assume vivid astro focus Whitney Biennial 2004 - avaf8

Public Art Fund, in collaboration with the Whitney Museum, presents installations by Paul McCarthy, Liz Craft, Olav Westphalen, David Altmejd, assume vivid astro focus, David Muller, and Yayoi Kusama for the 2004 Biennial Exhibition. Building upon the outdoor presentation of Biennial works in 2002, this show includes artists’ site-specific reactions to Central Park as well as several sculptural projects that were conceived independently of location. For the first time, the exhibition includes a weekend event of openings and participatory artists’ projects in the park.

Artist assume vivid astro focus (aka Eli Sudbrack, b. 1968, Rio de Haneiro, Brazil) works in a wide variety of media, creating wallpaper designs, music videos, large-scale installations, t-shirt designs, and floor stickers. When he first arrived in New York City from his native Brazil, assume vivid astro focus was struck by the vibrancy of the many activities that take place in Central Park, particularly at the Skate Circle, a stretch of pavement that is transformed into a dance roller rink on spring and summer weekends. Working in collaboration with the Central Park Dance Skaters Association, assume vivid astro focus created avaf 8, a vibrant floorscape for the surface of the Skate Circle. He also collaborated with industrial designer Rama Chorpash to create a colorful canopy for the center of the Skate Circle.

On April 17, 2004, from 1 to 3 pm, avaf 8 opened to the general public and, especially, to all skaters. The afternoon featured a special performance by assume vivid astro focus’s frequent collaborators and fellow Biennial artists Los Super Elegantes, a Los Angeles–based duo whose high-energy musical shows combine elements of pop and rock music, cabaret, and performance art.