mixed media

Target Art in the Park
 
May 31, 2001 - September 30, 2001

Madison Square Park

Navin Rawanchaikul's I Taxi project included comic books, taxi tents, benches, and a food stand, all of which depicted a collage of stories Rawanchaikul collected from New York taxi drivers. Building upon his experiences in Chiang Mai, Thailand and in other cities throughout the world, Rawanchaikul used the taxi as a symbol for the flowing energy of the city's streets and the dynamic connection between the city's different districts and people. He worked with Long Island City-based Checker Cab Company to gather true-life cabby tales, which he transformed into a Manga-style comic book. 50,000 books were available in the park as well as at P.S. 1 Center for Contemporary Art in Long Island City.

At Rawanchaikul's taxi café, a food stand and four hand-painted taxi tents portrayed scenes of everyday urban life. The tents offered shade over wooden benches that re-created the city skyline in silhouette. Rawanchaikul's food stand was catered by Danny Meyer. Additional city-wide project components included a companion I Taxi café at P.S. 1 Center for Contemporary Art and a 115-by-50-foot I Taxi banner hanging opposite the Port Authority in Times Square.

Artist Bio
Navin Rawanchaikul was born in 1971 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He is known for his collaborative projects and his work often takes the form of comic books, questionnaires, and photo installations. Rawanchaikul has exhibited at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; Queens Museum of Art, New York; 11th Sydney Biennale, Australia; 2nd Kwangju Biennale, South Korea; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Wiener Secession, Vienna, Austria; The Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada; and National Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand. He lives and works in Fukuoka, Japan and Chiang Mai.

Sponsorship
This exhibition was the second of a three-year public art program called Target Art in the Park, organized by the Public Art Fund on behalf of the City Parks Foundation and sponsored by Target Stores.
 
 

Location
Madison Square Park is located on Madison Avenue between 23rd and 25th Streets.
I Taxi was located at the southwest entrance to the park at 23rd Street.