Name: Second Sundays: August 2021
Start: 2021-08-08
End: 2021-08-08
Location: Pioneer Works

Second Sundays is our signature event series that engages Pioneer Works disciplines through live music, food, artists’ virtual open studios, and programs. 

We're back this August with a schedule that reflects our interdisciplinary art, music, science, and technology programming. Discover what our residents are working on through open studios, make your own solar bot, catch Prince of Queens (NYCTrust) & DJs in the garden, and more. Whether it's your first time or tenth—there's something new for everyone. Check out our full programming schedule below.

Pioneer Works continues to follow and enforce all Covid-19 safety guidelines. Face coverings are mandatory for staff and visitors while onsite, as is maintaining social distancing of a minimum of 6 feet. For the safety of staff and attendees, even with your RSVP, there may be a wait time for entrance to Second Sundays, as we continue to operate with a strictly limited capacity due to Covid-19. Thank you so much for your cooperation in keeping Pioneer Works safe!

Please note, some programming will be held on the second and third floors of Pioneer Works. At this time, we do not have an elevator. Please email 

 for any questions or concerns regarding accessibility.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Alex Harsley has cast New York City’s unique medley of characters and neighborhoods as the subject of his work, throughout a career that has spanned nearly seven decades. Harsley first purchased a 35mm camera while in his 20s, and taught himself the inner workings of a darkroom as an employee of the district attorney office during the 1950s, where he became the first Black photographer to be hired. This became a formative period for the artist, as it provided an opportunity to spend his days traversing the urban landscape to document moments that defined daily life in a turbulent city. Of his work at that time, Harsley says, “I took pictures of people who would never have had their pictures taken.”

After he left the district attorney office in 1961, the artist continued to create tender portraits of the people, streets, and social upheavals that he came across. He amassed thousands of images—some vibrant and playful, others shadowy and laden with meaning—throughout the decades, up until the present day. In the 1970s, Harsley’s artistic practice became intertwined with a community-oriented role of his own creation. By then a resident of the Lower East Side, he started a non-profit organization called Minority Photographers, Inc. in 1971 to provide professional mentorship to others who were marginalized, which included fellow Black artists alongside a host of others that crossed racial and generational lines. Two years later, he moved into a dusty storefront space in the East Village and opened the 4th Street Photo Gallery, which hosted experimental exhibitions and quickly became an incubator for creative exchange within a community that included to-be heavyweights such as Dawoud Bey, Robert Frank, David Hammons, Cynthia MacAdams and Eli Reed. Remarkably, the gallery has resisted the tides of gentrification, and remains a lively space where Harsley works every day.

—co-curated by Harsley’s daughter Kendra Krueger and coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Minority Photographers, Inc.—pairs a wide-ranging selection of the octogenarian’s photographs with a roving video work titled 

 (2000–2020), an experimental endeavor which has culminated from a laborious process of shooting, layering, and editing over the past twenty years. A complex montage of flickering images and symbols set to a cacophonous score, the video takes viewers on a nonlinear journey across parallel dimensions, and metaphorically alludes to the cosmological origins of time and energy. These works will also be accompanied by historical materials culled from Minority Photographers, Inc. and the 4th Street Photo Gallery’s archives, to further contextualize Harsley’s lifelong dedication to his artistic and physical surroundings. As a whole, the exhibition pays tribute to an unsung hero within the creative landscape of New York City.

 (b. 1938 in Newport, South Carolina; lives and works in New York City, New York) is a self-taught, conceptual artist who explores dimensions of reality and entanglement, through the mediums of film and video. His reportage style of photography began in 1958, when he became employed as the first Black photographer for the New York District Attorney’s Office. In 1971 and 1973, he founded, respectively, Minority Photographers, Inc. and The 4th Street Photo Gallery, as refuges for artists of color. In addition to his own practice of documenting the personalities and intimate moments that have shaped the urban landscape, Harsley has collaborated with artists such as Candida Alvarez, Dawoud Bey and David Hammons. His work is included in the collections of the Ford Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. 

 is made possible by the Affirmation Arts Fund of the William Talbott Hillman Foundation.

This exhibition is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

The First Light from Darkness

Alex Harsley has cast New York City’s unique medley of characters and neighborhoods as the subject of his work, throughout a career that has spanned nearly seven decades. Harsley first purchased a 35mm camera while in his 20s, and taught himself the inner workings of a darkroom as an employee of the district attorney office during the 1950s, where he became the first Black photographer to be hired. This became a formative period for the artist, as it provided an opportunity to spend his days traversing the urban landscape to document moments that defined daily life in a turbulent city. Of his work at that time, Harsley says, “I took pictures of people who would never have had their pictures taken.”
After he left the district attorney office in 1961, the artist continued to create tender portraits of the people, streets, and social upheavals that he came across. He amassed thousands of images—some vibrant and playful, others shadowy and laden with meaning—throughout the decades, up until the present day. In the 1970s, Harsley’s artistic practice became intertwined with a community-oriented role of his own creation. By then a resident of the Lower East Side, he started a non-profit organization called Minority Photographers, Inc. in 1971 to provide professional mentorship to others who were marginalized, which included fellow Black artists alongside a host of others that crossed racial and generational lines. Two years later, he moved into a dusty storefront space in the East Village and opened the 4th Street Photo Gallery, which hosted experimental exhibitions and quickly became an incubator for creative exchange within a community that included to-be heavyweights such as Dawoud Bey, Robert Frank, David Hammons, Cynthia MacAdams and Eli Reed. Remarkably, the gallery has resisted the tides of gentrification, and remains a lively space where Harsley works every day. 
The First Light from Darkness—co-curated by Harsley’s daughter Kendra Krueger and coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Minority Photographers, Inc.—pairs a wide-ranging selection of the octogenarian’s photographs with a roving video work titled The First Light (2000–2020), an experimental endeavor which has culminated from a laborious process of shooting, layering, and editing over the past twenty years. A complex montage of flickering images and symbols set to a cacophonous score, the video takes viewers on a nonlinear journey across parallel dimensions, and metaphorically alludes to the cosmological origins of time and energy. These works will also be accompanied by historical materials culled from Minority Photographers, Inc. and the 4th Street Photo Gallery’s archives, to further contextualize Harsley’s lifelong dedication to his artistic and physical surroundings. As a whole, the exhibition pays tribute to an unsung hero within the creative landscape of New York City. 
About the Artist
Alex Harsley (b. 1938 in Newport, South Carolina; lives and works in New York City, New York) is a self-taught, conceptual artist who explores dimensions of reality and entanglement, through the mediums of film and video. His reportage style of photography began in 1958, when he became employed as the first Black photographer for the New York District Attorney’s Office. In 1971 and 1973, he founded, respectively, Minority Photographers, Inc. and The 4th Street Photo Gallery, as refuges for artists of color. In addition to his own practice of documenting the personalities and intimate moments that have shaped the urban landscape, Harsley has collaborated with artists such as Candida Alvarez, Dawoud Bey and David Hammons. His work is included in the collections of the Ford Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. 
This exhibition is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
<img loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-13861" src="https://sunset.pioneerworks.org/wp-content/uploads/dclaLogo_color_2-9-e1613145470866-1.png" alt="" width="150" height="27" />
<img loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-13862" src="https://sunset.pioneerworks.org/wp-content/uploads/NYSCA-Logo-Black-e1613145524617-1.png" alt="" width="150" height="35" />

Black and white image of two figures on the street at night

Alex Harsley

Vivian Chui

Kendra Krueger

AlexHarsley_NiteMeetings

Alex Harsley: The First Light From Darkness

Alex Harsley has cast New York City’s unique medley of characters and neighborhoods as the subject of his work, throughout a career that has spanned nearly seven decades. Harsley first purchased a 35mm camera while in his 20s, and taught himself the inner workings of a darkroom as an employee of the district attorney office during the 1950s, where he became the first Black photographer to be hired. This became a formative period for the artist, as it provided an opportunity to spend his days traversing the urban landscape to document moments that defined daily life in a turbulent city. Of his work at that time, Harsley says, “I took pictures of people who would never have had their pictures taken.”
After he left the district attorney office in 1961, the artist continued to create tender portraits of the people, streets, and social upheavals that he came across. He amassed thousands of images—some vibrant and playful, others shadowy and laden with meaning—throughout the decades, up until the present day. In the 1970s, Harsley’s artistic practice became intertwined with a community-oriented role of his own creation. By then a resident of the Lower East Side, he started a non-profit organization called Minority Photographers, Inc. in 1971 to provide professional mentorship to others who were marginalized, which included fellow Black artists alongside a host of others that crossed racial and generational lines. Two years later, he moved into a dusty storefront space in the East Village and opened the 4th Street Photo Gallery, which hosted experimental exhibitions and quickly became an incubator for creative exchange within a community that included to-be heavyweights such as Dawoud Bey, Robert Frank, David Hammons, Cynthia MacAdams and Eli Reed. Remarkably, the gallery has resisted the tides of gentrification, and remains a lively space where Harsley works every day. 
The First Light from Darkness—co-curated by Harsley’s daughter Kendra Krueger and coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Minority Photographers, Inc.—pairs a wide-ranging selection of the octogenarian’s photographs with a roving video work titled The First Light (2000–2020), an experimental endeavor which has culminated from a laborious process of shooting, layering, and editing over the past twenty years. A complex montage of flickering images and symbols set to a cacophonous score, the video takes viewers on a nonlinear journey across parallel dimensions, and metaphorically alludes to the cosmological origins of time and energy. These works will also be accompanied by historical materials culled from Minority Photographers, Inc. and the 4th Street Photo Gallery’s archives, to further contextualize Harsley’s lifelong dedication to his artistic and physical surroundings. As a whole, the exhibition pays tribute to an unsung hero within the creative landscape of New York City. 
About the Artist
Alex Harsley (b. 1938 in Newport, South Carolina; lives and works in New York City, New York) is a self-taught, conceptual artist who explores dimensions of reality and entanglement, through the mediums of film and video. His reportage style of photography began in 1958, when he became employed as the first Black photographer for the New York District Attorney’s Office. In 1971 and 1973, he founded, respectively, Minority Photographers, Inc. and The 4th Street Photo Gallery, as refuges for artists of color. In addition to his own practice of documenting the personalities and intimate moments that have shaped the urban landscape, Harsley has collaborated with artists such as Candida Alvarez, Dawoud Bey and David Hammons. His work is included in the collections of the Ford Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. 
This exhibition is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
<img loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-13861" src="https://pioneerworks.org/wp-content/uploads/dclaLogo_color_2-9-e1613145470866-1.png" alt="" width="150" height="27" />
<img loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-13862" src="https://pioneerworks.org/wp-content/uploads/NYSCA-Logo-Black-e1613145524617-1.png" alt="" width="150" height="35" />

In 2010, Kalief Browder was arrested for a robbery he did not commit. The seventeen-year-old teenager was subsequently imprisoned without trial for over three years at the Robert N. Davoren Center on Rikers Island, a facility known for its culture of violence. During this period, Browder was subject to torturously long segments in solitary confinement—over 700 days in total—as well as physical and mental abuse by prison guards and inmates. Tragically, the severe trauma caused lasting depression that resulted in his suicide in 2015, approximately two years after his release. Although the city eventually settled a civil lawsuit with his family in 2019, no one was held accountable for having incarcerated Browder for three years with neither trial nor proof.

Artist Coby Kennedy felt compelled to bring this injustice to light, by creating an eight-by-ten-by-six-feet sculpture that replicates the exact dimensions of a solitary confinement cell. Framed by steel, the glass surfaces are etched with line renderings of the bed, barred window, and toilet that sparsely furnish the inhumane settings. Alongside these diagrams are texts that draw parallels between the United States’ carceral centers and Guantanamo Bay, and also critique the gross abuses of civil liberties when innocent men and women are abducted for untried crimes. Viewed from the exterior and lit from below, the sculpture also pays tribute to the overwhelming endurance that Browder, alongside his family members, struggled to maintain.

On the motivation behind his work, Kennedy notes, “I was incredibly moved by the story of Kalief Browder, because what he experienced has been my own personal fear since I was a child: the idea that I could be abducted by a government institution and held without proper cause. Although I can only imagine what he actually experienced, I could viscerally feel the determination and pure strength of will that it took to come out on the other side of that kind of imprisonment and constant abuse. It is my hope that, when viewers happen upon this sculpture, they can empathically feel the weight of being put into a box and having it become your life for a long, unknowable future. Hopefully, they can transcend the watered-down words used in mass media to describe the incarceration process, and instead start to feel the reality of the literal torture that continues daily in the prisons of America.”

In conjunction with the installation’s presentation, artist-led civic engagement organization For Freedoms and Pioneer Works will present a four-part town hall series to create a forum of discussion around those same injustices. The programs will center on conversations between legal scholars, activists, and artists; and thematically follow the four new freedoms created by For Freedoms’ 2020 Awakening campaign and their work beyond: 

. Just as Kennedy’s installation communicates a fraction of the physical, emotional, and psychological torment of solitary confinement, the series aims to provide a creatively-driven introduction to the myriad impacts of mass incarceration, and to inspire participants to envision a transformed world without prisons.

 (b. 1977; lives and works in New York) uses the communication tools of the advertising and entertainment industry to create paintings, videos and sculptures that hint at unspoken truths, the modern culture of veiled intent, and the questions of subjective realities. A graduate of Columbia University’s Fine Art MFA and Pratt Institute’s Industrial Design BA programs, the artist and industrial conceptual designer has completed residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2011), Red Bull Arts Detroit (2016), and Anderson Ranch Arts Center (2018). Kennedy is the recipient of the Civil Society Institute Fellowship and One World Award, and has exhibited work domestically and internationally, in Japan, South Africa, and Italy.

 is an artist-led organization that models and increases creative civic engagement, discourse and direct action. We work with artists and organizations to center the voices of artists in public discourse, expand what participation in a democracy looks like, and reshape conversations about politics.


 was conceived in response to the pandemic’s dramatic effects on the ways we interact and a growing need for more public art. Working in the space behind the scenes, Negative Space helps artists and organizations who are socially-engaged to produce contemporary public artworks that strive to advance social justice. Negative Space offers project management with principles of inclusivity, empathy, transparency and accessibility, and has worked with clients like Hank Willis Thomas, Radical Media, Incarceration Nations Network, The Brave House, and now Pioneer Works.

This exhibition is organized by Sam Giarratani of Negative Space, and is supported in part by the Art for Justice Fund, the ForGood Fund, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Kalief Browder: The Box

Location 
Pioneer Works Garden

Coby Kennedy: Kalief Browder: The Box

Holland Andrews is a New York based avant-garde vocalist, composer, improviser, and performance artist whose work is based on emotionality in its many forms. In their work, Andrews focuses on the abstraction of operatic and extended-technique voice to build soundscapes encompassing both catharsis and the interplay between dissonance and resonance to tell stories of the interior worlds of humanity. Frequently highlighting themes surrounding vulnerability and healing, Andrews arranges music with voice and clarinet to serve as a vessel for these themes. As a vocalist, their influences stem from a dynamic range of musical stylings including contemporary opera, free jazz, theater, as well as ambient, drone, and noise music.

Holland Andrews is a New York based avant-garde vocalist, composer, improviser, and performance artist whose work is based on emotionality in its many forms. In their work, Andrews focuses on the abstraction of operatic and extended-technique voice to build soundscapes encompassing both catharsis and the interplay between dissonance and resonance to tell stories of the interior worlds of humanity. Frequently highlighting themes surrounding vulnerability and healing, Andrews arranges music with voice and clarinet to serve as a vessel for these themes. As a vocalist, their influences stem from a dynamic range of musical stylings including contemporary opera, free jazz, theater, as well as ambient, drone, and noise music.

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Screen Shot 2020-11-19 at 9.59.02 AM - Holland

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Holland Andrews 7_6_19 - Holland

Screen Shot 2020-11-19 at 10.10.08 AM &#8211; Holland

Holland Andrews

Alexandra Bell (b. 1983, Chicago, IL) is a multidisciplinary artist who investigates the complexities of narrative, information consumption, and perception. Utilizing various media, she deconstructs language and imagery to explore the tension between marginal experiences and dominant histories. Through investigative research, she considers the ways media frameworks construct memory and inform discursive practices around race, politics, and culture. Her work has been exhibited at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery, MoMA PS1, and the Whitney Museum of Art. She received the 2018 International Center of Photography Infinity Award in the applied category. She is a 2019 CatchLight Fellow.

Alexandra Bell (b. 1983, Chicago, IL) is a multidisciplinary artist who investigates the complexities of narrative, information consumption, and perception. Utilizing various media, she deconstructs language and imagery to explore the tension between marginal experiences and dominant histories. Through investigative research, she considers the ways media frameworks construct memory and inform discursive practices around race, politics, and culture. Her work has been exhibited at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery, MoMA PS1, and the Whitney Museum of Art. She received the 2018 International Center of Photography Infinity Award in the applied category. She is a 2019 CatchLight Fellow.

bell_alexandra_a-teenager-with-promise_2017

Bell_Alexandra_A Teenager With Promise_2017

bell_alexandra_charlottesville_2017

Bell_Alexandra_Charlottesville_2017

bell_alexandra_olympic-threat_2017

Bell_Alexandra_Olympic Threat_2017

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Bell_Alexandra_No Humans Involved02_2019

Bell_Alexandra_A Teenager With Promise Annotated_2017

Alexandra Bell

Suneil Sanzgiri is an artist, researcher, and filmmaker working to understand how systems of oppression are informed and reinforced by trauma, history, and memory. His work spans experimental film and video, animations, essays, and installations, and contends with questions of identity, heritage, culture, and diaspora. In 2017, Sanzgiri graduated from the Art, Culture and Technology program at MIT. His film 

 made its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in January 2020, and his follow up film 

recently premiered at the New York Film Festival. His work has been screened extensively at festivals and galleries nationally and internationally.

Suneil Sanzgiri is an artist, researcher, and filmmaker working to understand how systems of oppression are informed and reinforced by trauma, history, and memory. His work spans experimental film and video, animations, essays, and installations, and contends with questions of identity, heritage, culture, and diaspora. In 2017, Sanzgiri graduated from the Art, Culture and Technology program at MIT. His film At Home But Not At Home made its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in January 2020, and his follow up film Letter From Your Far-Off Country recently premiered at the New York Film Festival. His work has been screened extensively at festivals and galleries nationally and internationally.

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Still 3_IFFR - Suneil Sanzgiri

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Still 3 - Suneil Sanzgiri

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Still 2_IFFR - Suneil Sanzgiri

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Still 1 - Suneil Sanzgiri

Still 1_NYFF &#8211; Suneil Sanzgiri (1)

Suneil Sanzgiri

Jordan Kisner is an essayist and cultural critic, and the author of the forthcoming, 

, which will be published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in March 2020. Her work has appeared in 

, and others. Kisner is also the recipient of a Pushcart Prize. She is the former director of The Bellwether, teaches creative writing at Columbia University, and serves as a mentor-editor for the Op-Ed Project.

Jordan Kisner is an essayist and cultural critic, and the author of the forthcoming, Thin Places, which will be published by Farrar, Straus &amp; Giroux in March 2020. Her work has appeared in n+1, The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, The Believer, The Guardian, The American Scholar, California Sunday, The Best American Essays 2016, and others. Kisner is also the recipient of a Pushcart Prize. She is the former director of The Bellwether, teaches creative writing at Columbia University, and serves as a mentor-editor for the Op-Ed Project.

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Jordan Kisner

Lizzi Bougatsos is an artist and performer. A singer for the band Gang Gang Dance and punk/noise outfit I.U.D. for over a decade, Bougatsos has performed at Kunsthalle Zurich, The Whitney Museum, The Sydney Opera House, The Museum of Modern Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and Bergen Kunsthall. Her work has been exhibited at Hauser & Wirth, Gladstone Gallery, Museo d’arte Contemporanea di Roma, Kunste Werke, MoMa PS1, Participant Inc., American Fine Arts Co., Reena Spaulings, and James Fuentes Gallery. Bougatsos is a recipient of the Rema Hort Mann Foundation grant, and her work is included in The Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst and The Dikeou Collection.

Lizzi Bougatsos is an artist and performer. A singer for the band Gang Gang Dance and punk/noise outfit I.U.D. for over a decade, Bougatsos has performed at Kunsthalle Zurich, The Whitney Museum, The Sydney Opera House, The Museum of Modern Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and Bergen Kunsthall.  Her work has been exhibited at Hauser &amp; Wirth, Gladstone Gallery, Museo d’arte Contemporanea di Roma, Kunste Werke, MoMa PS1, Participant Inc., American Fine Arts Co., Reena Spaulings, and James Fuentes Gallery. Bougatsos is a recipient of the Rema Hort Mann Foundation grant, and her work is included in The Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst and The Dikeou Collection.

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Lizzi Bougatsos, Meditations on a Flow Break Up, 2017

Lizzi Bougatsos, performance still with Kim Gordon_Penny Slinger, 2019

Lizzi Bougatsos

Brian Oakes is an interdisciplinary sculptor based in New York. His spatial investigations manifest through means of technocraft such as open source agendas, DIY materiality, satellites, nuclear culture, piracy, and global-political transparencies in outer space.

He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture with a concentration in Computation from the Rhode Island School of Design (2018). His artwork has been shown in exhibitions in the U.S., Tokyo, China, and Germany including 

 at Scooters for Peace in Shibuya, Tokyo, and his most recent solo exhibition 

, at Wallplay, New York, NY. In addition, he has shown at Space 369, MN, and FriEnds Gallery, RI.

Brian Oakes is an interdisciplinary sculptor based in New York. His spatial investigations manifest through means of technocraft such as open source agendas, DIY materiality, satellites, nuclear culture, piracy, and global-political transparencies in outer space.
He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture with a concentration in Computation from the Rhode Island School of Design (2018). His artwork has been shown in exhibitions in the U.S., Tokyo, China, and Germany including Bohemian Centipede at Scooters for Peace in Shibuya, Tokyo, and his most recent solo exhibition Pieces, at Wallplay, New York, NY. In addition, he has shown at Space 369, MN, and FriEnds Gallery, RI.
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Brian Oakes

Artist Alex Nathanson discusses his new book, A History of Solar Power Art and Design, and leads a hands-on workshop exploring solar powered bots and kinetic sculpture.

Make Your Own Solar Bot Workshop

Fast Forward is a series of short films that explore five artists’ dreams for a regenerative world. Featuring over 300 global voices, the films have been made by artists from Ethiopia, Senegal, and the United States. 

The series explores a future that is fair and regenerative, realized through global collaboration and the centering of historically marginalized groups. It intends to reframe the prevailing political rhetoric on climate change, grounding the narrative in the lived experience and voice of global citizens. Our aim is that these artworks help to turn an often data-driven and technically heavy conversation surrounding the global energy crisis into an open, intimate dialogue, creating accessible stories and new motivation for global change.

Commissioned and produced by Little Sun, the project has been stewarded by an advisory board composed of global leaders in climate and art. The films will form the foundation of an experimental curriculum for 16-18 year olds that will roll out in Ethiopia, Senegal, and the United States in Autumn 2021.  The series is also available to view on digital video channel NOWNESS. Read more on: littlesun.org/fastforward

Fast Forward Screening 

Peacemaking is a traditional Native American form of justice that promotes healing, accountability, and growth. The goal is to create a safe space for all to repair harm and restore relationships. When COVID-19 forced the Red Hook Community Justice Center’s Peacemaking program to function remotely, Pioneer Works stayed connected to our Peacemakers through regular dialogues. During an especially challenging time for all, we spoke about our lives, community, and the fast-changing world. Now we are opening up these dialogues to others in Red Hook and beyond. We invite you to participate in the circle process and engage with one another through purposeful community conversation. Conversations will be facilitated by Jacqueline Renaud-Rivera, Program Manager of Peacemaking at Red Hook Community Justice Center.

Community Conversations with Peacemakers 

Introducing Fiera (@playfiera), a new series of arcade video games developed at the Technology Residency at Pioneer Works. Play a demo of the first title in the series, Ride Or Die. Ride or Die takes place in Tropical New York City, a pseudo sci-fi future where the weather is unpredictable, and extractive technologies are pervasive. Search for your missing dogs in Red Hook, drink plenty of water, and team up with local fauna to survive.

Fiera Demo

Come play bike-related games and learn more about Mechanical Gardens education center on 98 Dikeman Street in Red Hook.

Tire Toss with Mechanical Gardens Bike Co-op

Hailing from a futuristic landscape where gravel, glass and steel rub up against tropical traditions passed down to street-savvy Third Culture kids, Prince of Queens has made it his mission to synthesize NYC’s trans-caribbean culture clash and turn it into something entirely unique: deep techno improbably sprouted from tropic disco; demented cumbia and merengue as imagined by a clever, glitchy robot; a nod to Detroit from a Colombian immigrant’s point of view.

Prince of Queens 

The flagship operation of the Names You Can Trust label, the Coalition is produced, directed and overseen by partners Monk- One and E’s E and incorporates an army of funky studio musicians. Their unique hybrid of Latin & Caribbean rhythms, B-Boy breaks, live instrumentation and studio wizardry have earned their vinyl releases critical acclaim amongst the DJs and mass appeal on the dance floor

Greenwood Rhythm Coalition DJs

Join the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York in the Pioneer Works Garden for solar viewing and to learn about telescopes. *Weather permitting*

Solargazing with Amateur Astronomers Association of NY

Participants of a recent class, Street Photography with Noah E. Morrison, share their work inspired by Alex Harsley's The First Light From Darkness.

Photos from Street Photography with Noah E. Morrison

8 Ball 

Help Visual Arts Resident Claudia Bitran with a shot-for-shot recreation of the iconic film, Titanic (1997), by drawing a large scale chalk Titanic ship on the floor of the Main Hall. Then, help her wash it away with water balloons from the Second Floor Balcony. 

Recreating the Titanic with Claudia Bitran

Alex Harsley has cast New York City’s unique medley of characters and neighborhoods as the subject of his work, throughout a career that has spanned nearly seven decades. For this Exhibition Scavenger Hunt, your child will explore the 2nd floor and 3rd floor galleries to find the unique characters in Alex Harsley's silver gelatin and digitally edited prints.

Exhibition Scavenger Hunt - Alex Harsley: The First Light from Darkness

Subspace Envoy, a new-media installation in which an artificially intelligent being interrogates the viewer, attempting to trick them into playing a game. This work foregrounds the fall of humanity through the gamification of the world—the colonization of reality by games from which surfaces an uninhabitable hybrid space, or ‘Gamespace.’ In this space, the game and real life are indecipherable from one another, with work and play becoming one in the same. With Subspace Envoy, Birch draws from centuries old parables, such as the Grecian myth of Sisyphus, in which a trickster of wicked intelligence cheats death on multiple occasions, but ultimately suffers the wrath of Zeus. The story indicates that life is a game, and that while the cheater or trifler may win in the short term, the game will eventually win be design. Similarly, Birch employs a classic trickster narrative to create conditions in which the viewer loses agency and falls into an algorithmic trap as the artificial being learns. Seeking to play, the game and the trickster become one in the same.

Subspace Envoy

Join us in the garden for a visit to the flower kiosk from Ken Marcelle of Mat Blak New York, Red Hook. Marcelle will showcase his curated flower bouquets stemming from his men’s hairstyling business and aptitude for inspired lifestyle ideas. 

Barber Shop and Flower Shop Mat Blak 

Join us for a live poetry and jazz pop-up in collaboration with Alex Harsley’s current exhibition First Light From Darkness currently on display in the 2nd and 3rd floor gallery. Poet No Land, Saxophonist Daniel Carter and Guitarist Bentley Anderson, are artists who frequent Lower East Side art spaces and continue the legacy of soulful and subculture arts in New York.

Daniel Carter (Sax), No Land (poet), Bently Anderson (guitar)

Santo Brúklin, nestled in the charming neighborhood of Carroll Gardens, is everyone’s home away from home. From the warm welcome into our cozy bar entrance through the shielded and spacious backyard, you will leave the city troubles at the door and soon feel like you are an old friend of the Santo Brúklin family.

A small restaurant that opened its doors at the beginning of the 2020 pandemic shutdown, has since connected with its community and quickly became a neighborhood favorite.

Here you will delight yourself with inventive cocktails, and some of what we call Comfort Brooklyn Cuisine - influenced by all corners of the world, but with two extra dashes of Brazil ;)

The 3 Yamasaki's: Pedro, Sara and Naina are the driving force behind Santo Bruklin. Their passion for the NYC dining scene and the joy they obtain by offering sincere & genuine hospitality, added to the vast customer service experience the three of them accumulated over the past decade, naturally led them their second child – Santo Parque - soon to be open for the public within the next weeks, located on the trendy neighborhood of Williamsburg on North 12th street, having the McCarren Park as their front garden.

Santo Bruklin - Santo Parque

Harrison Fishman Screening of Quantum Cinema

Join Percussionist, Shawn Banks, for a fun and engaging Djembe workshop in our classroom! This musical adventure will introduce your child to the rudiments of West African percussion and rhythm!