anne-marte eidseth rygh

Artist studio and Gallery. 242 Green Street 11222 Brooklyn. Telephone 347 666 8709

From May to October 2010 Anne-Marte Eidseth Rygh and Toni Kastelan  will be living in Brooklyn NYC and running a series of events in  a loft studio 1000 square metres in an industrial area.

Our first meeting with Brooklyn is introduced by Sol Kjøk. A Norwegian Artist that has been living in New York for 10 years. She is a great help in terms of getting to know the whos the what and the wheres. The area we will be living in is Greenpoint. Originally inhabited by the Keshaechqueren Indians today dominated by Polish and Puertorican immigrants a place that still has a clear sense of community.

Sol is renting out rooms in an art collective “The mothership” and its an excellent place to start. A huge terrace space in which she often throws parties great to get to know people and the terrace also gives view over factories and run down roof tops. One day we follow a cat on the roof tops and take a look in a window. This is how we find our potential living space. The building is a two story high industrial site which back in the days was a bakery and the late 20 years have been in the posession og Franck Cruz a mechanical engeneer that helped develop some of the worlds first cat scans. For 10 years the space have been used as storage for machines and this year it was discovered by two Scandinavians that decided that by som real hands on work they can make this into a living space and gallery.

Our first monthe was therefore spend in home depos and after 3 weeks of clearing the place for heavy machinery and stuff, washing and painting and plastering the roof to keep the ceiling tiles from falling. Installing a toilet, shower and zink by the help of our landlord. The space is ready for living and in 1 month its also ready as a gallery. We call it Priority Gallery as we soon learn that in NYC “you gotta get your prioritoes right” in order to make time feel slightly useful.

After 3 weeks

Our neigbouers Mr softy ice cream company woke us up every morning with Brooklynite swearing phrases; part of the lingo.

Next challenge: The summer is tough and proves to hold  a record heat wave in the city.  In July and August it often hits 42 degrees celcius,  warnings on the radio to stay inside and the sight of our shoes melting at the asfalt confirms it.  We are forced to live inside with the air condition which is not quite making the temperature sink below 39. The body is reacting with exhaustion and fever after a long time with constant heat and our energy is at a minimum. We are cut off from the Manhattan Island by power brakes and heat busted subways and we are literally Burning in Brooklyn watching the skyline on a distance. New York is also swamp land which makes it very humid and for any person with allergies to  mosquitos (like me) getting sleep will be though even inside a mosquito netting. The government spends millions on toxins to lessen the pest and regularly spray the toxins over the city by helicopters.

The relief we find is in 3 days when we hire a car and go to Long Island, the swim was therapy. And one day we get invited on a sail trip on the Hudson river by Sol, amazing view over Manhatten but its frustrating that the water is so polluted that a swim is out of the question. In some evenings the temperature in Brooklyn is dureable. The streets are still wet of the many water hydrants people have kicked off and we invest in two used bikes and spend time exploring Long island, Green Point, Williamsburgh and Dumbo. Our hood GREENPOINT is the northernmost neigbourhood in the New York City Bourough of Brooklyn. Originally farmland today a mix between residential and industrial area. To get to know Greenpoint better here is a blog from people who love this area http://www.greenpointers.blogspot.com/

Cycling along the east river at night watching  the Manhatten skyline came out to be one of our favourite memories. This area is also packed with street art and many artists was recognizable through having seen many of the works in Stavanger, Norway at annual Nuart festival. A STREET ART SAFARI IN GREENPOINT ON BIKE IS HIGHLY RECOMENDABLE. http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/ and here is a link to the festival in Norway. www.nuart.no

Gaia Rabbit at St Jhons street

Banksey Brooklyn

Reproduced Snicker commercial at Subway

ROA in Brooklyn

In Summer due to the heat New York takes a break and many of the galleries close down. But one gallery that impressed us and which we kept visiting was MOMA in Long Island  or PS1. Hammocks in the court yard  made it a sweet place to hang out on evenings when the sun had taken a rest. The first exhibition we saw was “Greater New York” the third iteration of the series renowned for showcasing artists who live and work in the New York metropolitan area. with artists such as  Julie Mehretu, Jeremy Blake, Dana Schutz, SWOON, Mickalene Thomas, and Banks Violette. This exhibition also presents a selection of contempoary video works installed as an elevated cat walk with a long bed that the audience could lie in as they watched the programme”

Another exhibition I am grateful to have seen was at Moma Manhatten Marina Abramović (Yugoslav, b. 1946):

“The Artist Is Present” performance art retrospective traces her prolific career with approximately fifty works spanning over four decades of her early interventions and sound pieces, video works, installations, photographs, solo performances, and collaborative performances made with Ulay (Uwe Laysiepen).  The exhibition includes the first live re-performances of Abramović’s works by other people ever to be undertaken in a museum setting. In addition, a new, original work performed by Abramović will mark the longest duration of time that she has performed a single solo piece. one of which involves viewer participation, will take place throughout the entire duration of the exhibition, starting before the Museum opens each day and continuing until after it closes, to allow visitors to experience the timelessness of the works.   See this link at momas for more info

THE ACTUAL CRISES

Something that cannot be ignored during our stay here is the real impact on peoples everyday lives of the Finance crises. Norway is presenting such a bubble from this reality and here homelss people are increasing in numbers by the day. To somehow deal with the context of our surrounding and something  that we  strongly recommend we participated and were vulunteering to help make food for homeless at the  Soup Kitchen/Food Pantry Greenpoint Church in Milton Street. If you’d like to volunteer, please go there  on wednesdays any time after 6-9pm. Any time you have to offer will be greatly appreciated. They make fresh and wholesome food with ingredients from organic farms. http://greenpointchurch.org/

We also vulunteered to foster and house homeless cats for the period they await their adoption and long term homes. Our cats Lady and Bracket, little Blue and little My, Lucky stripes and Momo we have seen  a development from poor skinny sick to being well fed healthy and active kittens. If you live in Brooklyn New York and would like to adopt a cat or kitten please contact Eva Prokop with the email Evaprokop@yahoo.comt. She is a wonder woman that spends all her free time resucing cats from shelters and arranging for foster homes and adoptions. She also became a close friend of ours.

In july I had the pleasure of visiting VITO ACCONCI. I have long been a fan of his work and earlier this year I met him and had dinner with him when I was working as an art consultant for the new concert house in Stavanger. His office is in Dumbo Brooklyn with a view of the east river. Acconci began his career as a writer and poet editing 0 TO 9 in the late 1960s.  In the beginning 70´s he began using his body as a subject for photography, film, video and performance art. His performance and video work was marked heavily by confrontation and situationism. Reciprocal interchange between artist and viewer has been and is central to his work.

Following Piece 1969. This photo documents a performance where the artist followed different people in the street. The action stopped each time the person entered a private space. with this simple gesture, Acconci transcends the relativity of the learned rules and behaviors concerning the distinction between private and public. performed everyday for a month. More recently Acconci has focused his interest on architecture and landscape design that integrates public and private space. One example of this is “Walkways Through the Wall,” which flow through structural boundaries and provide seating at both ends. Another example of his work is Dirt Wall (1992) The wall begins outside the building and extends inside, rising from ground level to a height of 24 feet. The glass and steel wall contains a mixture of volcanic rock, various types of sand, red dolomite, and topsoil which are visible through the glass panels, and represents an attempt to bring what is underground up, and what is outside in.Another piece is ‘where are we now  1976 ‘A plank that changes function: it starts by settling into the room as a table, eight stools on either side – but it doesn’t stop there, it continues toward the window, extends out the window and becomes a diving board.’ Read an interview and see more of his work at designboom.com and the Acconci Studio

29 th of August Performance I am invited to do a lecture at Urban Research Theatre Manhattan NY.

BODY IS CAMERA: The lecture is an interactive introduction to performance art history and process. Through documentation and action I will talk about the early movement from 1930 s that influenced the art expression which was publicly recognised in the 70s and practised today in a broad and varied form. Performance art was originally motivated by a political engagement and a time specific. Today the overall work produced is not necessarily involved in politics and often motivated by entertainment. Can it still be called performance art?  Through introducing the aspect of rituals and tasks I also discuss the various borders of definition between theatre and performance art. By the presence of the audience which I call participators the lecture is defined through our discussions and interactions. We also choose one exclusive perspective and attempt to take a photo containing the ephemeral. The audience are invited to come back to our Priority Gallery in Brooklyn 3rd of October to see the photos exhibited from these experiments.

—————————————————————————————————————————————

Through a network we make connections with interesting artists that generously share their background and knowledge and we often meet through another interest “FOOD“.

Tourism has in my opinion destroyed the citys reputation as a food mecca. In little Italy they generally serve food at a quality that Italian food lovers are ashamed of and it takes  many bike safaries and mistakes before seeming to find some places to eat which holds a standard originally associated with new York. The best places is in Brooklyn. within our tight budget is Anellas, 5 leaves, Sakuro, Sweet Water, Aurora, Mexixan at Franklins, Kennys, Frankies, Brooklyn Label, Le Gamin, Milk and Roses Ash Box and in Manhattan Aquavit and Frankies some places in Hells Kitchen but we mostly stayed out of Manhattan for food and preferred Brooklyn. The interest for food and the resarch for the citys best pumkin tortellini is also what channels the meeting with an Italian artist and food enthusiast Franchesca Divano, ” keep looking you wont find it in the city” She does however offer to make pasta at our place and teach it to us. This experience also leads us to a project :

THE EYE OF THE OBSERVER:
A Project Based on the Handcraft of Making Pasta & the Art of Observing

Making fresh pasta by hand is not a simple feat. It is a delicate, intimate procedure which takes perfect timing, attention to detail, balance of ingredients, and an overall awareness. The time and dedication that goes into it is greatly rewarded by the alluring smell of the finished dish…the texture, the taste and the beauty of each handmade morsel.

16 artistst are invited to observe the durational process when tortellioni is made from scratch. Within the next 3 weeks we discuss different aspects of the process and they interpret their observations to an art work. When they meet again we arrange an exhibition and also invite the audience to part take in the pasta making.

11TH OF SEPTEMBER @ 17.00 – WORKSHOP FOR INVITED ARTISTS

25TH OF SEPTEMBER @ 17.00 – “WALK-IN COOKBOOK” ARTISTS’ EXHIBITION OPEN TO AUDIENCE*mixed media, photography, performance, painting and music; all with a unified focus on the art and seducing qualities of making Pumpkin Tortelloni.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:Photographer TONI KASTELAN (SWEDEN) Photographer BESS ADLER (NEW YORK)Artist and Curator ANNE-MARTE EIDSETH RYGH (NORWAY) Dancer ACTOR MAXIMILIAN BALDUZZI (ITALY) Producer and tortello maker FRANCESCA DIVANO (ITALY) Graphic Designer BARBARA LUKOSEVICIUS (NEW YORK) Visual Artist SOL KJØK (NORWAY)Interaction Designer  SUSANNA TESCONI (ITALY) Sound designer EMRE BALIK (TURKEY) Photographer  MICHAELA POLONI (ITALY)

READ/ SEE PHOTO DOCUMENTATION OF THE PROJECT HERE:http://ladiesandtramps.wordpress.com/pumkin-tortellini/

.

Another food orintated event that we participated is Chaos Cooking A continuing social experiment where up to 50 people cook 50 recipes in 1 kitchen, 4 burners, 1 oven. All recipes must be finished in a 4 hours while everyone is drinking wine, socializing and putting delectable dishes in their mouths. http://chaoscooking.com/

—————————————————————————————————————————————

The next exhibition we arrange is in collaboartion with a yearly project and the idea has been taking place in several cities as Oslo-Open that I attended 10 years ago. Bergen and this year Rogaland Open. A concept where artists open their studios and a group of art organizers arrange for audience to acess and visit the studios. We participated in Greenpoint Open by presenting our own performance and photography exhibition and also hosted a series of artists talks.

3 rd of October GREENPOINT OPEN STUDIOS A collaborative effort which brings artists, performers, musicians, galleries, and local businesses together to build and foster a platform for creative and cultural exchange. GOS is inspired by the wealth of creativity prevalent in each artist’s studio and gallery and hopes to bring the community together to build relationships, harness ideas. All members of the public can visit nearly a hundred artists at their studios, view exhibitions of participating artists in local galleries http://greenpointopenstudios.org/

BELIEVE IN LOVE

30th of september we got married in New York City hall and 01st of october we have a private ceremony in Green street Gallery /roof top. We asked our oversea friends and family to join us in one part of our ceremony. look up crane origami, find some paper and fold a bird, whisper to the crane what you would like for us to experience on our journey and place it on free flowing water (river or such) . Here is an instruction on how to fold an origami crane

Proud to have a symbol for gay marriage as a backdrop for our wedding wows!

New York City Hall

The wedding turned our to be a 5 day event! Two close friends Thomas Ørstavik and Evie Høyberg and our best woman Anja Arnevik came over to join us. The first day we got married at NYC city hall followed by a snack on the corner , then a taxi took us to Lady Mendesl tea salon for champagne and tea. The evening continued at an Italian dinery Frankie 46  and and in the night we went dancing at a 1940s live band stage called swing 46. It rained all night and we both love rain and was happy for that blessing.

The second day at we had a private ceremony at our gallery.  Followed by  a fine dinner made in collaboration with the chef at a local restaurarant Anellas. As our wedding gift we also treated ourselves to a a stay at Hotel on Rivington a 21 story high glass tower set in Manhattans lower east side designed by the Architects Grzywinski Pons and woke up to see the city in sunlight.

Dancing on the rooftop at sunset to the music of an old hand drifted grammophone

The third day a newly wed Toni participated in an exhibition with photo/slide show in the Nuit Blanche Festival. New York City’s first-ever. A Nuit Blanche is a one-night, all-night arts festival of installations and performances celebrating the magic and luminance of light. The site for BRING TO LIGHT NYC 2010 was Greenpoint, Brooklyn primarily on Oak Street between Franklin St. and the East River waterfront. The event began at sundown and was free and open to the public. This unique block played host to local and international artists, performers, galleries, and musicians as they were invited to ‘Bring to Light’ the street itself as well as its unique assets including metal, set design and textile workshops, warehouses, residential facades, an indoor gymnastics park, and much more. Artists created works that inhabited street corners, galleries, shops, rooftops, vacant lots and buildings. These spaces acted as sites for light, sound and unexpected installations, performances, projections, works of art with light. http://bringtolightnyc.org/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1udRWhuAODM

In the evening we went to see Anat Cohen which peformed nothing but explosive energy at jazz club Village Vanguard!

Then  fourth day we had a party with friends and live music at our Gallery and the fith day  we took our best woman to see Pina Bausch Vollmond at Brooklyn Academy of  Music: The scenography only consisting of one big rock and pouring rain. Pina Bausch is a German choreographer and director of Tanztheater Wuppertal  Vollmond (Full Moon) is an intensely aquatic and physical visual production in which thirteen dancers share, move and slide their way through more two hours. The performance was of the kind that leaves you walking on air with goos bumps tickeling your arms.

In this month we start preparing to leave but before we do, I hold a concert at the cafe MILK and ROSES. Autumn is getting chilly by the hour, an informal evening accompanied by the smell of roses and books. Norwegian Composer/Guitarist Stein Helge Solstad is in town finishing his PHD and we seized the opportunity to present a selected repertoire of jazz and scandinavian folks songs. We finished the set with Tom Waitz “Take it with me when I go” extract of the last verse:

In a land there’s a town
And in that town there’s
A house
And in that house
There’s a man
And in that man
There’s a hart I love
I’m gonna take it
With me when I go
I’m gonna take it
With me when I go

Jazz is the synomym of New York to me and has become that through my dads enthusiam and consistant playing of Jazz since I was a child. My favourite place to go for it is Village Vanguard (saw amongst others Christian Mc Bride there) and club smalls and 55th bar.

Friends in the audience

My cousins child Oliver falling asleep as I sing a swedish lullabye by Monica Zetterlund “Om natten”

Last selected exhibitions:

Moma PS1 Modern Women: Women Artists at The Museum of Modern Art features experimental works by women that form part of the newly acquired Silverman Fluxus Collection Reference Library. With a focus on artists’ books, event scores, exhibition catalogues, periodicals, and examples of the alternative press, the exhibition includes publications by Alison Knowles, Takako Saito, Mieko Shiomi, Yoko Ono, Dorothy Iannone, and others.

New Photography 2010 presents four artists—Roe Ethridge, Elad Lassry, Alex Prager, and Amanda Ross-Ho—whose photographs mine the inexhaustible reservoir of images found in print media and cinema. Ethridge takes his pictures in “editorial mode,” directly borrowing from commercial images already in circulation, including outtakes from his own illustrational magazine work. Lassry defines his practice as one consumed with pictures, meaning with generic images lifted from consumer society, such as Hollywood publicity stills and design illustrations. Ross-Ho’s hand-drilled sheetrock panels lined up with found pictures and mural-scale images of studio residues renegotiate the various stages of the creative process. Prager takes her cues from pulp fiction and the fashion images of Guy Bourdin to construct filmic narratives starring women disguised under synthetic wigs, dramatic makeup, and retro polyester attire. Infusing the seductive language of film and advertising with a touch of sly conceptualism, the artists included in New Photography 2010 explore the relationship between straight and constructed photograph, image and picture.

PS1  Small Scale Big Change: New Architecture of social engagement October This exhibition presents eleven architectural projects on five continents that respond to localized needs in underserved communities. These innovative designs signal a renewed sense of commitment, shared by many of today’s practitioners, to the social responsibilities of architecture. Though this stance echoes socially engaged movements of the past, the architects highlighted here are not interested in grand manifestos or utopian theories. Instead, their commitment to a radical pragmatism can be seen in the projects they have realized, from a handmade school in Bangladesh to a reconsideration of a modernist housing project in Paris, from an apartheid museum in South Africa to a cable car that connects a single hillside barrio in Caracas to the city at large. These works reveal an exciting shift in the longstanding dialogue between architecture and society, in which the architect’s methods and approaches are being dramatically reevaluated. They also propose an expanded definition of sustainability that moves beyond experimentation with new materials and technologies to include such concepts as social and economic stewardship. Together, these undertakings not only offer practical solutions to known needs, but also aim to have a broader effect on the communities in which they work, using design as a tool.

BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC (BAM) One of our favourite places to go. Its  the best for cinemateque new releases, concerts etc new wave festival Next Wave Art September-December. Next Wave Art returns for its ninth year, opening up BAM’s spaces to some of Brooklyn’s most exciting artists. Curated by Dan Cameron Artistst Amber Boardman Jesse Bransford Jim Gaylord Charles Goldman Michael Greathouse Karen Heagle Nina Katchadourian Naomi Reis with Orrawadee Vilaitanarak and Stephan Knuesel Matthew Ronay Katy Schimert William Villalongo.

We also saw the movies “I am love” and “I am still here” at this cinema which location and architecture hightens the experience.

We also love to go dancing and our favourite places has been Lafayette for Tango and and club 412 and swing 46 for Lindy Hop.

—————————————————————————————————————————————

October went by fast and the time has come to say goodbye. One of the last days we took the train to the art centre DIA BEACON ( 1 houer train ride from Penn Station) and this is highlt recomandable. Sitting on the left you get a view of the east river and at this time of the year the autumn colours explode in in hillsides. A fresh breath of air reminding us of the surroundings we will meet across the atlantic in a very short time. I finally got o se Walter de Maria.

Time to say Goodbye: To our gallery that will be taken over by a friend, to our cats that magically got an adoption the day before we left to the view from the rooftop over Manhattan to the memories created and lived and last but not least the wounderful friends we have been meeting. We hope to meet again.

We will donate our bikes to Sol Kjøk in Green street and they will be available for guests visiting her artist collective.

29th of October 2010 we close the doors of 242 Green Street and say Goodbye to Brooklyn and New York.