Staging: Nobutaka Aozaki
Stage 3: Nobutaka Aozaki, Transportation
January 27 - February 12, 2016
Reception: Thursday, February 11, 2016, 6-8pm
Open hours: Wednesday - Friday, 12-6pm
International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), Project Space, 1st Floor, 1040 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11211
Transportation, by Nobutaka Aozaki, deals with an object’s displacement, and time-based debt. A deceptively simple demonstration of the arbitrary nature of commodity exchange value, the exhibition involves the rental of a common-use object—a Citi Bike—and its re-situation in another sphere. The display of the bicycle on Staging’s white platform alters its commodity status, while further complicating its worth due to its new role as art object. Over time, the value of the exhibited work might be said to increase, quasi-proportionate to the artist's simultaneous accrual of debt. Transportation expands on Aozaki’s sustained practice of researching variations of commodity circulation and alternate systems of human and economic exchange.
During ISCP’s weekly exhibition hours (Wednesday-Friday, 12-6pm) Aozaki will continuously rent, exhibit, return, and re-rent a Citi Bike from the closest nearby dock at the Grand Street subway station. While attempting to mitigate overage charges, the artist will inevitably incur fees, pointing to the ever present clock, that form of monetary measurement. Transportation also refers to a system of leasing stacked against the short-term renter. The many exchanges undertaken throughout the exhibition are presented on-scene, considered to be both exhibition documentation and a running tally of debt. In its role as the object of display, the Citi Bike enjoys an additional sense of value through its exclusive and elevated placement on the plinth; its prominent branding ironically identifies other, less positive, associations.
In a penultimate closing ceremony and reception, on February 11, Aozaki and curator Rachael Rakes will discuss the unfolding of the project over its three-week run.