Mill Road: A Collaborative Investigation by Birgit Rathsmann
and Rick Karr
Exhibition At Cuadro 22
MILL ROAD explores the contested space where the land meets the sea and the built environment confronts the raw forces of nature. Birgit Rathsmann and Rick Karr’s second investigation of "drowned landscape” (after their 2019 collaborative exhibition with Alejandro Almanza Pereda “Malpaso”, which centered on a Spanish colonial church submerged beneath the waters of a Chiapas reservoir), this multimedia performance and installation considers the geological, environmental, and cultural history of the south shore of New York City’s Staten Island -- particularly the seaside neighborhood Oakwood Beach, which was annihilated in just a few hours when Hurricane Sandy made landfall in October 2012.
The exhibition installation at Cuadro 22 in Chur, Switzerland included photos taken in Oakwood Beach, Staten Island, a hanging piece of wood assembly with a photo mounted to it, a TV displaying the documentation video of the performance, and two sculptures.
Thank you to the New York State Counl On The Arts for the support .
Leonard Montalto Memorial Cairn, Bricks, Soccer Balls, Handmade Flag, 2021
Mill Road X-Mas, Found Discarded Tree, Tree stand, Paper-maché, silicon, pearls, putty, dimensions depend on tree
MILL ROAD explores the story with help from legendary cartographers, sentient eccentric boulders, a Hollywood diva disguised as a continental glacier, and the meandering line that separates land from sea. The English/German/Swiss German language performance at Cuadro 22 in Chur featured Jutta Klawuhn, Angelo Faraccio, Kirill Tscheluchin, Rick Karr and the voices of Paul Rathsmann and Ana Schlaegel, as well as video footage shot on Staten Island by Birgit Rathsmann and drone footage by Georgi Tushev and music by Rick Karr.
Stills from the performance Mill Road: Jutta Klawuhn, Oakwood Beach Staten Island Drone Shot, Angelo Faraccio and Kirill Tschechluchin,
Verazzano Bridge, Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, Rick Karr, 3D Render of Eurypterus, the New York State Fossil
Fox Beach Ave, Oakwood Beach, Staten Island, 2021, 40 x 30" Inkjet print
Fox Beach Ave, Oakwood Beach, #2, 2021, 40 x 30", Inkjet print
Fox Beach Ave, Oakwood Beach, #3, 2021, 40 x 30", Inkjet print
Delwit Ave, Oakwood Beach, #1, 2021, 40 x 30", Inkjet print
Delwit Ave, Oakwood Beach, #2, 2021, 40 x 30", Inkjet print
Delwit Ave, Oakwood Beach, #3, 2021, 40 x 30", Inkjet print