Sunday, May 20, 2018

Marching in May — Night and Day


Deborah and Glenn Doering, co-directors of DOEprojekts recently participated in the "Unite in Light" twilight march across the Brooklyn Bridge, NYC, in late April 2018. The event was organized by a group of fellow socially-engaged artists, including Todd Drake and Wayne Moseley, and also peace activists with roots in Quakerism. Blinking LED signs, each stressing love, truth, peace, kindness and hope, were held high as they flashed and shone brightly. Other marchers sewed LED-illuminated messages on their clothing. 


The two-mile march was peaceful and peace-filled; even the police escort was amicable. Passers-by who encountered our march often smiled, clapped, shouted encouragement or even cheered. When we reached the Brooklyn Bridge, many tourists (and New Yorkers as well) asked to take selfies with the lighted signs and the marchers. The "Unite in Light" march concluded at the New York City Hall park grounds. 


Frieze Art Fair, May 4 - 6, provided another opportunity to march. "Suffragette City," a performance art work by activist-artist Lara Schnitger, called for participants to carry bells, banners, and other three-dimensional handmade art, in a procession through the fair, and also on the Randall Island, NYC, fairgrounds. 

Lara marched as well and periodically led marchers in chants such as "A Dress is Not a Yes" and "Don't Let the Boys Win." The performance work aimed to call attention to women's rights, feminist issues, and the #MeToo movement. 

After the performance, we were able to talk with Lara -- and take a photo -- before continuing to view the other works at Frieze. Several other artists, like Lara Schnitger, addressed social activism in their work -- and others provided opportunities for humorous interaction.


We are always inspired by the contemporary art and artists at Frieze Art Fair. Not long after our participation there, we "marched" ourselves to Roosevelt Island and began experimenting with our Coreforms integrated in the beautiful Asian Kwansan Cherry Tree branches that wave in the wind towards Manhattan, on the promenade of the East River. We feel this effort points us toward a new iteration of the DOEprojekts' LANDMARK series. 


We plan to update our Land and Environmental Art catalog -- please let us know if you would like to order a copy by emailing us at DOEprojekts@gmail.com.   


As always, we thank all of you who have supported our journey to date. Let us know if you will be in the Manhattan area this summer — we will be working and traveling for part of the summer, but there is always time to meet with friends!
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