Blog – Art in Odd Places

Next stop on our featured artist series is Alicia Grullon. She hails from New York City, but spent a significant amount of time traveling. Alicia was part of Art in Odd places in 2008 with her piece called “Revealing New York City: The Disappearance of Others” where the theme was “Pedestrian”. Her projects tends to be in public spaces, focusing on the dynamics of human interaction in relation to her work.She does not to talk during her performances, but she did have a lot to say when Art in Odd Places asked about her work.

Aiop: Tell us about Alicia Grullon

AG: I was born and raised in New York City and had a great time growing up here. The world was always at every corner in the people and rhythm of the streets. I went to Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. After graduating, I decided to take a job in South Korea teaching English because I wanted to travel and have a larger context of life on which to base my art. I lived abroad for 4 years in Korea and in the Netherlands and travelled almost everywhere in between. After getting back to the US, I got my MFA at SUNY New Paltz and now live and work in the Bronx. I’ve exhibited at Mount Holyoke College’s Five College Women’s Studies Research Center, Raritan Community College, Masur Museum of Art, the Peekskill Arts Festival, Samuel Dorsky Museum at the State University of New York at New Paltz, Hunter College Gallery, The Point Community Center, Lower East Side Festival of the Arts and The University of Rhode Island. Awards include: Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art 2007-08, Chashama Visual Arts Award 2007, Research Associateship at Mount Holyoke College 2006 and Arts Council Korea International Artist Residency at Stone and Water Gallery in Anyang, South Korea in 2009.

Aiop: How was your Art in Odd Places experience?

AG: I think one of the best experiences I’ve had performing has been for Art in Odd Places. It is always exciting to be at a new location because when doing public performance you never know what is going to happen. The thrill of the unexpected is one of the components I base my work on. I see my projects are never complete until the audience is there interacting with me. The week before I started my first performance for AIOP, I broke my elbow riding a long board. It was awkward moving my arm, not to mention painful, but the show had to go on and it added a new layer. Doing this piece on 14th street was special. I love the people from the East Village, the folks who have been there since forever. They’ve seen everything throughout the decades and know how to sieve through inauthenticity. So when I got they’re approval for what I was doing, it felt incredibly wonderful.

Aiop: Where was your work located on 14th Street?

AG: My piece was on 14th street between First avenue and Avenue A in front of the post office. I performed for 4 Sundays in October from 12 to 5 each time.

Aiop: Any words of wisdom for artists who are interested in becoming part of this year’s Art in Odd places festival?

AG: Visit the site you’re interesting in doing work at. Sit awhile and imagine the work there. It will help with writing the proposal.

Aiop: What projects are you currently working on and where can people reach you?

AG: I am currently a participant in the first Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, Art & Law Residency Program. The inaugural session of the VLA Art & Law Residency will be celebrated with an exhibition and symposium of participant work at Maccarone Gallery in NYC this August. The residency is led by an incredible team: Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento, Esq. VLA Associate Director, Program Director and Faculty Elena M. Paul, Esq.VLA Executive Director, Advisor and Program Faculty and Erin Donnelly Exhibition Coordinator and Curator.

On April 10th, I will be presenting “Revealing New York: The Disappearance of Other”, as part of the Jamaica Flux ‘10 curated by Hen-Gil Han, Jamaica Flux: Work Spaces & Windows, a project of Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning
(JCAL). “Revealing New York: The Disappearance of Other” is a sequel to my Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art project An Auto-ethnographic Study: The Bronx. The first held in 2008 for Art in Odd Places: Pedestrian in Manhattan. For Jamaica Flux, I will focus on the foreclosure crisis affecting Queens.

My piece “Decolonizing the Image” was selected for publication in the academic journal Performing Ethos from Intellect Books Issue1/Volume1. Short Abstract: Photography has completed the racialization of identity as a vehicle
in colonization throughout modernity. With the emergence of immaterial art such as performance, the artist has been able to use the body in order to de-construct identity. As a result, performance documentation, like Adrian Piper’s Mythic Being, begin to unmark imperialist overtures embedded in images.

My project from this past summer in Korea has been published in “Doing Art in the Market” from Achim Media. It contains all the exiting work from the Arts Council Korea’s and Stone and Water Gallery’s International Residency in Anyang’s traditional Seoksu Market. At the moment it is only available in Korea.

People can reach me at: http://www.blogger.com/becomingmyth@gmail.com

Aiop: Any final words?

Thanks so much for inviting me to do this. AIOP is such an incredible festival. It follows in the tradition of Fluxes and Happenings that started in NYC. It brings thought back to the masses on such an intimate scale. I loved being a part of it.

Thank you, Alicia! Your responses were definitely wonderful and inspiring.

To visit the artist’s website, go to http://www.blogger.com/www.aliciagrullon.com
Email her: http://www.blogger.com/becomingmyth@gmail.com
Don’t forget Alicia upcoming show at JCAL on April 10, 2010.

What’s coming up next time: Aiop 2010 curators Yael and Petrushka, performance artist Lulu lolo and more Aiop artists.

Art in Odd Places is very pleased to announce its “Open Call for Artist Submission” for the upcoming festival, CHANCE, in October. In lieu of such announcement, our blog will be featuring artists who were part of Art in Odd places in the past to share their experiences and catch up with their latest projects.

First stop, Art in Odd Places recently caught up with artist Agata Oleksiak, or Olek for short. She was one of the artists during the 2009 festival with her dynamic work called “Thank you for your visit, Have a Nice Day”. Olek has been featured in The New York Times, CNN, Washington Post, Village Voice and Fiberarts Magazine for her work on mixed media, creating sculptural environments using her amazing crocheting skills. Olek was kind enough to share her thoughts about being part of Art in Odd places.

Aiop: Tell us about Olek, creator of “Thank You For Your Visit, Have a Nice Day”

Olek: I was born Agata Oleksiak in Poland. My English teacher told me “Poland is not ready for you, move to NYC”. I was always a good student, so after spending 22 years of my life in a gray, industrial, close-minded city in the South of Poland I escaped to Brooklyn. I rediscovered my ability to crochet and my crocheted journey/madness started. I cover objects and people as I go or as they enter my space, my life. The crocheted connections are stronger as one fabric, as opposed to separate strands, but if you cut one, the whole thing will fall apart. I like choosing ephemeral materials as a statement of the limited life of an art object, as well as an art concept. Unraveling plays a major part in my performance pieces. I can’t really speak to what I want to reveal—to know that, you’d have to find the end of the string and unravel it.

Aiop: How was your Art in Odd Places experience?

Olek: Overwhelming, exhausting but, most importantly, rewarding and satisfying. I planned to present a one day, 3 hour action that grew into a 4 weekend crocheted full body suits public life installation. I am very pleased with the great publicity that followed the AIOP festival and, in particular, my artistic statement for this venue. I couldn’t have done it without help from my friends, friends of friends and… Joshua Suzanne. She invited my piles of signs and yarn to take over her “Rags and GoGo” store on 14th Street where I was able to outfit my species and store the “props” between the performances.

And I cannot forget about the very close and extremely helpful communication with the curator Radhika Subramaniam. Nothing gives you more energy than a curator that believes in your proposal…then the final product.

I wish AIOP festival had a budget for the artists. I am strongly against the fact that we are constantly asked to produce public art, actions without any artist compensation. Actions like “Thank You For Your Visit, Have a Nice Day” needs performers, suits, coordinators, photographers, videographers, food and drink, washing machine, materials, prints, transport…pain killers…
I wish this venue good luck with making it even more successful and powerful. Raising funds would be the next step!

Finally, as an artist I must say I am especially content with the comments I’ve received from viewers. It is a public work and without the strangers who enter the space of my actions, my work couldn’t be completed. All of the five senses are always heightened as the audience develops new means of interacting with the piece, realizing that their response greatly impacts the art and the ways my forms are moving over time. Their response is the art, and my work is a mirror.

Aiop: Any words of wisdom for artists who are interested in becoming part of this year’s Art in Odd places festival?

Olek: Everything takes longer then you think. Weather is unpredictable. Count mostly on yourself. Everything is possible.

Aiop: What projects are you currently working on and where can people reach you?

Olek: I am currently participating in a show at ABC No Rio on the LES. I was able to accomplish my project that was on my mind for 5 years. Please go to 156 Rivington Street and enjoy it. It is a public installation and is waiting for viewers to complete it with their energy.
I am an artist in residence at AAI-LES Rotating Studio Program, where we will have open studio in May.

I am also going to need your clothes for an action “Bring Your Clothes” I am preparing for Brooklyn Museum on June 16th. If you are interested in being a part of my work there by donating your garments, cutting them with me or even crocheting a new piece out of “old”, please send me an email to olek@agataolek.com

And there you have it! Thank you Olek and we look forward seeing your projects.

To check out her show at the ABC No Rio, visit http://www.abnorio.org/
To see more of her art work, visit her website at http://www.agataolek.com/
To contact Olek or to participate in her upcoming piece for the Brooklyn Museum, email her at olek@agataolek.com

Art in Odd Places 2008 Artist: Alicia Grullon

Featured Artist: Olek