDPW, The Institute for the Study of Invisible Walls, Jon Burgerman, Katy Dresner, Kristin Lucas & 
Joe McKay, Faith Holland, Fantasista Utamaro, G. A. Carafelli & Jen Ahearn, Goichi HOSAKA, Guilherme Pena Costa, Imani Razat, Nina KUO, Internet dude (?), Invisible Light Network, Jeff Donaldson, Jeff Ong, Johann Diedrick, John Farrell & Fletcher Bach, John Provencher, Julian Sheep, Karen Y. Chan, Create In Situ, Laura Juo Hsin Chen, Lauren McCarthy, Ryan Hale, Leah Schrager, Linn Livijn Wexell, Lizzie Davis, Maddy Varner, luxloop, Marianna de Nadal, Art F City, Powrplnt, Mattia Casalegno, Jason Sigal, Masanori Mizuno, Michael Mandiberg, Mike Cho, Miles Joyner, Meguru Yamaguchi- NIGHT TRAIN, Mike Richison, Nate Graham, NIKO, Nicolas Probst, Nukeme, Nullsleep, ØLIVIA_FØX, OR Books, OTO, Library of the Printed Web, Qanta Shimizu, Philip David Stearns, Rafaël Rozendaal, Lorenzo Sanjuan, The Rack NYC, RAFiA, Rei Nakanishi, HELLO VELOCITY, Ohm and Sport, MR BOTS, Roberta Bennett, Robert Martin, Ross Goodwin, Rollin Leonard, Ryoji Tanaka, Surya Mattu & Tega Brain, Sarah Grant,
Sarah Rothberg, Sessa Englund, Sekai Kouzuma, Several.Works, Sharang Biswas,Shingo Ohno, ShunyaHAGIWARA, Song Hia, Tabita Rezaire, tadahi, Takuya Hosogane, Eri Takane, Taisan Tanaka, Taeyoon Choi, Gifpop, Alvin Yeung, Takashi Horisaki, Tess Adams, Transfer Gallery,
Trish MacKenzie, Twinhead 
and 
Cat Holtz, Uttam Grandhi, Uni & Yefeng, VSOON, Wade Jeffree, WEATHER MAN, Yuchen Zhang, Zach Krall, Zach Lieberman, ZZYW!!

Contact yamiichiny@gmail.com or visit yami-ichi.biz/nyc for more info.

Apr 10

SOUNDC O R R I D O R S

By

SOUNDCORRIDORS is a series of sound events exploring non-traditional interactions between sound and space. Set in architecturally and acoustically unique spaces, the series invites sound artists and composers to generate new work to activate the peculiarities of each performance environment. At the heart of SOUNDCORRIDORS is a multi-channel sound system, meticulously placed to turn the entirety of the 25,000 sq ft Knockdown Center into a singular instrument. A day long event, the audience was invited to wander freely, choosing their own sonic and spatial narrative.

 

FEATURING:
Ashcan Orchestra
Leila Bordreuil
Sabisha Freidberg
Richard Garet
Alfredo Marin
Miya Masaoka
Doron Sadja
Tristan Shepherd

Organized by Doron Sadja and Tristan Shepherd

Apr 10

Knockdown Flea

By

Featuring a rotating cast of out of town vendors, guest chefs and live entertainment, coupled with the occasional site specific artist project, the market provided a unique and constantly evolving backdrop for conversation and non-objective hang time.

Apr 10

Initial Contractions

By

Presented by:
VISITATION
REANIMATION LIBRARY
KNOCKDOWN CENTER

INITIAL CONTRACTIONS takes its name from page 72 of a braille manual for the sighted, a manual you will likely never see but which you might see thru more easily. 25 artists, composers, poets, performers, architects, activists, curators & cooks cross purposes for a 1-day exhibition.

Each participant has been visited & granted spectral vision by way of the propulsive page in question, which will remain in question even as it poses others, its elaborate configurations projecting one space into another, like an ellipsis inside an ellipsis in an ellipsis, how each miracle manifestation proposes the next while problematizing the last.

Participants included:
MITCHELL AKIYAMA
SONEL BRESLAV / BLONDE ART BOOKS
REBECCA DAVIS w/ Lydia Chrisman + Donna Costello
MARK de WILDE
MARLEY FREEMAN
MARK GEFFRIAUD
LUKAS GERONIMAS
MADHU KAZA
CARL KOEPCKE + JACK COCHRAN
THOMAS LOVE
ORGANISM for POETIC RESEARCH
JONATHAN vanDYKE
SIEBREN VERSTEEG

Apr 10

D.O.M.E.

By

From Globular Cluster presented an otherworldly installation and performance featuring 2 monumental inflatable dome sculptures with interactive video projection, optics and sound.  Ambient musicians provided an immersive sound environment of tones and textures.

Performances by:

Javier Lopez Williams, Sarah Reynolds, Snykhunt, Jake Adams, Robert L. Pepper, Yuko Pepe and Kurt Freye

This event was made possible in part by a grant from the Queens Council on the Arts.

Skip to content