next time almost (a miniature statue of liberty)

next time almost (a miniature statue of liberty)
by Christopher Robbins, John Baca, Cristobal Mendoza

March 12 —  27, 2011
viewable from the street 24 hours a day

Reception: March  11, 7-9pm

In a bank of windows in mid-town Manhattan
a network of conveyor belts made of fake grass
drop hollow plaster houses

Funding provided by the Purchase College, SUNY President’s Club, Annual Fund, Eugen and Emily Grant, and the UUP JLMC individualdevelopment award.

Thanks to NewGrass® for providing the synthetic grass our conveyor belts are made of, Sixpoint Brewery, and to the SUNY Purchase College students, staff and faculty who helped make this possible!

Artist Bios:
Christopher Robbins works on the uneasy cusp of art and community development, creating sculptural interventions in the daily lives of strangers. He uses heavy material demands and a carefully twisted work-process to craft awkwardly intimate social collaborations.  He built his own hut out of mud and sticks and lived in it while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Benin, West Africa, spoke at a United Nations conference about his cross-cultural digital arts and education work in the South Pacific, and has lived and worked in London, Tokyo, West Africa, the Fiji Islands, and former Yugoslavia.

John Baca grew up in a place that barely ever existed and doesn’t anymore. A place were most people spent their time propping things up, knocking them down and dragging them around in the dirt and mud. His work is as much about these things as it is anything else.

Cristobal Mendoza is a Venezuelan media artist and programmer. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the areas of Electronic Arts and Graphic Design at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. He obtained an M.F.A. in Digital + Media from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2007, and his B.A. from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in 2003. His work has been shown in various venues in the United States and Europe.

Artist website:
http://www.christopher-robbins.com/next-time