Sobering up from inaugural festivities, it is time to face the work and responsibilities outlined by President Obama. One such task is to support the arts. All arts not just architecture and design. And so, I implore you to go see the theater piece Architecting now at Performance Space 122 as part of the Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival. It has architect in the title, so it is not that hard to make the leap.
Architecting, developed by TEAM (Theatre of the Emerging American Moment, a theater company dedicated to dissecting and celebrating the experience of living in America today), is set in a post-Katrina bar and tells the story of a young architect brought to New Orleans after the death of her architect father to complete a speculative housing development in the colonade and clapboard tradition. What she finds is Margaret Mitchell and FEMA trailers and what unspools in the bar is a story of race, land, and struggle in the South. The narrative bobs and weaves through time in monologue, dance, and video—a cultural mash up of place and identity. Not to mention a critque of well-meaning, but misguided architectural folly.
The run at PS122 has been extended until February 15. Go.
Also, check out Mark Bradford's Ark on Flickr, built for the Prospect 1 exhibition in New Orleans this past December.
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