Kim Beck, “Space Available,” painted plywood and steel, 2011 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Bumble & Bumble
415 West 13th Street, third Floor
Friday, May 6, free, 6:30
Installation remains on view through January 2012
RSVP: 212-206-9922
www.thehighline.org
www.idealcities.com
space available slideshow
In addition to being a work of art itself, the renovated High Line has featured a number of site-specific installations since the initial section opened to the public in June 2009, including Spencer Finch’s “The River That Flows Both Ways,” Stephen Vitiello’s “A Bell for Every Minute,” Valerie Hegarty’s “Autumn on the Hudson Valley with Branches,” Demetrius Oliver’s “Jupiter,” and Richard Galpin’s “Viewing Station.” The latest work of art to grace the former elevated railway tracks is Kim Beck’s “Space Available,” which consists of three naked billboards on rooftops along Washington St. (between 13th & Gansevoort) that can be seen from the High Line. The sculptural structures have no advertisements on them, evoking both transition as well as the state of today’s American economy, a stark contrast to the several billboards that do indeed pitch products around the area. You might have actually already seen Beck’s painted plywood and steel pieces but not realized it, since they blend in so well with the neighborhood. But be sure to check them out from different angles, because their supposed three-dimensionality is merely an illusion. On May 6, the Colorado-born, Pittsburgh-based Beck will give an artist talk about the project, taking place at 6:30 at the Bumble and Bumble on West 13th St. and is free with advance RSVP to 212-206-9922.