Description:It was 1974 and another monolithic structure became an office tower in the heart of Manhattan's financial district. That year, a group of artists and curators chose the site for the first in a long legacy of public art projects that would make Creative Time the influential public art institution it is today. Like many artists of the time, the founders of Creative TIme wereinterested in incorporating happenstance, as well as daily and public life, into the art experience. The 1974 show addressed this concept with "Crafts in Action," which featured weavers and crafters working on process-intensive pieces for a defacto audience of passers by, who coincidentally participated in studio visits. The decision to place this kind of art in the financial district among hoards of office workers was not accidental. An interesting show in the history of site-specific work, the project succeeded in collapsing art with business and technology, and addressed tensions between the two worlds. In "Crafts in Action," weavers Sharon Fein and Jo Ellen Scheffield worked on a tapestry that depicted Nassau Street full of fast-food and discount stores: the story of modern life as told by an ancient medium. According to a statement by Creative Time, the show "drew parallels between the rote quality and disciplined labor involved in the process of craft work and the office routines of many Financial District workers."
Your Tour
| 
| 
|
| 
| 
|
| 
| 
|
| 
| 
|
Travelgoaters talk back
Related Stories
The Yoshitomo Nara exhibit at Asia Society contains over 100 works; the exhibit explores the meaning...
watch >This Travel Channel webisode takes you through a New York icon, the St. Regis Hotel.
watch >The video showcases the club scene in downtown New York from decades past.
watch >Of all the cafes that have nurtured the careers of artists and enabled the exchanging of their ideas,...
listen >