Prospect 1
Prospect 1 is considered to be the largest biennial of international contemporary art ever organized in the United States and is happening in New Orleans from November 1 – January 18th.
The art exhibit features an amazing collection of installations and works by 81 contemporary artists from around the world that traverse the entirety of the city. Many of the artists use practical materials or the geographical environment to reflect on and interpret the city of New Orleans, and the objective of the biennial is to boost tourism and mark New Orleans as a destination for art and culture.
One of my favorite pieces is by Argentine artists Jorge Macchi and Edgardo Rudnitzky, who created paddle boats in the Bayou St. John open to the public. When you paddle they make music that reflects the Bantu culture in Africa. This area is one of the prettiest in the city the city of New Orleans, but it always makes me sad how lonely and desolate it seems most of the time. Not serene, but a little abandoned. Seeing people paddle around in boats that make music reflective of the roots of jazz and blues, sounds the city of New Orleans is known for, was a pretty awesome sight and sound to behold.
Other pieces that stuck out was a FEMA trailer converted into a high-tech emergency artist studio, a damaged house, lawn, and lot that is painted in the bright orange used after Katrina to designate damaged buildings and homes, and an interactive installation of fake money that can be bought with real money.
All of the work has the same appeal as exhibits at the world renowned Eyebeam gallery in NYC. Simple ideas done really well, using really practical materials to make a socio-economic or political point, urban and often street-smart. I love this kind of thing, and so does Berlin, and most of the EU, but having spent a great deal of time amongst artists in New Orleans the past year and a half, I cannot help but reflect on some of the controversy this festival has caused for the people who are truly responsible for keeping the art and culture alive in New Orleans post the devastation left after Hurricane Katrina, both physically and psychologically.
The NY Times published a great article a few weeks ago that echoed the mission of Prospect 1 to revitalize the art and culture in New Orleans and put it back on the map, and then gave a listing of all the non-New Orleans artists featured in the biennial. What?
New Orleans is and always has been a destination of art and culture. Now granted maybe the art is not the “experimental” or “contemporary” art that is trendy in NY or the EU, but it exists and is celebrated by a wide variety of people across the middle and southern United States. If New Orleans can boast anything post-Katrina, it’s the resurgence and insurgence of art.
