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ABSURDITY EMERGENCY

 
Artist, Ed Woodham
Tuesdays through Sundays, March 2020, 1-5pm
Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse
165 2nd Street, end of cul de sac off Bond Street
Brooklyn NY 

 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (March 17, 2020) What began in late 2019 as an absurdist conceptual premise of looking at our current global status quo has now mashed up into real life in real time. In an art residency that began in February and continues until the end of April, Ed Woodham, longtime Gowanus, Brooklyn resident since 1979, will continue to publicly create (now within six feet of bystanders and/or from a large window) a series of visual, performance, and conceptual works that investigate equality and fairness as well as challenge the status quos within sexism, racism, ageism, genderism, socio-economic disparities, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia – isms and all phobias that marginalize and colonize peoples, cultures, and ideas.
 

In these unprecedented and uncertain times, Tuesdays through Sundays during the remainder of March from 1 - 5pm (the Absurdity Emergency incubation period), visitors and passersby are encouraged  to participate in acceptable social distanced conversations – especially during this ambiguous period when the signs of the project’s life is shaped to reflect this critical time in our history.  Or others instead can watch Woodham and guests in a large window (ala Bubble Boy) create nothing inspired by the ethos specific to 1) the Gowanus Boathouse 2) the Gowanus Canal 3) passersby 4) invited guests 5) the current state of global, national, and local affairs 6) a dash of luck and whimsy 7) and a gob of suspended reality. 


It might be Woodham who the fearless spectator observes.  It might be art.  It might be nothing. Or someone, or no one, or nothing, or something. Active witnesses are welcome to introduce themselves, wave from afar or through the window, ask questions and make suggestions about whatever they think is important at that very moment – or perhaps from the day before. Deep listening and a sense of wonder will be the foundation of what happens in this inclusive environment of (non)sense. Bring your own pencil or pen!  Or bring nothing! These times call for emergency and absurdity. 


The prophetic concept of Absurdity Emergency (AE)  began in September 2019 during an autumnal residency as a fellow at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire.  It was fueled by the current volatile, uneasy political / social climate in the U.S. and abroad.  Gowanus Dredger Boathouse, curator Sasha Chavchavadze says, "I have watched Ed do nothing for years. It's amazing to see him take something and make nothing."

Absurdity Emergency acknowledges the ridiculous things we have accepted as norms for way too long. With this in mind, Absurdity Emergency naturally features the following guest star participants: the Coronavirus, natural environment, free speech, public space, human rights, social justice, and agents of self-determination and change.  By abandoning all the silly rules and the stupid fake-true facts, Absurdity Emergency posits that we might create newfound narratives and imagery. Who knows?, this could compel imagining a more compassionate world working towards an equitable future.

ABSURDITY EMERGENCY
by artist, Ed Woodham

Curated by 
Sasha Chavchavadze
Tuesday through Sundays, March 2020, 1-5pm
Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse,
165 2nd Street, end of cul de sac off Bond Street
Brooklyn NY 


P.S. Stay tuned because after this chrysalis stage, specific dates, times, events, happenings, spectacles, and flashes will be announced for future Absurdity Emergency shenanigans sometime in April.

Images: (top) Absurdity Emergency (AE), costume and AE flag by Ed Woodham, October 2019
(other) Corona Lisa, Ed Woodham, March 2020


CONTACT: Ed Woodham, artinoddplaces@gmail.com; 347-350-4242  

For high resolution photos CLICK HERE

Ed Woodham (artist), a Gowanus, Brooklyn resident has been active in community art, education, and civic interventions across media and culture for over thirty-five years. A visual and performance artist, agitator, curator, and educator, Woodham employs humor, irony, subtle detournement, and a striking visual style in order to encourage greater consideration of – and provoke deeper critical engagement with – the private and public environment. Woodham created Art in Odd Places (AiOP) to present visual and performance art to celebrate the importance of public spaces in New York City and beyond. Art in Odd Places has been produced in Los Angeles CA, Boston MA, Indianapolis IN, Greensboro NC, and Orlando, FL in the U.S.; St. Petersburg, Russia, and Sydney, Australia. AiOP was selected as a representative in the U.S. Pavilion, Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2012. Woodham teaches art to children 1-4 years old at NYU Early Education Centers specifically (among others) at the Warren Street Center for Family and Children serving Gowanus Housing for the last 13 years. He also teaches workshops in politically based public performances at NYU Hemispheric Institute for EmergeNYC and at School of Visual Arts for City as Site: Performance and Social Intervention. In 2017-18, he was an artist-in-residence at the Department of Art, University of Virginia in Charlottesville. In 2019, Woodham was a Fellow at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH; and an artist in residence with The City of West Hollywood, California. In 2020, Ed will be an artist in residence at Kimball Art Center in Park City Utah and Montserrat College in Beverly, Massachusetts. edwoodham.com

Sasha Chavchavadze (curator)  believes fervently that art today has become compartmentalized and disconnected from its essential function.  Chavchavadze has created numerous collaborative art projects that focus on connecting art to other disciplines, and to the community.   She is the Founder of Proteus Gowanus, an interdisciplinary exhibition and event space that was a cultural hub in Brooklyn for ten years. Other artist collectives initiated by Chavchavadze include: Battle Pass Collective, D'Amico Gowanus Collective, and Carnival of Connectivity. Her drawings, paintings and installations explore forgotten history and its effect on memory and place. Her work has been exhibited widely for thirty years both on the Cape and nationally, has been published in Cabinet and Bomb magazines, and as a book (Museum of Matches, Proteotypes, 2011). sashachavchavadze.com

The Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club (space) is a volunteer not for profit  5013c organization dedicated to providing waterfront access and education about our estuary and shoreline neighborhoods. Our organization was founded in 1999 and our homeport is at 165 2nd Street on the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, NY. Activities are conducted on the canal and neighboring waterfront communities of Red Hook, Sunset Park and Brooklyn Heights. The Dredgers work to ensure participants of our programs develop an understanding of the NY & NJ harbor as a resource for recreation and education as well as a waterway for commuters, tourists and movement of goods. All of the Gowanus Dredgers facilities, equipment and funding are used to accommodate and activate the use of our waterfront and to educate the community about our estuary. gowanuscanal.org
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