{"id":39647,"date":"2019-04-02T14:22:16","date_gmt":"2019-04-02T19:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/?p=39647"},"modified":"2019-04-05T17:23:04","modified_gmt":"2019-04-05T22:23:04","slug":"the-socrates-annual-2018-closing-party-antone-konst-ronen-gamil-nicholas-missel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/the-bomb\/2019\/04\/02\/the-socrates-annual-2018-closing-party-antone-konst-ronen-gamil-nicholas-missel\/","title":{"rendered":"~’THE SOCRATES ANNUAL 2018′ . . CLOSING PARTY \/ PART I . . ANTONE KONST, RONEN GAMIL, NICHOLAS MISSEL"},"content":{"rendered":"

I did . . .
\nmake it to ‘THE SOCRATES ANNUAL 2018’<\/a> closing party \/ Sunday March 24, 2019.
\nit was quite the wonderful time, with beautiful outdoors weather, right on the water, overlooking the iconic East River – with clear views Manhattan.
\nand, with many charming, very approachable, often clearly, and\/or inadvertently . . interactive pieces, to wander about.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nANTONE KONST, with fellow Brooklyn-based artist, JOHN SZLASA.<\/p>\n

note:<\/em> large MARK di SUVERO raw metal sculpture in the background \/ his outdoor sculpture studio, is adjacent.
\nI was told di Suvero actually donated the slice of land, Socrates Sculpture Park is located upon. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nANTONE KONST, ‘Free Peddler’, 218, seen from the back, where all the interactive action is.
\nnote: the “Lady and the Tramp” vibe, most jolly, loyal . . little dog. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nthe cutest . . albeit slightly ‘deconstructed’, doggie. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nthe ‘free exchange’ ‘backpack’ \/ ‘shelves’ of the ‘itinerant peddler’.
\nthe was the ‘interactive’ element: take something \/ bring something. free exchange.
\nI got a free pot of garden blooms to take home, I guess my pix – are what I brought in exchange.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nbut make no mistake, this peddler is . . female.
\nwith quite the strangest, most stubborn & determined, but maybe weary . . face.
\nit’s a lot of . . walking, with a heavy load.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nwell, at least she has a nice Woody Allen-type . . sun hat.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nRONEN GAMIL, ‘HOME (-) AND GARDEN’, 2018.
\nSteel, drinking cans, aluminum, copper wire, plexiglas, flooring, paint, perennial woodland plants, compost, bulbs, woodchips, bricks.
\neach tent – assemblage: 18 x 32 x 32 in. <\/p>\n

moving on from Antone’s larger-than-life, story-book peddler, the next thing to catch my fancy . . . .
\nwere these ‘hobbit-sized’, or perhaps . . even tinier ‘houses’, for ‘fairies’, wood nymphs, or just plain ole Beatrix Potter squirrels, and the such. they seemed both magical, and shamanistic.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nlittle ‘habitats’, made from re-cycled materials, surrounded by very cozy woodlands, they def seemed lived-in, home to small creature families, and most<\/strong> curious . . in a wonderful, innocent, smoke coming out of the chimney, childhood book way.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nthis set seemed like . . little hi-rise McMansions, with multiple floors, and big floor-to-ceiling windows, fit for a prosperous mouse family !! <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nthese seemed more like tents fit for small adventurous . . hobbits, or gnomes.<\/p>\n

so imagine my surprise, when I looked up the artist on the Socrates website, and found that, however playful and imaginary & also storybook – they seemed in person, in text . . they lived a more ‘political’ reality !!
\nwith talk of “homeless encampments” ???<\/p>\n

I had trouble connecting the dots, though maybe an agenda was . . necessary to get the project taken seriously, and\/or considered ?? considered ??<\/p>\n

see: RONEN GAMIL – PROJECT \/ SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nI mean, wasn’t it enough of a creative leap, to connect re-cycled soda cans – with animal shelters, albeit of the Beatrix Potter fashion ?
\nit’s an interesting case of theory – leads to Fiction and Fanciful day dreams.
\nI could see him selling brightly colored nylon ‘tents’ for American dolls, at Wallmart – as opposed to making human-size tents for stressed-out & desperate homeless. though I suppose instant, mobile ‘nylon’ or recycled material shelters are perhaps a very good idea – for humanity.
\nsuch as where the present world is & where, it’s heading to be.<\/p>\n

interestingly, Mr. Gamil’s real-life travels, have included homeless camps, around the glove. According to his bio on the Socrates website, he’s a native New Yorker, born in Brooklyn in 1980. He received his B.A. in 2008, and a Masters of Urban Planning in 2009, from the City College of New York, so he def has some very bona-fide academic roots \/ pun intended . . because he’s also a professional gardener !!
\nin fact, he is currently the horticultural supervisor at Prospect Park !!<\/p>\n

see: RONEN GAMIL – BIO \/ SOCRATES SCULPTURAL PARK<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nthings took a decidedly more desolate, and brute \/ dystopian tone, with these collapsed forms – of human making.
\none part, after-STAR WARS \/ one part, pre- MAD MAX.<\/p>\n

NICHOLAS MISSEL, ‘The Read Deal: Soft Touch & A Gentle Push’, 2018.
\nSilicone Rubber \/ 12 x 7 x 4 \/ 10 x 6 x 5 ft.<\/p>\n

“A pair of enormous limp silicone machines, the Park’s compact loader, and a decommissioned bulldozer, that will lie sprawled across Socrate’s lawn. Cast from working pieces of equipment involved with traces of dirt, rust and debris, the sculptures can be understood as a meditation on global patterns of industrial production, material circulation, and the sustainablity of existence on earth.”
\n~Socrates Sculpture Park
\nsee: NICHOLAS MISSEL – SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK WEBSITE<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nfunny, how old machines – have such . . old human souls.<\/p>\n

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I did . . . make it to ‘THE SOCRATES ANNUAL 2018’ closing party \/ Sunday March 24, 2019. it was quite the wonderful time, with beautiful outdoors weather, right on the water, overlooking the iconic East River – with clear views Manhattan. and, with many charming, very approachable, often clearly, and\/or inadvertently . . […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39647"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39647"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39686,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39647\/revisions\/39686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artloversnewyork.com\/zine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}