A Psychic Vacuum

No, this isn't the cover of a techno album, it's the web site of an art installation at the Old Essex Street Market at 117 Delancey (@ Essex) in New York's Lower East Side. In A Psychic Vacuum, artist Mike Nelson "[takes] audiences on an unexpected journey through reconstructed rooms, passageways, and meticulously assembled environments." It looks awesome.



Flickr member f.trainer wonderfully documented the various spaces a couple days after the opening. The images clearly show how the artist used "materials gleaned from local salvage yards and debris from the market's heyday," which would probably have been between the market's opening in 1940 and its eventual decline in the 1970s when supermarkets began to take hold.


Photo by f.trainer

The line between art and environment is blurred to the extent that the former appears to be non-existent (minus the room with 80 tons of sand), as if the spaces were found in their current condition, after being inaccessible to the public since the city gained control in 1995 and closed portions of the market. To this day the market still operates, though not on the scale of its heyday.


Photo by f.trainer

Of course, I can't say too much more about the spaces themselves, as I've yet to experience them in person. For sure I'll be visiting one of these weekends and will follow up with my own images and first-hand thoughts.


Photo by f.trainer

(Thanks to Ana Maria for the head's up!)