Freshkills Park Showcases Field R/D at NADA New York
Earlier this month, Freshkills Park returned to the annual NADA (New Art Dealers Alliance) New York Art Fair as a cultural partner alongside over 100 other exhibitors hailing from 19 countries. The fair, held March 8-11, brought together emerging galleries, artists, and projects at Skylight Clarkson Square in West SoHo.
Freshkills Park’s field station booth. Photo: Natalie Conn.
Freshkills Park’s field station booth. Photo: Natalie Conn.
Freshkills Park’s field station booth. Photo: Natalie Conn.
Freshkills Park’s field station booth. Photo: Natalie Conn.
Freshkills Park’s NADA Presents panel discussion. Photo: Natalie Conn.
Freshkills Park’s NADA Presents panel discussion. Photo: Natalie Conn.
Photo: Natalie Conn.
Freshkills Park’s field station booth. Photo: Natalie Conn.
With a fair booth and NADA Presents panel discussion, Freshkills Park promoted Field R/D, an expansive art-research project and pilot residency program that has brought artists into the normally closed site over the course of the last year to propose and implement temporary art projects in the space. The 4’x6’ booth presented the work and process of seven participating Field R/D artists, including Billy Dufala/Dufala Brothers, Mary Mattingly, Lize Mogel, Nancy Nowacek, Audrey Snyder & Joe Riley, and Mare Liberum, along with in-process photographs of seminar-style gatherings and studio visits taken by Natalie Conn.
The booth stood out as a field research station amidst the art fair exhibitions, displaying excerpts from the artists’ studios rather than completed works. Fitting with the project of Field R/D, the NADA booth used mapping and three-dimensional diagramming with string to show the collaborative and research-based process. Visitors had the chance to not only learn about the Park and engage with artist proposals, but also to see inside the process of Park construction and artistic production.
As part of NADA Presents, Field R/D artists introduced their practices, how they approached Freshkills Park as a site, and how the Field R/D format has influenced their process for this and other projects. The audience engaged in discussion about the ecological history and transformation of the Freshkills Park site, documentation of this program and artists’ projects, and the future of the residency program.
This project was made possible with the support of NADA NY and the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation Art and Social Justice Grant Program.
