Gallery hours tomorrow Friday Sept 20, 3-7pm! See Celestine Wilson Hughes' glass works!

LOOK. SEE. HEAR.
gallery hours Fridays September 20 and 27, 3-7pm.
4007 Chestnut Street, 1st floor.

Meet our new artists during POST! Oct 19 and 20, 12-6pm

Meet our artists during Philadelphia Open Studio Tours (POST)! Our artists will keep their studios open for YOU Saturday October 19 and Sunday October 20, 12-6pm. See their work and hear their stories!

Plastique Cirque and Plastic Fantastic at 49th & Chancellor Streets with Huey Community School

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What do you do to

                       play? 

How is your relationship with 

                                                 water? 

An instructional piece:

Make a list of everything in your life that is plastic. 

Label them as either ephemeral disposable products or possessions.

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It is with great pleasure

that we present a selection of images

from Plastic Fantastic with 49th & Chancellor and Huey Community School, September 2012 and Plastique Cirque's Event and Exhibition, May 2013 

an exploration of play,circus arts, plastic history, relationship to water, water bottles, feminism, plastic ocean, puppetry, tetrahedrons, art, collaboration, celebration

but first the Project Description of Plastic Fantastic at 49th & Chancellor Streets

Plastic Fantastic is an immersive, nomadic environment for play, built from 6,000 postconsumer plastic water bottles on a 16-foot diameter geodesic dome. The dome serves as a centerpiece for organizing social relations. Inspirations include Fluxus, subRosa, the Yes Men, Creative Time, Yayoi Kusama, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, and El Anatsui. Some of the places that Plastic Fantastic has lived are Salisbury University, Vermont College of Fine Arts, and the Schuylkill Banks next to Fairmount Water Works at Art in the Open 2010.

For the community outreach for the 40th street Artist-in-Residence Program and the thirteenth iteration of Plastic Fantastic, in fall of 2012 we worked with block captain, Ms Coffee of the 4900 block of Chancellor Street, the residents and property owner John Cox to bring Plastic Fantastic as a public art project to a lot at the corner of 49th Street and Chancellor Streets. Recycling buckets for the blocks were donated by University City District  A new batch of water bottles was collected from friends, Planet Fitness, Bikram Yoga Philadelphia and United by Blue’s collection from Bartram’s Garden clean ups (note the more dirty bottles on the dome). Hector Medina’s Metal Shop contributed their time and skills to guide and make a new dome armature. Huey Community School students and neighborhood youth worked with me to transform the dome into public art. A group of West Philly high school students cut the plastic grid to fit the unusual shapes and add in more bottles to more fully cover the dome. A celebration of the finished dome was had with a party with grilled pineapple tortas by Raw Peas and sounds by Staco.

In mid-October, Plastic Fantastic was relocated to a highly trafficked area, for a two week visit at the Rotunda. After a hiatus post-Sandy, since early Spring 2013 Plastic Fantastic has enjoyed residency in the backyard of the 40th Street AirSpace, which had been previously cleared by the 2011-12 AirSpace residents. During this time, Upholstery developed the site specific theatrical production “Marvin & Mae (in a Sea of Plastic)”, a fantastical tale of loneliness and love told through puppets made entirely of plastic waste, that premiered at Plastique Cirque in May, and runs again tonight (8/9) for AIR Exchange.

Underpinning Plastic Fantastic are concerns about the politics of water, environmental issues, recycling, self-care, and equity. Plastic Fantastic creates possibility for social change through play, collectivity, community development and production. Through this process we improve our relationship with the everyday. Please “Feed the Dome” a positive message.

Now on with the documentation...

Plastic Fantastic at 49th & Chancellor, September 2012

Post by Plastic Fantastic.

Installing Plastic Fantastic Dome with Kelly Anne (Raw Peas), Andrew and Todd. Visitors take a recycle bin donated by University City District and learn more about the project. Plant donations from Bartram's Garden. 
Sunday, September 23rd, 2012

Post by Plastic Fantastic.

Huey School 7th & 8th graders visit Tuesday 9/25/12.  
450 bottles onto the dome in 30 minutes.
49th & Chancellor Streets, Philadelphia, PA

Teacher: Chenequa Jones, Kellie Brown, Lee Marcus

Collaborators: Rya McLeod, Lauren Monk, Ameenah Mack, Richard Bernhardt, Nataye Jones, Pay-ten Robinson, Erica Lockett, Dana Scott, Andrea Cain, Dy'anny'a Holmes, Duranah Anderson, Tykira Adams, Doniesha Landon, Chase Mills, Dashaun Mills

Block captain: Ms. Coffee and her dog, Macy

Artist: Diedra Krieger

Plastic Fantastic Youth Ambassadors, Super and Tonaya
49th & Chancellor Streets, Philadelphia, PA
2012

Post by Plastic Fantastic.

Plastic Fantastic Dome, 16 foot in diameter, water bottles, plastic grid, 3/4" conduit 
49th & Chancellor Streets, Philadelphia, PA
2012

Plastique Cirque, May 10, 2013

"Play", neon sign, diedra krieger, 2013


MERMAID TEARS


Upholstery's "Marvin & Mae (in a Sea of Plastic)"

"Meditative Play Tetrahedron" water bottle caps, paper, mixed media, Diedra Krieger, 2013

"Bottles" Woodley White (Outside the Frame Collective), 2013

"Tipplers Planet", mixed media, water bottles, Anna Perricci

"Cartwheeling through Feminist Theory" video performance, damali abrams and Diedra Krieger, 2013

"Aquarium Wonderland", Digital video installation, Sean Stoops, 2013

xo End Notes xo

I kept a playlist of the videos produced from the 40th Street AIR Space Residency which includes videos documenting a view from inside the artist's studio.

We are excited to announce Plastic Fantastic's next adventure will be to Alaska at the Anchorage Museum with the Gyre Exhibition in 2014!!

2012-2013 resident Celestine Wilson Hughes opens LOOK. SEE. HEAR. on FRI SEPT 13!

Join us as we celebrate LOOK. SEE. HEAR. the glass works of 2012-2013 resident Celestine Wilson Hughes. This will be our final exhibition of work by a 2012-2013 resident. Let's send Celestine off with love and support. As always, we welcome the general public, friends, family, supporters, and past residents.

Opening Reception: FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 6-9PM
refreshments served
Gallery Hours: Fridays September 20 and 27, 3-7pm or by appointment (email 40th.air.app@gmail.com)
At our gallery, 4007 Chestnut St., 1st Floor

After this, catch our 2013-2014 residents in their studios during Philadelphia Open Studio Tours SAT OCT 19 and SUN OCT 20, 12-6pm both days!

AIR Exchange FRI AUG 9! Meet incoming residents & bid farewell to outgoing residents! + see community outreach work from the 2012-2013 residency PLUS p[arty] it up on SAT AUG 10

Thomasin Parnes opens How Many Guys? Remembering My Grandfather FRIDAY JULY 12TH!

On display July 12-26, 2013

at 40th Street AirSpace Gallery, 
4007 Chestnut St., 1st Floor  

Opening Reception: 

Friday, July 12, 2013, 6 - 9pm

Gallery Hours: 
Fridays July 19 and 26, 3-7pm and by appointment (email 40th.air.app@gmail.com)

Thomasin Parnes is a queer/trans artist, DIY archivist, and curator of everyday junk. Prior to their arrival in Philadelphia in 2002, they studied graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI. Thomasin has worked off-and-on in freelance illustration and print design, but has shifted their focus in recent years to the intersection of food, social/economic justice, and community-building through their current role as Grocery Coordinator and Buyer for the newly-expanded Mariposa Food Co-op at 49th and Baltimore. After a nearly three-year hiatus from drawing, Thomasin returned to art-making with a renewed passion in 2009 and has since created and shown two new collections of work (Portraits of Evidence, 2011 and Counterweight, 2012). Thomasin was also a 2011 recipient of the Leeway Foundation's Art & Change Grant.

The Past is Over: An exhibition of Illuminated assemblages by Mike Harpring; opens FRI JUNE 14!

EXHIBITION

The Past is Over: An exhibition of Illuminated assemblages by Mike Harpring
On display June 14 - 29, 2013
at 40th Street AirSpace Gallery, 4007 Chestnut St., First Floor

Opening Reception:

Friday, June 14, 2013. 6 - 9pm

Gallery Hours: Fridays June 21 and 28, 3-7pm & by appointment (email 40th.air.app@gmail.com)

40th Street Artist-in-Residence Program is pleased to present The Past is Over, a solo exhibition of new work by 2012-2013 artist-in-residence Mike Harpring. Please join us at the 40th Street Gallery on Friday June 14, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm for the exhibition opening and to meet the artist.

In the exhibition, Harpring presents a body of work created during his year-long residency at 40th Street. The work explores personal transition and the reinvention of identity through the collective experience. As the title of the show suggests, the main theme is letting go of the past and moving forward on an intentional trajectory.

Harpring's installation is comprised of ten illuminated assemblages that combine screen-printed illustrations and salvaged building materials with laser-engraved acrylic panels (each of which glows from an internal LED light source). Individual narratives are expressed within each composition, engaging the viewer and carrying them through each layer of the piece. By incorporating reclaimed materials and traditional printmaking practices alongside more advanced art-making technologies, the work suggests a nod to the past while embracing the future.

Native to Louisville, Kentucky, Mike Harpring received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking from Indiana University in 2008. He moved to West Philadelphia in 2011, where he currently resides. For more information or to obtain more images of his work, contact mikeharpring@gmail.com or call (229) 444-4688.