November 15th, 2012 | 6:30pm to 9:00pm
Ongoing until November 30th, 2012

Cappellini Showroom
152 Wooster Street  New York | Map

Hors d’ oeuvres and cocktails will be served

RSPV | rsvp@contaminatenyc.com

Contaminate NYC is pleased to present Social-Unit, an exhibition dedicated to Dutch designers Wouter Kalis and Corinne De Korver. This is the third and final show of the series dedicated to the winners ofOneHundredDays.us, an international juried-art competition launched by Contaminate in the fall of 2011, which challenged artists to create a project inspired by the principles of sustainability.  This exhibition will showcase Wouter’s and Corinne’s design piece Social-Unit, winner of the competition for the Economic Track.

In Holland, homeless people are being sheltered in single rooms of approximately 16 square meters. Aid organizations, such as the Salvation Army, have progressive goals for the homeless they accommodate. Their aim is to reconnect them to society. In sharp contrast to these positive goals are the interiors of the facilities. In many cases, the interiors are old, broken and too large for the space. Wouter and Corinne, founders of the Social-Unit design studio (social-unit.com), devised a solution to better align the Salvation Army progressive goals with the interiors of the shelters with simple criteria in mind: it had to be easy to clean, space saving, not very expensive and very strong. The team wanted to add an extra basic condition: creating a positive emotional experience of space and its surroundings.  The design for the cupboard bed is a combination of a sleeping compartment and a storage space in 3 square meters. It is produced out of recycled consumer plastic waste such as bottle caps and beer crates, mainly polypropeen and polyetheen. Wouter and Corinne have designed the bed in such a way that it can be manufactured using very simple woodworking techniques, such as sawing, milling, cutting and drilling. It is manufactured in social working projects that provide simple day routines for homeless and drug addicts, thus adding an economic and social value to the process. The production of the units in social wood workshop provides a feeling of contribution to the participating individuals and increases their feeling of self-worth and confidence. It forms an element of the process of reintegration into the labor market and into society. Instead of emphasizing the problems and needs of the homeless they offered them a home and focus on the potential and the possibilities of the Salvation Army and their guests.

About Wouter Kalis and Corinne De Korver
Social-Unit is an Amsterdam-based design studio created by Wouter Kalis and Corinne de Korver. They are dedicated to design that solves problems and improve situations, by producing simple, smart and positive designs that incorporate recycled materials and contribute to social employment projects. They have been recently invited to participate at the prestigious Milan Furniture Fair, presenting their award-winning Social-Unit project produced from recycled waste plastic. Social-Unit.com

About One Hundred Days:
ONE HUNDRED DAYS is a biennial international competition for emerging and undiscovered talent worldwide ideated by Contaminate NYC. For the 2011 edition artists were asked to create a visual or installation project aimed at raising awareness about sustainability issues, demonstrating the creative potential of the fine arts with regards to environmental, social, and economic issues and their role in a much needed societal transformation process. In three months, the competition generated more than 25K page views, with an average duration of 2.50min and 50 percent returning visitors.

This grassroots competition touched 1,133 cities, 97 countries for a total of more than 300 art projects submitted. Sponsors and Partners of the competition included: Artists Wanted (ArtistsWanted.org); Roomorama (Roomorama.com); Lifegate (Lifegate.it); ADV (ADVassociated.net), Kristin Hanson Gallery (KristinHanson.us); Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimó (CasaItalianaNYU.org); ContestaRockhair (ContestaRockHair.com); Tunetree (TuneTree.net), Arte Nascosta (ArteNascosta.com); Vias (Viaswine.com); Izze (Izze.com); Peroni (PeroniItaly.com).

October 11th, 2012 | 6:00pm to 8:30pm

Ongoing until October 26th, 2012

Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimo’
24 West 12th Street, New York
Map

Hors d’ oeuvres and cocktails will be served.

RSPV | rsvp@contaminatenyc.com

On October 11th 2012, Contaminate NYC will present Hollow, an experiential art evening dedicated to London-based artist Jei Ryung Lee. This is the second show of the series dedicated to the winners of One Hundred Days, an international juried art competition, launched by Contaminate in the fall of 2011, which challenged artists to create a project inspired by the principles of sustainability. This exhibition – ongoing until October 26th 2012 – will showcase Jei Lee’s installation Hollow, winner of the competition for the Social Track.

Hollow is a photographic cinematic sequence that deals with the dichotomy between pureness and darkness in children’s night dreams as symbol of the difficulty and loneliness of growing up in an increasingly careless society. In her piece the sky at night become a potential playground where children are allowed to free their imagination in a way that is forbidden to adults, constrained in their status quo. The work highlights the many challenges of being a child in a world transformed by several decades of rapid social, cultural, and technological change.
The exhibition will feature a spatial interactive installation designed to produce an immersive experience for the viewer. Through thin lines of transferable projections displaying fast-changing moving images encapsulating a child, the unidentified spatial structure in Hollow will come alive and materialize the idea of constraint and confusion children experience in modern society

About Jei Ryun Lee

Born in South Korea in 1986, Jei Lee started to develop her artistic project in 2010. She has been showing her work to the public as interactive experimental research. While studying for her BA in Industrial Design at Kookmin University in Seoul, she realized she wanted to focus on space as key component of her art and design world. After moving to London in 2009, she pursued her BA in Interior and Spatial Design at the Chelsea College of Art and Design, graduating in July 2012. Although she has been studying design, her passion to be an artist has influenced her projects in various way. One Hundred Days by Contaminate NYC will be the first official exhibition that will introduce her work to the world.

About Sarah Sadie Newett

Sarah Sadie Newett has danced since she could move. She was born and raised in a small coastal Maine town where she danced, acted, taught and choreographed for as many venues as possible until moving to Boston to pursue dance and theater. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BFA in Dance/Theater from Emerson College in 2007. As a student she performed in numerous rep works including David Dorfman, inFlux Dance, Ego Art inc and Snappy Dance Theater as well as producing her own works along side faculty members and dancing with many local companies outside of school. Forever interested in the science of movement, she became certified in YogaWorks and Power Pilates and has over 500 hours of training in the AUM Mind and Body Curriculum. Since moving to New York two years ago she has performed at Dixon Place, Triskellion Arts, The Whitney, The 69th Regiment Armory, and Gowanus Ballroom amongst others. She performs aerial arts with Mad Sharp Productions and has performed with Emily Faulkner, Grounded Aerial, Movement Workshop Group, Melinda Ring, Eva Dean Dance and is a guest artist with Teresa Felion/BodyStories. She choreographs her own works as well and loves to explore new structures, heights and concepts through movement.

About Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò

The primary goal of Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò of New York University is not to “promote” Italian culture abroad, but to encourage interaction and integration between the Italian/European and the American cultural tradition.  Casa is a place for dialogue and cultural growth for people of all backgrounds that wish to share their skills and ideas. With its presence and work, Casa has made New York more Italian and has contributed a more realistic and diverse image of Italian culture from the highest intellectual expressions to the popular traditions. CasaItalianaNYU.org

September 13th, 2012 | 6:30pm to 9:30pm

Performance | 7:45pm

Ongoing until October 15th, 2012
By Appointment Only | Call 646.248.3679

Kristin Hanson Gallery
60 Reade Street, New York
Map

Contaminate is pleased to present Never Ending Story, an experiential art evening dedicated to London-based artist Chia-Shan Lee. The event will be held at Kristin Hanson Gallery, 60 Reade Street in Tribeca from 6:30pm to 9:30pm.

The show is the first of a series of exhibitions dedicated to the winners of One Hundred Days, an international juried art competition, launched by Contaminate in the fall of 2011, which challenged artists to create a project inspired by the principles of sustainability. This exhibition – ongoing until October 15th, 2012 – will showcase Chia-Shan’s installationNever Ending Story, winner of the competition for the Environmental Track.

Inspired by both the concept of information overload in contemporary society and the waste of resources associated to newspapers’ production (2.5 million tons of newspapers are produced and circulated each year in the U.K.), Chia-Shan narrates a contemporary fairy-tale employing newspaper yarns as story-telling material, as she believes that the abstract meaning of the words recording daily news fills them with emotions and messages. In her vision, the energy of the words is the key to rethink the values and use of newspapers and their impact on people’s life. Combining critical theory with the creative aspect of textiles and the symbolic meaning of newspapers words, she created an installation of clothes and sculptures with the purpose of raising awareness on the issues of newspaper recycling and resources waste.

During the opening night the installation will come alive with performers Seanna Sharpe, Alexis Convento, Ede Thurrell, Lucy Struever wearing Chia-Shan’s creations and staging her fairy-tale under the direction of choreographer Vanessa Walters and music score by Emiliano Melis and Renzo Vitale. DJ set by Joe Livingston.

ABOUT CHIA-SHAN LEE

Born in 1985 in Taiwan, Chia-Shan Lee is a London-based textile artist and knitwear designer working in the fashion and art world since 2008. Chia-Shan has shown her work in Asia and Europe in several solo-shows and group exhibitions such as the Taipei World Design Expo in 2011, Taiwan and the Formosa Show, London Design Festival, and Candid Arts Gallery in London in 2011. She was shortlisted as finalist for the Valcellina Award International Textile for the Fiber Art Competition, Italy, in 2012. Chia-Shan holds a Bachelor degree in Textile design at Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan, and a Masters degree in Textile Design at the Chelsea College of Art and Design, London. For more information visitchiashanlee.com.

• The winners for the Economic track are Amsterdam-based Wouter Kalis and Corinne De Korver with the project Social Unit.
• The winner for the Social Track is London-based artist Jei Ryung Lee with her project Hollow.
• The winner for the Environmental Track is London-based Chia Shan Lee with her project The Never Ending Story.

An honorable mention goes to projects by Oberholtzer and Konopitskaya, Elham Asadi, and Matthias Tarasiewicz. Details on the winning projects are posted on the competition website at www.onehundreddays.us. The three winners will have the opportunity to showcase their artwork in a solo-show each, to be planned in Fall 2012 at Kristin Hanson Gallery and Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimó.

“We launched this competition because we believe in the need to create imagery that hits the public consciousness with the seriousness of climate change, and its impact into our lives. We challenged artists to awake the collective consciousness and we are very pleased with the response we received from artists worldwide,” says Contaminate NYC Creative Director Alessandro Spreafico. “Several submissions hit the mark on both aesthetic and conceptual grounds. We are thankful to all the artists that believed and participated in the competition and we are really excited with the final selection from the jury.”

The competition, which challenged artists to create and propose a project inspired by the principles of sustainability, touched more than 10000 viewers in 1133 cities and 97 countries, with the largest outreach in the US and Europe. New York, Vienna, London, and Milan were the top four cities with participating artists.

“We are grateful to our sponsors, partners and jurors,” says Elena Avesani, Executive Director at Contaminate NYC. “Thanks to Life Gate’s support and their Zero Impact® project, CO2 emissions generated by the organization of 100DAYS – estimated in over 12.300 kg – will be compensated by contributing towards the creation and protection of over 2.200 square meters of growing forests in Madagascar, one of the richest natural heritages of the planet. The winners will be hosted in NY for their solo-show thanks to Roomorama’s support and contribution. Finally, a special thanks to Artists Wanted as their support was instrumental to the competition success.”

Partners and sponsors of the competition included also: ADV (ADVassociated.net), Kristin Hanson Gallery (KristinHanson.us); Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimó (CasaItalianaNYU.org); Contesta Rockhair (ContestaRockHair.com); Tunetree (TuneTree.net), Win-Initiative (Win-Initiative.com); and Arte Nascosta (ArteNascosta.com).

A cocktail party celebrating the conclusion of the competition will be held at Kristin Hanson Gallery, 60 Reade Street in Tribeca on June 13^th, 2012.