public art > REST AREA- OPEN HOUSE
REST AREA- OPEN HOUSE
users
The structure was used at all hours, often by residents of an adjacent public housing complex where seating had been removed.
During the day, older men sat and read the newspaper, after school, children sat inside eating their candy, and at night, teens hung out inside.
During the day, older men sat and read the newspaper, after school, children sat inside eating their candy, and at night, teens hung out inside.
Rest Area- Open House
2006
Duration: five weeks (March 15- April 22, 2006)
2006
Duration: five weeks (March 15- April 22, 2006)
Intention: to work in street space (city property) at border area where gentrification meets public housing; to counter city efforts of population control.
Action: Two-week on-site construction of public lounge wearing vests, helmets, appropriation of Keyspan wood, employment of commercial signs and icons, discussion, video interview with local residents.
context
The intervention was sited adjacent to a bodega where people frequently gathered.
structure adopted by user/caretaker
An employee of the nearby bogeda, enthusiastically supportive of the structure, became an informal custodian.
users
The structure was used at all hours, often by residents of an adjacent public housing complex where seating had been removed.
During the day, older men sat and read the newspaper, after school, children sat inside eating their candy, and at night, teens hung out inside.
During the day, older men sat and read the newspaper, after school, children sat inside eating their candy, and at night, teens hung out inside.
video still: Rest Area-Open House, 22 min.
2006
2006
The structure was the subject of frequent police investigation-- see video.
Eventually the structure was stripped bare by the patrolling policemen, irritated evidently by the opaque semi-private space, complicating their efforts of scopic control. Shortly afterward, the wooden structure was removed by the Sanitation Department.
