Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga

Structural Patterns

Reflections on Art, Technology and Society

Archive for the ‘excess nyc’ tag

“Vagaries of the Commons” at Artspace, New Haven, CT

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EXCESS NYC at Artspace in New Haven, CT

EXCESS NYC at Artspace in New Haven, CT

“Vagaries of the Commons,” curated by Sarah Fritchey, will be on view July 25 through September 13. Brooke and I are participating in a group show revolving around the concept of the “commons” in today’s increasingly privatized public spaces. The curated artists are cultural producers that interact with the gray zones of private vs public to investigate various social issues.

Our food collection and compost bike for the ongoing project EXCESS NYC is on exhibit and on Saturday, September 13th, we will be collecting food and having a picnic as part of that day’s closing events.

Here’s the full description or go to the Artspace site that also includes links to the artists.

Artists and contributors include: Brad Armstrong, Ricardo Miranda and Brooke Singer; Lani Asuncion and Gary Aronsen; Mengyu Chen; The Elm City Dance Collective; Jason Friedes; Focus Lessness (Michael Romano and Milton Laüfer), Occupy New Haven; Phil Lique; Project Storefronts; Scott Shuldt; and Under 91 Project.

The concept of “the commons” predates the feudal era in early Germanic and Roman settlements, where communal land ownership prevailed. Originally, the concept referred to the public’s interest and right to access essential natural resources that are held in common and not owned privately, including land, water, animals and fish. Gradually, as royalty and then a central government gained power, the notion of communal land ownership disappeared and the concept of “the commons” evolved.

In 2014, this concept is increasingly complex. Legislation pertaining to the regulation and privatization of common space responds to changes in government, the economy, the sciences and our natural surroundings. Also, the concept of the commons extends far into the charted and uncharted vacuums of the digital realm.

This exhibition presents a group of artists, based in and around greater New Haven, who make works that operate within the penumbras and cracks of the legal systems that oversee its “commons”. These grey zones are the flexible and the often vague environments from which the show’s title takes its inspiration

The show identifies four specific sectors and human rights questions addressed by artists practicing in and around New Haven. These include: the material commons (who has the right to order the build and name structures, homes, cities, maps?), the knowledge commons (who has access higher education, public libraries, the internet?), the aesthetic commons (who has the right to define and control image production?) and the affective commons (how are emotions policed and kept public/private?). The essential question that each work asks is: who has the right to have a voice?

The exhibition is organized to mindfully accompany Laureline Kruse’s Mobile Museum Student Apprenticeship Program project, which will share an exhibition space with the show.

EXCESS NYC at Stamford CT

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EXCESS at Franklin Street Works

EXCESS at Stamford’s Franklin Street Works

Terri Smith, the director of Franklin Street Works, a not for profit art space in Stamford CT, invited EXCESS NYC to Stamford for the city’s first Art Walk. The food rescue and composting bike was installed at an empty store front in downtown Stamford along with a poster installation that reveals some of the realities underlying EXCESS. And for a one day event on Saturday June 15th, the bike circulated downtown Stamford to collect discarded edible food that was eaten at a picnic in Franklin Street Works’ backyard.

Rescued food

Food contributed by Stamford farmer’s market, Napa & Company and Lorca Cafe

The big food collection occurred as EXCESS happened to ride into the Bedford Street farmer’s market as the vendors were breaking down. We went from vendor to vendor and asked if they had food that they would be throwing away. One vendor invited us to take everything! We got boxes of fruits and vegetables from him, amazing avocados and bell peppers that would not have been good for another day. We made a great avocado spread for the evening. Other fruit and vegetable vendors gave us bags of fruits.

We also collected a small amount of compost. It was all the discarded fruit and seeds that vendors cut up for people to try that were discarded. It appeared that a lot more could have been collected if it wasn’t already packed in trash bags with other garbage.

The few restaurants that had agreed to put food aside for us either forgot or could not contribute. However two businesses entirely came through – Napa and Company at 75 Broad St. Adam the chef is great, understands composting and food waste and was eager to contribute.

Leyla, the owner of Lorca Cafe on Bedford was also entirely on board. Her employees were expecting us with bags of baked goods, a real treat for everyone visiting the gallery. Tomorrow is the final day of the storefront installation.

EXCESS NYC in Stamford CT

EXCESS NYC downtown Stamford store front installation

EXCESS poster installation

EXCESS poster installation at downtown Stamford storefront

EXCESS poster installation

EXCESS poster installation, Stamford CT.

Written by ricardo

June 20th, 2013 at 1:41 pm

EXCESS NYC on DNAinfo.com

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excess nyc
Sonja Sharp of DNAinfo.com was excited to discover to whom the compost and food rescue bike at the Sterling lot belonged. She got in touch with Brooke and I and ran a story on the project – Bodega Bicycle the Vehicle of Choice for Crown Heights Food Waste Crusaders. It’s perfect timing as we’ve completed our first two weeks of picking up coffee grounds from Lincoln Station.

Written by ricardo

April 20th, 2013 at 8:39 am

EXCESS at Just Food Conference 2013

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Today at 10:30am Brooke and I are presenting our neighborhood composting project at the Just Food Conference as part of MAKING ART WITH FOOD IN MIND (ENGAGING NYC COMMUNITIES) panel. We’ve made an initial video cut documenting the project thus far that we’ll be presenting as an introduction and then briefly describe where we are at and how we are moving forward with EXCESS NYC.

EXCEDENTES/EXCESS 2011-2013 from Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga on Vimeo.

About the panel:
10:30-11:45am
Food & Finance High School (Sign outside of the building reads Park West High School)
525 West 50th Street, New York, NY

MAKING ART WITH FOOD IN MIND (ENGAGING NYC COMMUNITIES)
For centuries artists have given us new ways of seeing the world around us through the lens of food. The last decade has been especially rich as artists respond to the challenges and concerns of feeding ourselves by creating models that are local, sustainable and community-oriented. In this workshop, visual artists will offer practical advice on using food creatively while fostering social change.

Speakers: Atom Cianfarani, Co-Author of A Roof Grows in Brooklyn: The Do-It-Yourself Green Roof Workbook; Jason Gaspar, Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum; Lisa Gross, Boston Tree Party; Brooke Singer & Ricardo Miranda Zuniga, collaborating artists on “Excess NYC”; Tattfoo Tan, artist