NYAB Event - Peter Fend & Morten Traavik "Power Games"

Peter Fend & Morten Traavik "Power Games"

NOoSPHERE

This event has ended.

NOoSPHERE pairs Peter Fend, a U.S. artist known for his collaborative practices melding art and science who recently returned to New York after being active in Eurasia for the past decade, with Morten Traavik, one of Norway's most challenging and productive artists, who exhibits in NYC for the first time.

For "Power Games", the gallery space will be transformed into a single installation where works by Fend and Traavik converge to present the artists’ different takes on borders, distribution of resources, and what constitutes wealth ‒ both physical and mental. Their approaches are poles apart: while Fend is stern and formal, Traavik is witty and sly.

Fend, who has been labeled a "global architect", applies ideas from art to major real-life problems. He produces maps and models for: deconstruction of dams, diversion of rivers, collection of aquatic or marine biomass to yield methane, ultra-lightweight city structures to reduce sprawl, and replacement of monoculture with wild-animal terrain, suited for hunting-fishing-foraging. To the dismay of some, Fend shows how art can serve to end dependence on nuclear power and fossil fuels, change political borders, and convert military technology into eco-industry tools. For controversy, he developed "Geopolitical Billiards", "Global Soccer Fields", TV scenarios like "Italy Wins World War" and a gas-station advertising campaign for "Global Warming."