Mary Miss, with Eve Mosher
“Insert_ Here” sign, Jane’s Walk 2013. Image courtesy of City As Living Laboratory.

On Saturday, May 3rd Marfa Dialogues/NY participant, Mary Miss and game designer Josh Debonis will offer an “exploration” of Madison Square Park and the surrounding neighborhood using methods influenced by the Situationist’s Dérive. Using the term, Ludogeography (which means “to let play influence movement through an urban space”), Mary Miss and DeBonis lead participants through

an experimental game of chance operations and playful directives that will draw… (one) through the environment, its history, landmarks, flora and fauna,

Photo courtesy of Miriam Simun

During Marfa Dialogues/NY, participant Gallery Aferro presented GhostFood, a participatory performance by Miriam Simun and Miriam Songster, which explored the effects of climate change on our food supply. The GhostFood mobile trailer parked outside Ballroom’s exhibition Quiet Earth at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, as well as in front of Gallery Aferro,and handed out devices that allowed visitors to “taste” various foods currently threatened with extinction, including: cod, peanuts, and cocoa.

If you missed the events in October, be sure to watch Miriam Simun’s recently released short film,

Image Copyright © 2014 Tattfoo Studio, All rights reserved

Marfa Dialogues/New York alum, Tattfoo Tan, recently unveiled his newest project, Nature Matching System at Seymour Dual Language Academy in Syracuse, New York. As described by the artist: “The Nature Matching System is a color chart… used to remind us to consume our recommended daily dose of fruits and vegetables.”

The project, which is composed of a “curriculum” booklet and a mural, was a result of Tan’s collaboration with Professor Marion Wilson, who teaches a class about community engagement at Syracuse University. For Nature Matching System, Wilson’s students, inspired by Tan’s work, designed a curriculum and were then required to teach it to a 3rd grader at the local elementary school.

Tan hopes to spread his “colorful and healthy effort” to other schools by allowing the booklet to be downloaded for free.

To learn more about Tan and his practice, read his recent article “Nutrition Isn’t Pretty” for Creative Time Reports. In “Nutrition”, Tan discusses the effects climate change has on our agriculture and asks us to “reduce food waste by rethinking what produce should look like.”

Photo by Tattfoo Tan, 2013

I have had my ups and I have had my downs”They gave me a chance. Although the CDC recommends that infants and young children follow a normal vaccination schedule, children may need to be placed on an accelerated vaccination schedule if you must travel with them. National Academy’s Sixth Annual Conference and the Fourth Biennial Threshold Concepts Conference, Cork, Ireland: NAIRTL. “Those are the things we have got to clean up,” Ryan said of the shortstop. The reception was held at the Commercial Club. Lettre(s) ; Kellogg, Charlotte,

Actors run the GhostFood mobile trailer, created by Miriam Simun and Miriam Songster, part of “Marfa Dialogues/New York.” Photo courtesy of Ghostfood.

ARTnews recently profiled our partner for Marfa Dialogues/New York,the Rauschenberg Foundation, discussing its various philanthropic endeavors, notable programs, and the organization’s relationship to the life and goals of its founder: the late painter and activist, Robert Rauschenberg.

An excerpt:

“Marfa Dialogues/New York” is just one of an array of initiatives funded and supported by the Rauschenberg Foundation since it embarked on full-scale operations in 2012. Others include a visual literacy campaign in Tanzania, art workshops in inner-city laundromats, small-scale artist-run institutions across the United States, and an artist-residency program in Rauschenberg’s studio in the barrier islands of Florida. In the process, the foundation has established itself as a dynamic presence in the world of cultural philanthropy, maintaining Rauschenberg’s own impassioned commitment to charitable causes while extending his signature artistic ethos of bridging “the gap between art and life.”

“These aren’t just grants that we’re going to give to art institutions that do Rauschenberg exhibitions—that’s just not what we do,” said Christy MacLear, the foundation’s executive director. “We look at our grant making through the lens of the values that defined Bob.
So you don’t only say, ‘What would Bob do?’ Instead, you set up a framework so that a hundred years from now you can ask: Is it collaborative? Is it boundary-breaking? Is it risk-taking? Is there a concept of creative problem-solving? Is it international and looking at art as a method of peacekeeping?”

“They’ve hit the ground running,” said Jack Flam, president and CEO of the Dedalus Foundation, which was founded by Robert Motherwell to foster public understanding of modern art while preserving the painter’s own artistic legacy. “In classic philanthropy, you give money away. Then there’s another kind, where you start programs that give money away. But then again there are artist foundations that are actually involved in programs as they develop, which in fact is something all artist foundations are thinking about now.

A few images from Ballroom’s recent trip to the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation in New York, where the next installment of Marfa Dialogues is taking shape. #MDNY