October 24 - November 24
A Public Projection in Gansevoort Plaza
(9th Avenue at Gansevoort Street)
More Art is pleased to announce Ofri Cnaani’s Moon Guardians, a video installation to be projected in Chelsea’s Gansevoort Plaza. This site-specific series of video haikus examines the historical and social context of the Meatpacking District. Ghost-like figures, directly emerging from the neighborhood’s storied past, will be rear-projected on windows and storefronts facing
the square, each gazing at the viewer and creating a bridge to the past.
New York has always been recognized as a place where marginalized figures and outsiders are celebrated. In recent years, however, the city has become more conservative and sanitized. The
Meatpacking District exemplifies this shift. Once an area of industry, a meat market first, and then in the 1980s, a night-life destination behind closed doors – including night clubs like The Vault and The Locker Room – it has become a destination to be seen, transformed recently into an upscale neighborhood where the original residents can hardly afford to live. This focus on
hipness and security seems to undercut the city’s allure and questions its ability to retain its vibrancy. As the city vacillates between risk and safety, questions arise concerning the role of our unique characters in society and challenging the gentrification of our historic neighborhoods and communities.
Over the course of two years, Cnaani worked with teens from a local public school and conducted interviews with long-time residents who have lived through successive waves of gentrification and witnessed the area’s radical transformation from a working class neighborhood into a hub for high-end retail, restaurants and art galleries. The characters in Cnaani’s projections are real, all of whom have lived in the Meatpacking District through its
many transformations, and evoke its rich history. For one month starting on October 24th, the participants - which include an artist/gallerist, a butcher, an elderly couple, and a drag queen - will once again inhabit the District, interacting with one another and with the place, window to window, building to building. As a result, Gansevoort Plaza will be transformed into a dynamic
silent amphitheater.
Huffington Post: Ghostly Remnants Of The Meatpacking District Before It Was Gentrified