Party for Proteus Gowanus this Saturday, 5/22

nicki

A Spectacular Benefit Party to Support Proteus Gowanus
www.proteusgowanus.com

Down a funky alley near the Union Street Bridge lives an interdisciplinary gallery and reading room the New York Times calls an “ever-changing cultural organism,” and the New Yorker lauds as “the kind of a place whose founder [Sasha Chavchavadze] could get a MacArthur genius grant," adding that it is “the best gift shop in the world." This unusual cultural space is Proteus Gowanus and on Saturday, May 22, 7-10 pm, it is celebrating its five years on the alleyway with a benefit party and performance.

Proteus Gowanus is the kind of place that, once discovered, lures you in as a participant. Saturday’s party reflects the collaborative spirit of the place and its interdisciplinary inventiveness. It features Optiks/Alley by Paul Benney, a multimedia performance inspired by Newton's Opticks, West Side Story and the looming rusted architecture of the Proteus alleyway. You will literally be “transported” by the performers. Other party activities include:

Rocketworks: Countdown, a moon launch video by David Eustace Improvisational Mending with the Fixers Collective

An Oulipian Escapade with Tom LaFarge and Wendy Walker

Stunts from the Reanimation Library with Andrew Beccone

A Tour through Proteus’ own Hall of the Gowanus with Eymund Diegel

A private viewing of the Morbid Anatomy Library with Joanna Ebenstein

Plus delicious food and wine provided compliments of Joya restaurant on Court Street.

For five years, Proteus Gowanus has been home to a cohort of outrageously inventive collaborators exploring the rich terrain where art meets other disciplines. When you come down the alley off Nevins street, you may find people engaged in improvisational mending (The Fixers Collective), writing with restraints (The Writhing Society), and publishing (Proteotypes). Or you may encounter the Protean partners in residence: Morbid Anatomy Library, exhibiting a collection of books and artifacts exploring the interstices of art, medicine and death; the Reanimation Library, a collection of books that have fallen out of mainstream circulation; and Observatory, an exhibit space curated by seven artists and bloggers inspired by the 18th century notion of “rational amusement” and, like all the Protean partners, especially interested in topics residing at the interstices of art and science, history and curiosity. Proteus Gowanus itself hosts exhibits, events, art and artifacts on annual themes – this year’s is Transport – and a permanent museum dedicated to the canal, the Hall of the Gowanus, which the Daily News has called “A beautiful and disgusting exhibit.”

On May 22, come celebrate this anniversary and ensure that the creative work continues – get your tickets here:
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=YHf-DJmjFK3_Z039iibimwXQqhge4wV59aJBnwFdamD4E5uqCCQoNyoQszC&dispatch=50a222a57771920b6a3d7b606239e4d529b525e0b7e69bf0224adecfb0124e9bd7371532d7fbae47438e81694aebe304157fd44efd47332c