Last weekend was the annual Bushwick Open Studios. It’s right in my backyard, since I live on the near borderline between Brooklyn and Queens. My residence is in Queens. Fortunately, the area of Queens where I live is close enough to hop on a bus to Bushwick. Although BOS reeks of gentrification, I’m lucky to live close to an art event. I’ve done BOS three times. The first time was in 2012. That was a complete mess. The second and third scored much better, 2016 being the best one over at OUTPOST. The opening party at OUTPOST was amazing. One reason was because they had open bar with free Finback beer.
This year I could only venture in baby steps. Usually for BOS I’ll take a whole day to explore. I had tickets to see The National for both nights over at Forest Hills Stadium that same weekend. Therefore I couldn’t take in as much. Hopefully next year there will be more opportunities to explore.
The first stop on BOS 2018 was this mobile gallery. It was run by Japanese transplants. (You can check out Shihorks on Tumblr.) They were taking names of people who stopped by, and offering to include the first names into an open art piece they were doing. My name is all the way on top. After thanking them, I went inside the check to check out the rest.
Walked around some more. Walked inside which I guessed used to be a former factory converted into either artist studios and/or lofts. Saw some nude body painting, and stumbled across a robot. The robot was part of something called Toaster Unplugged.
Walking around some more, you can still see some of the anti-Trump sentiment in the Bushwick area.
Last stop before going to Forest Hills was something I haven’t seen since leaving the Midwest. A fake beach. Having grown up on the East Coast with natural beaches, I always turned up my nose at this concept. Guess it shouldn’t be surprised that a fake beach with a bar hit Bushwick. Wyckoff Beer Garden were part of BOS too.
Until next year.
All photographs taken by Michele Witchipoo 2018.
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