BY AARON DAVIS
P.S.1's 10th annual Warm Up dance series kicked off July 5 with Nubla Orchestra under the shade of WORKac's Public Farm One installation.
While not getting the perfect weather for the occasion, those who craved the experimental jazz of Nubla Orchestra conducted by the famed Butch Morris or the sternum-rattling bass of DJ Dex, aka Nomadico, came in droves to fill the courtyard of P.S.1.
“This year's Warm Up celebrates its 10th anniversary with the widest and wildest collection of bands, DJs and musical experimenters,” says P.S.1 Director of Public Programming and Managing Director of Art Radio WPS1.org David Weinstein. “We have legendary artists alongside a new generation of musicians brought from near and far — from France and Finland to Brooklyn's Black Rock Coalition, from punk and funk to electronic and psychedelic. Every day will be a six-hour musical thrill ride.”
Shading the sea of undulating, steamy flesh is Public Farm One, an installation from this year's Young Architects Program winner WORKac. Resembling the trajectory of a flying carpet landing in the courtyard and composed entirely of cardboard tubes containing a myriad assortment of herbs and vegetables, it has garnered much approval compared with installations in years past.
“I think it's pretty cool,” says Melissa Spieler, 25, of Long Island City. “We like the farm better than the spider-canopy last year.”
The presence of revelers soaked from the pool and fountain in the installation's center or giggling insanely at the column that makes farm animal noises pays tribute to its general appeal.
Chatter has been that the line-up this year fails to excite. However, Warm Ups of the past have always managed to deliver an award-winning dance party, bringing all of NYC to LIC for 10 Saturdays a year.
The music series, produced by P.S.1 Director of Operations Antoine Guererro, was conceived in 1997 as a summer-long dance series to attract crowds to Long Island City, Queens and P.S.1. It now draws thousands of local and international visitors every Saturday for a merging of exciting music, contemporary art and fascinating people.
“I've been coming for 4 or 5 years and this year has been my favorite,” said Kim Gabriel, 25, of Greenpoint. “Of course, 4 or 5 years ago everyone brought their kids.”
Saturdays from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., the admission fee to P.S.1 and Warm Up is $10. Included in this price is access to all exhibitions and Warm Up. MoMA members and Long Island City residents get one free entry plus one guest entry.
For more information visit www.ps1.org.
