On view October 22 - November 21, 2010 on the Gansevoort Plaza, at the corner of Gansevoort Street and Washington Street.

Artist Francis Cape [5]'s The Other End of the Line was a conceptual artwork addressing the connections and differences between rural and urban New York. The artist took inspiration from the High Line's history as a freight train conduit that once transported raw materials and manufactured goods between upstate New York and New York City.

Cape's project brought to the High Line a domestic trailer home, previously occupied in Sullivan County, NY. Cape's use of a trailer home for The Other End of the Line was intended to question transience, permanence, and mobility, as well as how and where people live. Also at play in the work were certain assumptions about upstate New York, New York City, and their relationship, for example, the idea that upstate is the predetermined realm of agricultural production, while downstate is the cultural center.

Cape transformed the trailer into a public exhibition space featuring artworks by thirteen artists based in upstate New York. Guest curator Ian Berry, Curator of the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, selected artists and works focused on themes of locality and transience. Exhibiting artists included Michael Ashkin, Kenji Fujita, Richard Garrison, DeWitt Godfrey, Matt Harle, Chris Harvey, Margo Mensing, Rebecca Murtaugh, Michael Oatman, Gina Occhiogrosso, Ken Ragsdale, Nancy Shaver, and Alfonso Volo. In his selections, Berry was not only concerned with finding artists who live outside the urban areas, but those whose work captures the particular conditions of life in upstate New York.

Trained as a carpenter and fine wood worker, Cape previously focused on meticulous wood constructions that emphasized clean lines, minimalist beauty, and sound craftsmanship. The focus of his artwork took a dramatic shift following a visit to New Orleans in 2005, just two months after Hurricane Katrina. After witnessing the destruction of lives, buildings, and an entire city's infrastructure, the artist turned to a combination of photography and construction, and began exploring themes of rescue and recovery efforts, social neglect, and design for living.

Read the press release [6].

About the Artist
Francis Cape has had solo exhibitions at Murray Guy Gallery, New York; Grimm Rosenfeld, Munich; and the Saint Louis Art Museum, among others. His work has been included in many group exhibitions including Prospect 1: New Orleans; Nothing Compared to this, at the Cincinatti Contemporary Arts Center; and the Paper Sculpture Show, organized by Independent Curators International. Cape is the recipient of the Biennial Award from The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation. His work has been profiled and reviewed in such publications as The New York Times, Village Voice, Art in America, and Art on Paper. He divides his time between Manhattan and Sullivan County, New York. This is his first public artwork in New York City.

Support
This High Line Art Commission was presented by Friends of the High Line and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. High Line Art Commissions are made possible by Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Additional support for The Other End of the Line has been provided by The Greenwall Foundation. High Line Art is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and from the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State's 62 counties.

Back to Public Art [10].