9-5
Public Art
9-5
9-5 was a performance by Ernesto Pujol addressing themes of corporate labor, silence, and empathy. Eleven performers dressed in white arrived by public transportation each day, at the Brookfield Place Pavilion, silently taking their positions by the glass wall and writing all day about the people they saw. Pujol intended to evoke the repetitiousness of all labor through this silent meditative gesture and the transparency of the glass to foster a deeper observation of the human condition.
When
October 26 – 28, 2015
Where
Brookfield Place Pavilion, 230 Vesey Street, Lower Manhattan.
9:00am – 5:00pm daily
Events
Free Meditation Workshops + Artist Talk
Lunchtime meditation and mindfulness workshops were offered for free on the steps of the Brookfield Place Winter Garden
Monday, November 2 | “Embodied Meditation” with Valarie Samulski, Body Practice Teacher
Wednesday, November 4 | “Embodied Meditation” with Valarie Samulski, Body Practice Teacher
Wednesday, November 4 | “The Art of Mindful Presence” A public lecture by Ernesto Pujol
Ernesto Pujol, 9-5, Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015. Photo © Nisa Ojalvo 2015
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About the artist
Ernesto Pujol, 9-5, Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015. Photo © Nisa Ojalvo
In this site-specific performance produced and commissioned by More Art and presented by Arts Brookfield, social choreographer Ernesto Pujol traversed themes of labor, community, and empathy. Eleven performers dressed in white arrived by public transportation each day, silently moving to their positions adjacent the glass wall at the east side of the Brookfield Place Pavilion. Sitting formally between the glass partitions of the window, that mirrored the quintessential corporate office workspace, each performer wrote silently throughout the day about the people they saw, creating a literature of pedestrian life in the city.
Close your eyes
Take a deep breath
Open your eyes and look around
(Repeat this if necessary)
Take a deep breath with eyes wide open
Begin to see
Pujol sought to evoke the repetitiousness of all labor through this silent meditative gesture, while also fostering a deeper “seeing” of the human condition. The transparency of the Pavilion’s glass “cubicles” allowed for an open vision, a direct relationship with the environment, and the observance of the flow of humanity.
Read selections of the writings here.
9-5 featured performers Dillon de Give, Kate Harding, Young Sun Han, Sara Jimenez, Bess Matassa, Micaela Martegani, Ernesto Pujol, James Rich, Valarie Samulski, Caitlin Turski, Michael Watson, Joy Whalen, and Jayoung Yoon.
Download the press release
Partners
Ernesto Pujol
Ernesto Pujol is a site-specific performance artist and public choreographer with a socially-engaged art practice. Pujol creates silent, durational, walking performances as collective portraiture within mythical landscapes and historic architecture, aiming to reveal their psychic underlay in the Jungian sense. Pujol is a student of the human condition, inhabiting dreams, secrets and visions as intangible but vital fragments to understanding and healing history. He is interested in contributing to greater collective consciousness through mindful presence, achieved through deep sight, profound inner silence, and considered gestures. His durational performances have often served as ephemeral mausoleums or monuments to forgotten, or remembered but unresolved social issues that have been mourned or reflected upon during the experiences. Pujol is the author of Sited Body, Public Visions: silence, stillness & walking as Performance Practice; as well being a contributor to publications such as Awake: Buddha Mind in Contemporary Art.
Ernesto Pujol, 9-5, Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015.
Ernesto Pujol speaks about the themes of silence, community, labor, and empathy present in his group performance "9-5" with More Art and Arts Brookfield.
Ernesto Pujol, 9 - 5 , Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015. Photo: Nisa Ojalvo.
Ernesto Pujol, 9 - 5 , Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015. Photo: Nisa Ojalvo.
Ernesto Pujol, 9 - 5 , Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015. Photo: Nisa Ojalvo.
Ernesto Pujol, 9 - 5 , Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015. Photo: Nisa Ojalvo.
Ernesto Pujol, 9 - 5 , Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015. Photo: Nisa Ojalvo.
Ernesto Pujol, 9 - 5 , Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015. Photo: Nisa Ojalvo.
Ernesto Pujol, 9 - 5 , Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015. Photo: Nisa Ojalvo.
Ernesto Pujol, 9 - 5 , Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015. Photo: Nisa Ojalvo.
Ernesto Pujol, 9 - 5 , Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015. Photo: Nisa Ojalvo.
Ernesto Pujol, 9 - 5 , Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015. Photo: Nisa Ojalvo.
Ernesto Pujol, 9 - 5 , Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015. Photo: Nisa Ojalvo.
Ernesto Pujol, 9 - 5 , Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015. Photo: Nisa Ojalvo.
Ernesto Pujol, 9 - 5 , Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015. Photo: Nisa Ojalvo.
Ernesto Pujol, 9 - 5 , Brookfield Place Pavilion, 2015. Photo: Nisa Ojalvo.
Related
Audio / Video
Ernesto Pujol Discusses 9-5
Ernesto Pujol speaks about the themes of silence, community, labor, and empathy present in his upcoming group performance "9-5" with More Art and Arts Brookfield.
Readings
Ernesto Pujol: Building Consciousness and Community Amid Crisis
An excerpt from an interview with Ernesto Pujol on vulnerability and ethics.