Thursday, August 20, 2009

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Tasked with inspiring hurried urbanites to notice their city one moment at a time, members of the newly formed City Meditation Crew complete mundane tasks a little more slowly and attentively than usual, breathing new possibilities into their performance. Clad in white coveralls emblazoned with the orange “slow moving vehicle” triangle, CMC workers are recognizable as they walk slowly, collect silver foil gum wrappers, and affix them to the sidewalk near the Gandhi statue to create a radiant, silver mosaic circle. Everyone is welcome to gather and press foil wrappers onto the sidewalk on October 2, Gandhi’s birthday.


Artist/Company Bio:
The newly formed volunteer corps City Meditation Crew includes those who consider themselves “artists” and those who don’t. CMC manifests attentiveness and open awareness through secular practices of contemplation in public. The worldwide non-violence movement and the often unacknowledged influence of Buddhism on western contemporary art inspire our practices.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 2, 1-5 pm, RADIANT CIRCLE of silver foil on Gandhi's birthday at the Gandhi statue, SW corner of Union Square Park at 14th Street and Union Square West.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 4, 10 am to 12 pm, Walking slowly and other performancest at the Gandhi statue, SW corner of Union Square Park at 14th Street and Union Square West and other locations throughout the park.

Presented by Art in Odd Places 2009: SIGN, an annual festival exploring the odd, ordinary and ingenious in the spectacle of daily life.


Art In Odd Places: Sign
http://www.artinoddplaces.org/

Special thanks to: Art In Odd Places, Ed Woodham, Erin Donnelly, Radhika Subramanian; the anonymous and fabulous City Meditation Crew volunteers and stage manager; The Office of Sponsored Programs at Syracuse University and Trish Lowney, Janet Ippolito Lafata; Jason Mandella; students of the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central High School; students of Contemplative Arts, Colloquium, and Time Arts at Syracuse University; Lynn Kobel, Alexandra Fiust, Pam McLaughlin, Paul and Cheryl Molesky, Cedar Nordbye, Becca Smith: University of Memphis, Richard Lou; Joanna Spitzner, Yoko Ryan, Jill Long, Alsco Uniforms and Ann Marie Rivolli, Bob, Sollish; Nina Verdal, Stephen Sartori, Stephen Kearn, Matthew Williams, John, Joan, Jenna, Max, Michael, Martha, Pat, Ernie, Diane, Patricia, and Ernest Beffel, Al Meusel, Meg Hamlet, Ben Landman, Center for Contemplative Mind in Society.