Proteus Gowanus is a work-in-progress, encouraging the protean flow of new ideas and collaborations that expand on its themes and activities. Since its inception in 2005, Proteus has created or absorbed eight Projects-in-Residence, located in spaces adjacent to the central gallery. Some of these projects grew directly from our yearlong exhibitions, while other initiatives were invited to join based on their shared love of books, their wide-ranging intellectual curiosity, and their desire to engage the general community in inclusive interdisciplinary explorations.
Reanimation Library
Reanimation Library is an independent library of books that have fallen out of mainstream circulation. Designed as a resource for artists, writers and other cultural archeologists, the library offers visual and written resources selected to facilitate the production of new creative work. Reanimation Library came to Proteus Gowanus as part of the 2006/7 theme, Libraries. [more]
Proteotypes
Proteotypes are publications that grow out of Proteus Gowanus exhibits and programs, with particular emphasis on publications that are designed to challenge the notion of what a book is; that emphasize the book as aesthetic object; that link art to disparate disciplines; and that juxtapose seemingly incongruous ideas to create new meanings. [more]
Fixers Collective
The Fixers Collective is a social experiment in improvisational fixing and mending. The project grew out of our 2008/9 theme, Mend, in response to a sense that ‘fixing things,’ from the mundane to the profound, had grown increasingly out of our reach. Bring in your broken thing and see if, together, we can improve it. [more]
Writhing Society
The Writhing Society meets weekly to practice and discuss the techniques of constrained writing. Part class, part salon, the Writhing Society welcomes writers and non-writers alike to practice the methods invented or codified by the French group Oulipo (see below) and by other writers, artists, musicians, and mathematicians. [more]
Hall of the Gowanus and Gowanus Archive
The Hall of the Gowanus exhibits art, artifacts, books, maps and installations related to the Gowanus Canal. It is the only exhibition space in New York City dedicated to the Gowanus and stands as Protean tribute to the waterway and its ever-evolving community. The Hall was established in 2010 in connection with the 2009/10 Transport theme. [more]
bkbx [Brooklyn Box]
bkbx is an exhibition space founded by eleven artists who came together through their association with Proteus Gowanus. The founders share a dedication to forming a meaningful alternative model to today’s art environment. [more]
The D’Amico Gowanus Laboratory Collective
The D’Amico Gowanus Laboratory Collective is a group of artists, performers, writers and educators who develop experiential workshops, events and projects inspired by the life and work of Victor D’Amico, an often-forgotten visionary art thinker and educator who ran the Museum of Modern Art Department of Education from 1937 – 1969, and his wife Mabel, an artist and educator. [more]
Arts Gowanus
An arts association that nurtures the vibrant creativity in the Gowanus neighborhood and organizes the annual Gowanus Open Studios every fall. [more]
