Election Night Party

Wanna come over and dare to dream?
Election Night party:
Nov. 4th, 5:30pm until it is over (that's right, see above, dare to dream!)
BYOB
I'll have my TV, NPR, and internet to help the baited breath.
Maybe even an interactive color-me-in-map!

Please RSVP

Apply to Softbox

Interested in coming to Softbox as a resident? See information below!

1: Description of Program

Short term subsidized residency, 1-3 months, live/work warehouse space with option for hosting an event.

2: What supports/services are provided as part of the program? i.e. housing, studio space, food, stipend, etc..

Subsidized live/work opportunity at below market rental price. Opportunity to stage a small-scale event or performance in the space, possibilities include music or theater performance, film/video screening, relational projects.

Basic sculpture tools available: table saw, chop saw, hand tools. Private studio plus option to build larger site-specific work in space.

Information about events and resources provided by host as needed, access to host’s contact list for promotion.

3: What disciplines is the residency for? Visual Arts, music, architecture...

Unlimited, but there are restrictions on the use of space in terms of lighting, audience size, harsh chemicals and noise levels.

4: Who is eligible to apply?

Emerging or established artist, international welcome. This opportunity is ideal for an artist who is coming to New York to work on a project/performance, to research project possibilities and network, or relocating to New York and needing a short term place to live, work, and present projects.

5: Application procedure and Materials

Email application in prose form describing yourself, statement of need, proposal for use, time frame, web link to previous work and/or attached images, and 1 professional references available by phone. Feel free to attach CV or press.

Email or phone interview to follow initial review.

Applications accepted on a rolling basis, length of stay dependent on needs and availability.

contact: Jo Q. Nelson, softbox "at" joqnelson.com

Class

I had my "Monument and Social Sculpture" class over to the place. It was a helpful critique, gave me a lot to think about and helped to synthesize what I was doing with past and future work. I'm looking forward to making some smaller scale pieces (literally and in scope) playing with ideas of public vs. private space, a proto-institution, and collective vs. individual authorship.

The crit in a circle moved over to a little impromptu lecture hall for our prof Paul Ramirez-Jonas to lecture about artists working in the
Public Sphere as defined Habermas and examples of contemporary artists working with institutional critique through creation of alternatives, infiltration, and rejection. We also watched a
documentary of Thomas Hirschorn's Musee Pracaire Albinet

New Living Room

A visitor at open house suggested I approach IKEA as a corporate sponsor. Softbox is dangerously close to being one complete IKEA Hacker project, more found and adapted than bought IKEA goodies.



My friends at Mango Leaf let me borrow some great bamboo pieces that really accent the space and bring some much needed organic textures.

Open house

The open house was a success. It was great to hear reactions and ideas from visitors, including 2 tour groups led by the Living Room curator, Chen. It feels like a big shift to talk about the project as actual, not theoretical, as physical rather than virtual.

One great thought posed by a sometimes boss Daniel Smith of Disign LLC: What is the principal "unit"? Are the pods subservient rooms within the overall space "unit," or are the pods the "units" and the space the "landscape."

Hosting came up over and over again as the overarching concept, explaining both the design and the program.


Panorama view of Softbox, all dressed up for Open House.


Setup for sweet corn from the Sunnyside farmer's market.


Visitors exploring guest pod.

Pod, day and night