Sextantworks Placemaking Lab

In the Summer of 2015, Sextantworks used a house on Governors Island in New York City to host provocations on architecture, urban exploration, urban planning, real-world game design, cartography, and prankster activism. The lab was part of Governor’s Island’s annu­al open call invit­ing cul­tur­al orga­ni­za­tions to present exhi­bi­tions, hold free pub­lic pro­grams and host artist res­i­den­cies with­in the Island’s his­toric for­mer mil­i­tary hous­es.

Workshops: Ecstatic Dance and Dynamic Meditation / How to Be Awesome Live with Jon Morris, Lynchpin of Ecstatic Revelation / Intro to Knot Tying / Kinesthetic Conversations in Crowded Spaces / Locative Game Design / Play-cemaking / Transcending Windows / Vulnerabilities of Modern Physical Security. Masterclasses: Between Mind and World / Risk Assessment / Secret Secrets of New York City. Discussions: Law and the City / Our Legal System and Placemaking / Placemaking in Places of Death / Professional Rope Swing Construction. Installations:The Panda Pit / Find Pam / Between Two Boroughs: Stories Over Water

  • Director

  • This summer residency highlighted topics being explorated by New York-based creatives. The lab provided a low-pressure environment where instructors could share their creative practices in an experimental context, sharing novel ideas with the lab’s audiences.

    In collaboration with the cofounders, my responsibilities included curating lab participants and running the mechanics of the lab. I managed communications and provided information to contributors; oversaw and installed work in the historic house that provided the backdrop for the lab; and lead each program on-site.

  • Sextantworks Co-Founders: Ida Benedetto and N.D. Austin

    Programs By: Adelle Lin, Albert Kong, Allison C. Mier, Beau Burrows, Chelsea J. Dowell, Chistiana Pena, Claudie L. Marson Grout, Ida Benedetto, Jean Barberis, Jon Morris, Jordan Swartz, Lee-Sean Huang, Mike Hicks, Moses Gates, Myric Lehner, N.D. Austin, Nestor M. Davidson, Nick Fortugno, Sheila R. Foster, Shira Bannerman, and Toni Pizza

    Images: Ida Benedetto and Kaitlyn Ellison

  • Sextantworks

    Governor’s Island Residency Program