Art Opportunity in the Liminal Space

 

Photo by Thom Lang. Quote from Paul Gauguin. Haiku on 42nd Street curated by Dee Evetts. 

 

Photo by Thom Lang. Haiku on 42nd Street curated by Dee Evetts.

This photo was taken in Times Square, New York City during the 1970’s. A liminal space, if ever there was one. The porn theaters were closing down, but Disney had yet to move in. There was an emptiness to the streets. A sense of abandonment. An in-between time. I remember the era very well because I lived in the City from 1976 to 1987. I started on Jane Street with my best friend from Bard—subletting an apartment from the poet, Philip Schultz while he was away for the summer at MacDowell. After that, I moved to Simmons House, a single room occupancy hotel for young women. From there, to the far reaches of Garrison Beach Brooklyn, then to a vegetarian co-op in Park Slope. And finally, Bleecker and Thompson in the Village across from The Bitter End, two blocks from Cafe Figaro.

In 1976, the Village had fallen on rough times. In fact, on the day my stand-up comedian boyfriend and I moved into the apartment (it was a renovated flop house), we had to step aside to avoid the chalk outline of a body of a murdered man in front of the building.

Ah, but we had fun!

I’m not kidding, because yes, while it was a rough and tumble time, it was also a deeply creative time. In fact, we cut our teeth in the liminal space.

And now, Creative Friends—we find ourselves in another sort of liminal space. Things are happening all around us. We don’t know what’s coming down the pike exactly, but we do know something is coming down the pike. Actually, more like hurtling down the pike.

One day, future generations will talk about this era in the same way we might talk about the Gilded Age or the Crash of 1929. You were born when you were in order to live through this time. Open your arms and accept the sacred mission of being a good steward of history.

Love,

Jamie