Figment – June 12 – 14th, 2009

New York City Looking Up - Carlos Vanegas
New York City Looking Up – Carlos Vanegas

FIGMENT is an annual arts event on Governors Island in New York, with artwork in every medium, from installation to performance to music to games and many things in between.

When the founders of FIGMENT began the event in 2007, their inspiration was to marry Burning Man‐style do-ocracy, volunteerism, and the 10 principles with the prolific New York arts scene, and to build a new community for the participatory arts. In 2009, the vast majority of the FIGMENT artists, and a growing number of FIGMENT volunteers, have never been to Burning Man, and there is a groundswell of enthusiasm for an increasing number of season long projects on the island.

It is a free, non-profit endeavor run by volunteers. In 2008, FIGMENT’s second year, over 10,000 people attended.

Desert-Jennie BoothFIGMENT’s vision for art looks past the white-walled galleries and into the realm of participation. Art is not just something that you stand still and quietly look at – it is something you participate in. You touch it, smell it, climb it, write on it, talk to it, dance with it, play with it, learn from it… Interactive art creates a dynamic collaboration between the artist, the audience and their environment.

FIGMENT 2009, held in partnership with the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC), is a 3-day participatory arts event on Governors Island in New York Harbor. FIGMENT is a project of Action Arts League, and is produced by a coalition of volunteers in partnership with the Pure Project.

So check it out if you are in the New York area.

Painted SocksSo why FIGMENT? Famous for his role in New York’s artistic heritage and the Pop Art movement, Andy Warhol believed that everyone had it in them to be a star for fifteen minutes. Through his own art, he defined his identity and shaped the world around him. He once commented that he’d like his tombstone to say only one word: “Figment.”

Check out a video HERE

About the author: Affinity

Affinity

Affinity, a Burner since 2000, was legally married on the Playa in 2001, was wedding coordinator and then training coordinator at Burning Man, before becoming the Black Rock Arts Foundation (BRAF) Social Media Coordinator and an Advisory Board Member. An attorney, she served on the Board of Directors of the Western Pension and Benefits Conference. She interned with the Human Awareness Institute for 10 years. She writes about how art is envisioned, produced, created, installed and its afterlife.

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