Displacement: Barge Prototype

A collective of Buffalo based artists, curators and educators gathered at the Burchfield Penney Art Center to explore the connections amongst art, Erie Canal commerce, the growth of industry, and the subsequent development of culture along our waterways.

As a result, the team, Trans Empire Canal Corporation (TECCORP), is now installing Displacement: Barge Prototype, Phase I of the project Cultural Commodities – the first of a multi-phase exhibition and public programing series. A huge sculpture, in the form of a full-scale canal barge, is taking shape in the East Gallery.

TECCORP completed fabrication of sections off-site at a garage on Main Street in downtown Buffalo. Now, the process of installation is on view as the sections become realized. Typically, museum audiences only experience exhibitions once they are completed and ready for public view. During Displacement: Barge Prototype, audiences are invited to experience the curatorial process.

Distinct spaces throughout the barge will house art , installations, projections and performances. The barge will become a complex of galleries, theaters and stages of dynamically varying experience. A full range of public programs will occur over the duration of the exhibition. Program topics will range from preserving our waterways, to art as commerce, to the growth of the Buffalo Niagara region around the canal, to the struggles and successes of past and current canal redevelopment for power, tourism and commerce. Events will range from portfolio reviews to music, from theater to dance… and anything else artists may propose.

The TECCORP team is Erika Abbondanzieri, Scott Bye, Brian Larson Clark, Olivier Delrieu-Schulze, A.J. Fries, Katherine Gaudy, Julian Montague, Scott Propeack and Burchfield Penney Staff.

This exhibition is presented by Cameron and Jane Baird Foundation and Howard and Leslie Zemsky with support from Sam Magavern and Monica Angle, The Darby Family, Niemiec Builders Supply, Inc. and The Sherwin Williams Company.

The installation of the barge prototype and installation of art in the Burchfield Penney Art Center East Gallery, will take place over the duration of the exhibition allowing for the exhibition to explore the process of building the barge, engaging artists and audience to participate in aspects generally hidden from view.

Artists whose works are part of Phase I: Displacement Prototyping Barge from August 8 - October 19 are:

Alan Bigelow
Michael Bosworth        
Joel Brenden
Scott Bye
Caitlin Cass  
Jake Cassel
Brian Clark
AJ Fries
Katharine Gaudy
Courtney Grim
Thomas Holt  
Alana Kelley
Julian Montaque
Anne Muntges 
Tim Noble
Kate Parzych
JM Reed
Liz Rywelski
Paul Sargent
Gary Sczerbaniewicz
Jason Seeley
Katherine Sehr
Mark Snyder
Shasti O’Leary Soudant
Marc Tomko      

Artists are invited to be part of the exhibition through an open call for works.

On ‘Load-In Thursdays’ bi-weekly from August 7 - October 2, 2014, up to 20 artists can bring in work at 6 pm to be considered for cargo in the Erie Canal – barge-themed exhibition. Pre-registration is required and reservations will be accepted on a first-come/first serve basis. For the Load-Ins, please call 716-878-6011 to schedule bringing in an artwork which will stay at The Center for a week in and around the barge prototype.

Alternating Thursdays are “Curation Thursday,” when Burchfield Penney curators and TECCORP team offer feedback during the selection process for works that will be installed in the barge’s Shuttle Gallery. 

Learn more about this phase of the exhibition at www.BurchfieldPenney.org.

Cultural Commodities: As Exhibition In Four Phases

Phase I: Displacement Prototyping Barge

Phase II: Replacement Buffalo to Brooklyn

Phase III: Replacement Brooklyn to Buffalo

Phase IV: Placement Harboring Canalside