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.
FIGMENT’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.
So 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.”
13,331 people came to FIGMENT over the weekend!
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