Be Heard by Behin Ha Design Studio (Thomas Paine Park, Manhattan : May 15, 2021 - April 1, 2022)
In Honor of Black Lives Matter by KaNSiteCurators and Caroline Mardok (Poe Park, The Bronx : May 15, 2021 - April 1, 2022)
RockIt Black by Tanda Francis (Queensbridge Park, Queens : May 15, 2021 - April 1, 2022)
Miguelito by Michael Zelehoski (McCarren Park, Brooklyn: May 15, 2021 - November 1, 2021)
Open Stage by Tony DiBernardo (Alice Austen House, Staten Island : May 15, 2021 - July 1, 2021)
In 2020 we lived through an unprecedented global pandemic that shook the world to its core. Our universe’s new normal included restrictions such as sheltering in place and limiting social interactions. The communal slow-down that resulted shifted our focus away from all of life’s minutiae and helped give rise to a powerful Black Lives Matter movement centered on the continued killings of innocent Black lives. In the summer of 2020 we finally left our homes to fight for racial justice while retailers, restaurants and luxury brands boarded up their windows. As businesses protected their storefronts with plywood due to the pandemic and the protests, WORTHLESSSTUDIOS saw an opportunity to protect the plywood itself.
During these peak protest months across New York City, plywood prices skyrocketed to above $90 for one 4’ x 8’ AC plywood board and supply was rapidly depleted citywide. In response, WORTHLESSSTUDIOS launched the Plywood Protection Project, a mission-driven initiative to collect the wood and redistribute it to artists, extending and repurposing the life of this material. WORTHLESSSTUDIOS collected over 200 boards of plywood and initiated an open call for artists, with the intention of selecting five local makers to participate in a unifying public art project across all five boroughs of New York.
After combing through over 200 applications, five artists were selected by WORTHLESSSTUDIOS’ jury. Each has received studio space, tools, fabrication and installation assistance, along with a $2,000 artist stipend and a $500 material budget to create their new works. The sculptures were installed, one in each borough of New York City, this May and will remain on view until November 1, 2021.
The Plywood Protection Project is made possible in part with public funds from Creative Engagement, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by LMCC.
WORTHLESSSTUDIOS is also extremely grateful to be partnering on this project with the Alice Austen House, Noguchi Museum, NYC Parks Department, Bronx River Arts Center, NYCxDESIGN and Makerspace NYC. The organization has also been working closely with Times Square Arts, Pioneer Works and Metropolis Magazine.
PRESS
THE ARCHITECT’S NEWSPAPER
ARCHITECTURAL RECORD
METROPOLIS MAGAZINE
WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY
WHAT DESIGN CAN DO
THE NEW YORK TIMES
THE ART NEWSPAPER
TIME OUT NEW YORK
SURFACE MAGAZINE
BROOKLYN PAPER
UNTAPPED CITIES
HYPERALLERGIC
THE GUARDIAN
THE STANDARD
DESIGNBOOM
BLOOMBERG
NYCxDESIGN
ARCHINECT
DAILY MAIL
CURBED
ARTNET
Coverage of the Plywood Protection Project on the front cover of the New York Times Arts Section.
Tanda Francis, RockIt Black (Queensbridge Park, Queens)
Michael Zelehoski, Miguelito (McCarren Park, Brooklyn)
KaNSiteCurators and Caroline Mardok, In Honor of Black Lives Matter (Poe Park, The Bronx)
Tony DiBernardo, Open Stage (Alice Austen House, Staten Island)
Behin Ha Design Studio, Be Heard (Thomas Paine Park, Manhattan)
FREE FILM : JUNE 2020
International
June 8th - June 30th, 2020
Book Available Now!
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As a response to the historical events of both a global pandemic and mass protests for racial justice in June 2020, 200 photographers across the globe were prompted with the theme, “ADDITION, SUBTRACTION, MULTIPLICATION, DIVISION.”
Using their time and creativity, the selected photographers took photographs on what the theme meant to them and submitted their rolls back to the FREE FILM project.
A digital library and self published zine co-curated by New York based photographer Andre D. Wager culminated the project and is available for purchase here. It also comes in a set with the FREE FILM : USA book, available here.
FREE FILM : USA
United States of America
August 5th - December 15th, 2019
Book Available Now!
Involved Artists:
Caroline Doyle
Free Tripp
Neil Hamamoto
Sean Andrew Jackson
Scott D. Keenan
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On the road for 112 days, the FREE FILM team travelled in a converted mobile darkroom Airstream trailer to 18 cities across the country to distribute and process rolls of 35mm black and white film for free to anyone interested in participating in the project. Given a due date and the prompt phrase ‘red white and blue,’ participating photographers had the opportunity to shoot their roll as an expression of what that means to them — the words, the phrase, the place, the dream, the reality.
Whether the photographer takes the opportunity to focus on a unique personal experiences that shapes their life in America, or interprets the prompt more broadly by focusing on the tone, concept and connotations of the phrase ‘red, white and blue,’ the end product is a sincere amalgamation of different view points, forever saving these four short months of the USA in black and white film.
A photography book of the project and its photographs is available now in our shop! You can also purchase it in a set with the FREE FILM : JUNE 2020 book here.
PRESS
FILM SHOOTERS COLLECTIVE ARTICLE
GOOD DAY NEW YORK SEGMENT
STANFORD MAGAZINE ARTICLE
DOCUMENT JOURNAL ARTICLE
ANALOG TALK PODCAST
GRAINY DAYZ PODCAST
LOMOGRAPHY ARTICLE
I-D MAGAZINE ARTICLE
FREE FILM : CANAL
318 Canal Street, New York City
October 13th - December 15th, 2018
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In partnership with Wallplay Network’s #onCanal project, WORTHLESSSTUDIOS presents FREE FILM : CANAL, a public art project bringing together professional and amateur photographers, New York neighbors, and passersby to capture Canal street on 35mm film as its identity grows and transforms to represent more than just a chaotic marketplace.
On October 15th, 2018, WORTHLESSSTUDIOS opened its doors at 318 Canal Street and began handing out free rolls of 35mm film to the first 100 qualified participants (at least 18 years of age with access to a 35mm camera). In less than a day, all the rolls were entrusted to strangers - released into the wild.
Prompted with only the word ‘CANAL,’ these novice and practicing photographers were asked to shoot their roll of film as an expression of what ‘CANAL’—the word, the place, the idea, or the memories—meant to them. If returned within 72 hours, their roll of film would be processed, scanned, and put in front of a jury for a chance to be selected for exhibition and publication.
Jury members:
Platon
James Danziger
Roya Sachs
Quentin de Briey
Adrienne Raquel
Sean Andrew Jackson
Neil Hamamoto
100 silver gelatin photographs were printed, hung and exhibited to the public. worthless studios published a limited edition Zine to commemorate the project and share the images of the contributing photographers. The edition has since sold out.
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GOTHAM MAGAZINE ARTICLE
PHOTOSHELTER ARTICLE
FREE FILM : CANAL ZINE
The film distribution location, exhibition space and darkroom for the project located at 318 Canal St.
Photograph by Christian Delfino.
Photograph by Mac Petrycki.
Photograph by Don Standing.
Photograph by Rilka Noel.