~PLAYGROUND OF THE FEARLESS . . . ALFREDO MARTINEZ
‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ – WHERE ARE WE NOW: ALFREDO MARTINEZ
this is the card ALFREDO . . . put out for his post 9/11show: ENTROPY / WELCOME TO THE PLAYGROUND OF THE FEARLESS – A Nobody Creative Production – curated by ALFREDO MARTINEZ, NORI JUNG & JAMES FUENTES – with spatial design by John Demas & Sarah Woods. the show ran DEC 14, 2001 – JAN 10, 2002, and was dedicated to JOHN PERRY (NYPD/NYCLU) . . . a personal friend of Alfredo’s . . .
ONWARD. UPWARD.
amen. through personally I feel every building being built there now – is fear-based. in design.
I guess, what can you do. . . in a world rocked by terrorism ? well, I have my thoughts on that – but sending a small plane through somebody’s Middle Eastern brand new skyscraper hotel – might cause the whole world to go up in flames – so I guess I better stick to covering art . . . through the word entropy does come to mind.
‘Entropy’ was one of Alfredo’s favorite words – at the time. if you know Alfredo – then you know what I mean. he catches onto a word like entropy or misanthrope – and there’s no letting go . . . .
the show was held in a big empty ground floor space in Williamsburg – 90 N. 11th ST !!
ALFREDO was one of Josh’s closest confidantes at Pseudo – regarding the art game and the big Pseudo funded millennium bash: QUIET. Yes, he ran that gun, as in big gun !! AK47 – shooting gallery in the ‘underground bunker’ basement . . . wildly featured in the film: ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ – and the gun component – helped underscore the end-of-the-world scenario – of the week-long year 2000 par-tay !! which took place downtown, in the very shadow of the Trade Center.
people ask me all the time – if those were real guns, people were shooting in the film. yes, damn straight – they were !! how did Josh and Alfredo – get over on that ?
they rigged the party as a “film production site” – which it was, or was gonnabe – with 24/7 surveillance cameras – and got the appropriate film permits !! – and complied with all the legal red tape – including having the required licensed gun prop masters on site. though they left out the bit about having the site operate simultaneously as a huge party – open to the public 24/7.
oops.
in a sad note: the NYPD, FDNY and FEMA teams that came to shut down QUIET, having nothing better to do millennium week in NYC – took a heavy toll – in the real deal – just under 2 years later.
ALFREDO currently resides in NYC – moving among a group of close pals and some favorite internet cafes, in Chinatown !! he is making gun drawings and selling them – with enough regularity to keep him welcome, fed and happy. if there is any sushi left over for anybody else, on the night he celebrates a sale – let me know.
see: ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ – the film’s official website
posted on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, NYC.