By Katy Gagnon
It's a new spin on an old city. And it even comes complete with a rupturing volcano in Midtown Manhattan, a stream of Matchbox cars stuck in traffic and a sea monster wading through the East River.It is “New York, New York, New York,” a miniature version of the five boroughs and a new exhibit from the members of the Flux Factory art collective. The multimedia, interactive exhibit includes the work of more 100 artists from New York and around the world. Each artist contributed a street, building or landmark. But rather than bother with accuracy or scale – as an architect might – the artists took several liberties in reimagining their own version of New York. More than 100 people crowded into the Flux Factory's Long Island City warehouse last Thursday to listen to a panel of artists and urban historians discuss their unique views and explorations of the city. Among those invited to speak was Julia Solis, founder of Arts Subterranean, a group dedicated to exploring ruins, and the author of “New York Underground: The Anatomy of a City.” It was just one of the events held by the art collective since the opening of the exhibit in December, but it will be one of the last before the exhibit ends Jan. 13. Inspiration for the exhibit came from the famous Panorama of the City of New York by urban planner Robert Moses. Moses, who changed the physical landscape of New York City, created the 9,335-square-foot architectural model for the 1964 World's Fair. The model is on permanent display at the Queens Museum of Art and contains every building in the five boroughs constructed before 1992, when it was last updated.Although Moses' panorama is an awe-inspiring miniature replica of the city, “New York, New York, New York” is a fun, imaginative reapproach to the city we see every day and should not be missed. Flux Factory is located at 38-38 43rd St., Long Island City.
