Flock House Project Coming to Coleman Skatepark
This image has been archived or removed.
Credit: NYC Arts
Shanties are returning to the Lower East Side, albeit in a much more high-tech capacity. And only one, at that. It won’t be the storied Hill encampment, but the Flock House project down under the Manhattan Bridge.
This image has been archived or removed.
March 1992; Credit: l.e.s.ter
Dreamed up by forward-thinker Mary Mattingly, Flock House is essentially a roving response to global migration patterns, acting as a “self-contained ecosystem.” Living off the fat of the land, if you will. Pods are occupied by artist-residents who use the temporary spaces as makeshift studios. One such modular living sculpture is planned for July in the soon-to-be re-branded Coleman Oval Skatepark. Mattingly will first need blessings from Community Board 3 later tonight.
We reached out to Mattingly to learn more about Flock House:
The idea behind them is that they are autonomous to an extent (they collect rainwater, grow food, are powered by solar and human energy) but not fully – they also depend on finding partnerships and developing barter systems (for additional food, for example). They look like micro biospheres and will continue to adapt as they travel from place to place.
A Flock House pod will be in Coleman Oval Park from July 1 – 14th this summer with a few artists including a musician, a guy who will use a bike-powered projector to show a film and live-stream the Coleman Oval pod to the web, an artist who works with ecological design, and an animation artist. We are looking forward to the skate park opening while the pod is there!
The Flock House placement here on the Lower East Side is part of the overall River to River to River Festival, which runs June 17-July 15
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