Proteoscope » sasha chavchavadze

Regrets. On second thought, make that Optimism.

Diane — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:46:34 +0000

Some last words in the War of Words… Regrets is the title of Stephanie Brody Lederman’s work that was in the War of Words show. And Regrets is the word I would use to describe the fact that I never got around to sharing all of the work in the show. But that’s about to be remedied with a bit of Optimism (the title of Reed Seifer’s work).

So, I’ll channel a little Optimism here as I squeeze in all of the remaining War of Words works. Why?eeessss!

Here we go (in no particular order)….

Lance Rutledge. Why?eeeeeeesssss! Painting. Lance’s website.

…

Stephanie Brody Lederman. Regrets. Drawing/Painting on paper. Stephanie’s website.

…

Barbara Caruso and bpnichol. H. Artists Book. Presented by Granary Books. Granary’s website.

…

Reed Seifer. Works from the Optimism Project. Metrocard, Buttons, Print. Optimism website.

…

Rosaire Appel. They Went Back and Forth Until Dawn. Collage and unique artists book. Rosaire’s site and blog.

…

Anli Liu. No (Binary) and Yes (Binary). Mounted embroidery. Anli’s website.

…

Artifact of bookworm-eaten pages from the collection of Sasha Chavchavadze. Sasha’s website.

…

And last, but not least…

Pure Products USA. Fuck Snow Globe. Pure Products website.

Reading Report

Diane — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:11:45 +0000

Sasha Chavchavadze reading from “The Poets Duel” as Wendy Walker, one of the event organizers, looks on.

It might be considered a tradition at this point. It being an evening of readings related to the Proteus Gowanus year-long theme organized by Proteotypes’ publishers/editors (and authors) Tom LaFarge and Wendy Walker.

I asked if they would do such an event during War of Words portion of the Battle year (knowing they couldn’t resist with a title like that). They came up with a great list of texts (see below) and found some wonderful readers very close to home (many who are members of the Writhing Society, the ad hoc literary group that meets most Wednesdays in the gallery to practice various forms of constrained writing).

And so, on very cold and dark December 15th a small group gathered to hear…

William Burroughs, “Word Authority More Habit Forming Than Heroin,” The Burroughs File (read by Angelo Pastormerlo)

Kurban Said (aka Lev Nussinbaum), Chapter 5, “The Poets’ Duel,” Ali and Nino (read by Gallery Founding Director, Sasha Chavchavadze)

Jane Collier, “To Parents,” An Essay on the Art of Ingeniously Tormenting (read by Carrie Cooperider)

Paul Metcalf, “Bash Bish”, Apalache (read by Tom LaFarge)

Ben Marcus, The Flame Alphabet (read by Wendy Walker)

Anonymous, “The wicked who would do me harm,” The Rattle Bag, ed. Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes (read by Michael Flory)

Thank you Tom, Wendy and readers/performers for an inspiring evening of War of Words word-slinging. Bang!

Battle Pass Liberty Pole Goes Up at Smith and Bergen

Tammy — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 21:11:25 +0000

Proteus Gowanus is pleased to announce a new public art installation located at the corner of Smith Street and Bergen Street in partnership with the NYC Department of Transportion’s Urban Art Program and the Boerum Hill Association. This is the second in a series of public art installations, performances and workshops called Battle Pass, a Proteus Gowanus initiative that will explore Revolutionary imagery over the next year. The project marks sites of the Battle of Brooklyn, the first and biggest battle of the Revolutionary War, sometimes forgotten in the very neighborhoods in which it occurred.

Battle Pass Revolution II

The installation by Sasha Chavchavadze was inspired by the “Liberty Pole,” a ship’s mast planted in the ground in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War as a symbol of protest, and by Walt Whitman’s poem about the Battle, “The Centenarian’s Story.” The installation, a 16-foot mahogany pole with directional signs “burned” with text from the Whitman poem, is topped by a weathervane referencing one that was affixed to the historical pole, drawing attention to the circular meaning of the word “revolution” and to the surrounding Battle history.

Chavchavadze is a multi-media artist whose installations explore the complexity and devastation of historical upheaval and war. Battle Pass: Revolution II draws parallels between past and present as it stimulates Brooklyn’s “memory” of this seminal moment in American history which took place in our midst.