November 13: City Symphonies: Text of Light

Text of Light perform in Rotterdam.

Join us on November 13 for an unforgettable artistic performance on the High Line as part of Performa 09.

Acclaimed avant-garde ensemble Text of Light—composer and saxophonist Ulrich Krieger, guitarist and composer Alan Licht, turntablist and visual artist Christian Marclay, and Sonic Youth co-founder Lee Ranaldo—presents a live musical score to Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (Walter Ruttman, 1927), a feature-length "city symphony" film that captures urban life through a vibrant mix of documentary footage, abstract visual compositions, and impressionistic montage techniques.

Text of Light's loosely structured improvisational score will feature the remarkable intonarumori (Futurist noise machines), among many other instruments. The live performance to Berlin will be preceded by a screening of the short film Manhatta (Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand, 1921), another city symphony that depicts a day in New York City.

Co-presented by Performa and Friends of the High Line with Rooftop Films. Curated by Lana Wilson and Esa Nickle. Sponsored by Viper Studios.

Friday, November 13 at 7:00 PM
On the High Line in the 14th Street Passage

Buy tickets

Non-members: $15
Performa and Friends of High Line Members: $12

Performa 09 (November 1-22, 2009, New York City) is the third edition of the internationally acclaimed biennial of new visual art performance presented by Performa, a non-profit multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to exploring the critical role of live performance in the history of twentieth century art and to encouraging new directions in performance for the twenty-first century.

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High Line Art: Valerie Hegarty

Digital rendering of Valerie Hegarty's piece.

The next piece to debut as part of our High Line Art program is by artist Valerie Hegarty. The piece, entitled Autumn on the Hudson Valley with Branches, will be installed on the fence that divides the completed Section 1 from Section 2, which is under construction.

Valerie Hegarty's artwork often poses as artifacts of art history gone awry. Through the combination of real and fabricated components, Hegarty leaves the viewer to wonder at the veracity of the transformation. For the High Line, she will create and install a work that imagines a nineteenth century Hudson River School landscape painting that has been left outdoors, exposed to the elements. Hegarty’s painting is based on Jasper Francis Cropsey’s Autumn on the Hudson River of 1860, a bucolic landscape that shows none of the effects of the Industrial Revolution. Hegarty’s canvas is tattered and frayed, and the partially exposed stretcher bars appear to be morphing into tree branches, as if reverting back to their natural state.

Read more about Hegarty's piece

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Tickets Still Available for Passport to the Arts: November 7

Tickets are still available for this special self-guided gallery tour of West Chelsea and SoHo, benefiting Friends of the High Line. The daylong event features a self-guided tour of 28 art galleries including James Cohan Gallery, Mary Boone Gallery, PaceWildenstein, 303 Gallery, and Zach Feuer Gallery, where you will collect specially-designed stamps by leading artists in a limited-edition passport. In the evening, join us for a cocktail party and silent auction, including works by Jenny Holzer, Rodney Graham, Yinka Shonibar, and Nayland Blake.

Tickets are $45 and can be purchased on the Passport to the Arts Web site.

Saturday, November 7
11:00 AM – 6:00 PM Gallery Tour
6:00 – 8:00 PM Reception and Silent Auction

The New Yorker Promotion Department will donate all proceeds from the silent auction and a portion of those from ticket sales to Friends of the High Line.

Buy tickets

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Bring Your Class to the High Line

Friends of the High Line is now offering year-round guided field trips with our on-staff educator. Field trips are available for public and private school classes, grades 2-7, in three program areas.

What's Growing On? — What do plants on the High Line teach us about biodiversity, native species, and New York City's ecosystem? Students will make their own High Line Field Guide to take home.

Trains, Shipping, and Cargo Zipping — How do buildings tell stories? Students will go on an interactive scavenger hunt, using historical photos and buildings along the High Line to uncover the history of Manhattan's shipping industry. A scavenger hunt booklet will be taken home.

Abandoned to Embraced — Discover how the self-seeded landscape of the High Line inspired the park's design. Students will become landscape architects, working in teams to hunt the park for elements from its abandoned past. After learning the principles that guided the redesign of this park, they will develop their own ideas for the High Line.

Request a tour or read more

WE OFFER:
- A 90-minute, educator-led program on the High Line
- Hands-on, arts-based, take-home activities that support NYS Learning Standards
- A packet of pre-visit materials including activity suggestions and a resource list for teachers and students
- A packet of post-visit materials with activity suggestions for reports, further research, and model building to extend the learning opportunities beyond the High Line
- All activities are multi-disciplinary and cite NYS Learning Standards in Social Studies; Math, Science, and Technology; English Language Arts; and the Arts

Cost is $3.00 per child, no charge for adults.

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Follow Us on Twitter

That about sums it up. To find out the latest in events, interesting High Line facts, daily happenings on the Line, and more, follow us on Twitter at highlinenyc.

You can also check out the High Line Blog, and the High Line Facebook Page.

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Robert in Rome

Last spring, Co-Founder Robert Hammond received a Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, and will be out of the country for about nine months, starting in November 2009. During that time, you'll keep hearing from Friends of the High Line's other Co-Founder Joshua David – and then Robert will rejoin Friends of the High Line in August 2010.

The Rome Prize is awarded to thirty Americans each year by the American Academy in Rome, and is structured as an immersive creative and academic residency. While there, Robert plans to work on a proposal for the adaptive reuse of the area surrounding Rome's Tiber River.

For our supporters in Europe, Robert will be speaking on different aspects of the project several times this fall:

November 5, 2009
Panel Discussion
World Architecture Festival
Barcelona, Spain
Read more

November 13, 2009
Working with Nature Seminar
Presentation on History of the High Line
Rome, Italy

December 8, 2009
Talk about the High Line
FD Strategy Outlook Summit
Amsterdam, Netherlands

December 16, 2009
Presentation on the design of the High Line
Italian Association for Landscape Architecture (AIAPP)
Rome, Italy
Read more

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Become a Member

The High Line needs you! Your membership will provide critical operating support to ensure that the High Line lives up to the high standards we all hold for this innovative new park. Support from our members allows us to hire gardeners to keep the park's flowers and trees in peak condition, and maintenance crews to ensure the High Line is safe for its visitors.

Don't miss out on this historic opportunity to be a part of the High Line's first season as a public park.