TRANSFORMING FUNCTION Exhibition Shows at River To River Festival, Now thru 7/15

River To River Festival-Lower Manhattan's free annual summer arts festival-takes place this year now through July 15 and includes a robust program of free visual arts installations and experiences, including the two-part show Transforming Function, located at the Gallery in Building 110: LMCC's Arts Center on Governors Island and on the ground floor of the new Conrad New York hotel located at 102 North End Ave.

All the visual arts programming in the Festival is meant to engage members of the public in a multitude of ways with an eye toward interactivity and exploring new and emerging forms. This two-part exhibition, made possible with support from Goldman Sachs and Conrad New York, provides audiences with a rare opportunity to experience two iconic, yet distinctively different spaces in New York City's varying built environment, merging into one transformative experience.

Transforming Function features artists who-by excavating the fields of technology, science, architecture and/or design-repurpose theoretical tools, virtual platforms and formal techniques to inform their diverse conceptual and aesthetic investigations. Our direct relationships, whether concretely or abstractly, to these fields are developed inevitably while navigating daily life in both physical and online environments.

The artists in this exhibition, by creating works that reimagine purpose, urge us to develop relationships to these environments that extend beyond passive consumption. By adapting uses and subverting functions, the artists de-familiarize or reveal something new about these tools, platforms and techniques. The artists then use them to generate a deeper understanding of the fields themselves through re-contextualization or, alternatively, exploit them to explore the complexities and construction of personal, social and political narratives. The resulting work takes many forms including sculpture, photography, audio, video and new media offering new perspectives and approaches to viewing, listening, experiencing and interacting.

All of the artists in Transforming Function have participated in the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's (LMCC) Workspace or Swing Space artist residency programs where many of these projects were conceived or developed.

"We are really thrilled to have this opportunity to showcase both the innovative way in which LMCC activates temporarily vacant space, and the extended life we are able to give artists' projects," said Sam Miller, President of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC).

SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES:

102 North End Ave., Conrad New York

Starting Thursday, June 28:

Tuesday–Thursday, 12–6pm

Friday–Saturday, 12–8pm

Building 110: LMCC's Arts Center on Governors Island

May 26–September 30:

Saturdays and Sundays (and Labor Day), Hours: 12–5PM

For nearly 40 years, LMCC has been the leading voice for arts and culture in Downtown New York City, producing cultural events and promoting the arts through grants, services, advocacy and cultural development programs. LMCC offers a range of funding opportunities and support services for artists working in all artistic disciplines across Manhattan, and a broad range of free programs in the visual, performing and media arts that help cultivate new arts audiences and improve the quality of urban life. LMCC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization supported by a range of foundations, corporations, individuals and government entities. Visit www.LMCC.net.

Participating Artist Websites:

John Andrew: http://www.lmcc.net/artists/swingspace/john_andrew
Leah Beeferman: http://inkbox.org/
Ingrid Burrington: http://www.lmcc.net/artists/swingspace/ingrid_burrington
carballo-farman: http://www.caraballofarman.net/
Blake Carrington: http://www.blakecarrington.com/
Kabir Carter: http://www.kabircarter.com/
Timothy Hutchings: http://www.timothyhutchings.com/TH/Timothy_Hutchings.html
Simone Leigh: http://simoneleigh.com/
Anna Lundh: http://www.annalundh.com/
Esperanza Mayobre: http://esperanzamayobre.com/
Sarah Oppenheimer: http://www.sarahoppenheimer.com/
Parallelograms: http://www.parallelograms.info/
Claudia Weber: http://www.claudiaweber.net/

Additional programming such as workshops, demonstrations and talks to be announced.

Pictured: A work by John Andrew