Diners settle in for a community banquet at Flux Factory in Long Island City on Sunday night. (Tara MacIsaac/The Epoch Times)
NEW YORK—At Flux Factory in Long Island City, a utopian village came to a close with a grand feast on Sunday as part of the Banquet for America exhibit.
Within the exhibition space, artists built homes, a barber shop, a jewelry store, and more out of reclaimed materials, and got settled in on Feb. 3. The spaces, approximately 10 feet by 5 feet, surrounded a long banquet table with a stage on one end.
The idea was to create a space in the big city where village life prevails, and a place to prepare food and eat together in a city where takeout is common fare.
“It’s these really intimate acts that you usually do with your friends or family—having a cup of coffee, food, a hair cut—and yet we’re inviting people to come in from outside and join,” said Alison Ward, co-curator of the exhibit. “They’re incredibly receptive, sometimes they stay around for hours.”
At the jewelry store, swapping stories is encouraged. The jeweler, Hector, would make a piece inspired by his customer’s “family jewel” tale. Co-curator Georgia Muenster shared some family lore: King George supposedly gave his family a diamond and since then a profusion of Georges and Georgias have passed on the tale and the name.
Though the experiment went well over all, some expectations fell short. Ward had hoped the artists would inhabit the space consistently throughout the exhibit, but the reality of pets and day jobs interfered. Ward and her fiancé, and another artist with his son, however, stayed the whole time.
Ward is now off to Texas after 17 years in New York City to start up a sustainable community. People will build their own spaces, and a veggie garden in the center will provide sustenance. For her, shared food is at the heart of a community.
She suggests New Yorkers find time to make meals with friends—“Even if the kitchen is small—it doesn’t take space, it just takes community and initiative.”
