January 26, 2004
When Performance Artists Attack!
Another crazy Brooklyn performance artist story: Christopher Hackett, a 31 year old performance artist, suffered facials burns when his "spud gun" malfunctioned, causing an explosion and the police to come calling. "Cache of weapons and explosives" plus maps and photos of the Brooklyn Bridge plus other landmarks equals exactly why NYC is still on Orange Alert. Apparently Hackett repurposes the weapons, with a 15 year old neighbor telling the Daily News, "They're not real guns. He'll form them into different things. He'll take an AK-47 body and turn it into something else," which makes us say, "But they were real guns at one point." Anyway, the Times reported that the police were relieved that Hackett's only crime was illegal possession of weapons and calling a "jury-rigged ice-cream truck that spewed flames from its cargo bay" art. Hackett was treated for his burns yesterday.
Check out the Martin Scorsese short film in New York Stories; it features a Steve Buscemi as an extremely nutty performance artist.
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The Idiotarod was amazing.
OK. The guns and flame-spewing ice-cream truck are one thing, but who doesn't have maps of NYC and photos of New York landmarks lying around their apartment?
Hackett is part of the Madagascar Institute which produces some of the more interesting art spectacles in the city. Their MO is to create "Art that could kill you". Obviously things can go wrong when working with black powder, but they seem to relish in the danger.
I went to one of their huge art parties called "the hurting" a few years ago and it was one of the most amazingly fun and strange and at times terrifying experiences of my life. They reconsider what is art, experience and risk, while playing with heavy machinary, fire, and basic physics. I hope that Hackett heals well. I also hope that they continue to provide their extremely creative alternative to this increasingly sterile city.
For more information about the group. Check out www.madagascarinstitute.com.
I know: I want to get engineering maps of the city's subways, but just to use as wallpaper, not to plot any sort of terrorist activity (my morning commute sucks enough already).
And avr, thanks for the link.
Guns and flame spewing ice cream truck, modern redneck art at it's best :) Lets blow em' trucks up boys!
I worked with Hackett a few years ago at his day job and he's an interesting, smart fellow. I hope the burns aren't too terrible. Also, he and some of his fellow artists were on a few episodes of Junkyard Wars and did pretty well. It was a bit of a shock to turn on TLC and see his dreds flying out from under the helmet.
Frankly, Gothamist, I'm disappointed that you bought into the "crazy" performance artist angle from the papers, without finding out a little bit more about the man or his friends' efforts.
Madagascar Institute and other similar collectives are some of the only groups attempting to engage the issue of public space in a non-commercial yet utterly fun way. For example, Dark Passage (http://www.darkpassage.com, for which the maps were used) is a group that explores abandoned relics of the city's history, as a means of aesthetic appreciation. They are one of the few groups promoting the enjoyment of the beauty of derelict structures, which most bottom line-oriented developers and the general public would automatically and blindly stereotype as "eyesores."
Madagascar Institute and Dark Passage sponsored the art/photography exhibit in Brooklyn's abandoned Atlantic Avenue tunnel in November 2002. There was a line of hundreds of people waiting to descend through a manhole to witness a piece of the borough's history, nearly untouched for 150 years. It was breathtaking.
I cheer that in today's Disneyfied New York, where the seediest corners of Manhattan are prettied up and and drained of their history to be made saleable to tourists, there are those who are actively taking back public space for the public, celebrating the city's many layers of history, and having loads of FUN while doing it, too.
MUSH MUSH MUSH!! The Idiotarod was awesome (http://www.callalillie.com/archives/0104/000841.html)!
I believe that the Madagascar Institute had something to do with an event at the Northampton State Hospital several years ago, one of my old haunts when I was in college. They're neat. MI, Jinx, and Dark Passage do some really amazing stuff.
MUSH MUSH MUSH!! The Idiotarod was awesome (http://www.callalillie.com/archives/0104/000841.html)!
I believe that the Madagascar Institute had something to do with an event at the Northampton State Hospital several years ago, one of my old haunts when I was in college. They're neat. MI, Jinx, and Dark Passage do some really amazing stuff.
There are nutty performance artists who just do silly/gross/out-there things for art's sake and there are people who are truly devoted to ideals of fun, performance, counter-culture, counter-boredom revolutions. And there are also alot of artists who are somewhere in the middle.
I think most MI people are of the latter species. But there is something disturbing about anyone having a stockpile of illegal weapons (which he has gotten busted about before) in a house that is supposed to be an open and creative community, regardless of what will be done with the weapons.
I have gone to MI events and worked with MI members, and on the whole found them interesting, creative and fun people and I generally appreciate what they are doing to help make NYC more wacky. My only issue with them is that MI people give off the stench of thinking they are the only interesting, creative and fun people in NYC who matter.
But I am very sorry that Chris was hurt (I am very sorry when anyone is hurt) especially since he and my roomie were embarking on a romance.
i can't say that artists with 'repurposed' kalashnikovs is all that worrying to me. gothamist, shouldn't you be more worried about those who want to use their AK-47s for their original purpose?
for god's sake, *more* small arms in the hands of performance artists! ;)
Go Crazy Artist Guy. Glad to see NYC is still the lamp to many an artistic soul. Would like to give an Amen to Jack though and add that the "disney-fication", while at times repugnant is a change for the better in many ways. Yes, the romantic grit may be gone, but so are the fires, race riots, prostitutes and muggings (ahh an NYC childhood). So we have to put up with a couple more tourists (damn them and their tax dollars!) and dont get to see the life being drained out of some teen age runaway from NJ- tough choice. Some one should do an art project on the change? Thanks for all the links.