Contents for January 17, 2022
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Weekly Spotlight: Sha Sha Higby, FF Alumn, now online at https://franklinfurnace.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p17325coll1/id/45/rec/62
1. Naeem Mohaimen, FF Alumn, now online at arts.columbia.edu
2. Murray Hill, FF Alumn, now online in the New York Times
3. Andres Serrano, FF Alumn, now online in the New York Times
4. Crystal Z Campbell, Nguyen Smith, Justin Randolph Thompson, FF Alumns, receive 2022 Creative Capital Awards
5. Franklin Furnace, Greg Sholette, FF Alumn, at Tufts University Art Galleries, Boston, MA, Jan. 27-Apr. 24
6. Veronica Vera, FF Alumn, now on Netflix, and more
7. Galinsky, FF Alumn, at Book Club Bar, Manhattan, January 20
8. Betty Beaumont, FF Alumn, at New Arts Gallery, Kutztown, PA, thru April 17
9. Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, FF Alumn, now online in the New York Times
10. Katya Grokhovsky, FF Alumn, at Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, Manhattan, thru Apr 14
11. Elise Engler, FF Member, publishes new book
12. Claudia Demonte, FF Alumn, at Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL, thru Feb. 14
13. Jenny Holzer, FF Alumn, at mfc-michèle didier, Paris, France, opening Jan. 20
14. Peter d’Agostino, FF Alumn, at Fundación Cerezales, León, Spain, Jan. 16-April 10
15. Simone Forti, Barbara T. Smith, FF Alumns, live online at The Box, LA, CA, Jan. 25, and more
16. Paul Zelevansky, FF Alumn, now online at greatblankness.com
17. Gearóid Dolan aka screaMachine, FF Alumn, feature documentary now online
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Weekly Spotlight: Sha Sha Higby, FF Alumn, now online at https://franklinfurnace.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p17325coll1/id/45/rec/62
This Weekly Spotlight shines on Sha Sha Higby’s performance “The Spider and the Buddha”, a 68 minute production which took place as part of the “Franklin Furnace In Exile at Dixon Place” series, on May 6, 1996. The performance begins with Higby in a costume made of masks and hundreds of her colorful sketches from travels in Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, and Japan. Higby interacts with a Buddha statue, the audience, and another performer as the diaristic “The Spider and the Buddha” explores memory, fantasy, storytelling, and experience. Music with Sylvia Nakkach. The artist can be reached via her website email at shashaatshashahigby.com (Text by Julia Larberg, FF University Intern, 2021)
Please watch “The Spider and the Buddha” here:
https://franklinfurnace.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p17325coll1/id/45/rec/62
Thank you.
Also, a costume from “The Spider and the Buddha” is in this exhibition in Việt Nam
Video of her recent exhibition:
and more at:
https://www.facebook.com/Sha-Sha-Higby-227280460686862/
https://www.facebook.com/sha.higby
https://twitter.com/shashahigby
https://instagram.com/shashahigby
Sha Sha Higby pursued the art of puppetry and sculpture in her early years, then one year in Japan studying the art of Noh Mask and theater, then a Fulbright-Hayes Scholarship to study dance and shadow puppet making in the villages in Indonesia for five years at the Academy of Music and Dance, lacquer arts in Tokyo and Kyoto under the Japan-United States Friendship Commission. an Indo-American Fellowship to study the textile arts of India, and a Pilot Travel Grants Fund from Arts International for Bhutan, the National Endowment for the Arts in Solo Theater Fellowship, U.S. Artists at International Festivals and Exhibitions, Theater Bay Area CASH, and the California Arts Council Bolinas, California artist Sha Sha Higby sculptures are intricate and complex, inspired by her experiences in Asia and beyond. Her unique sculptures are made to move with her living body as the driving force. Meticulously crafted over the course of years, her sculptural costumes use a variety of mediums including paper, wood, glass, enamel, Asian lacquer, and gold leaf. Higby combines visual art with puppetry and dance to bring together audiences in an invisible ephemeral experience. “My work is never linear. It’s very open, so people can interpret it differently.” Truly breathtaking and unlike anything you’ve seen before. See if you can find the words to describe it.
“Bolinas’ always mesmerizing performance art hero” – San Francisco Chronicle
“…attend a Sha Sha Higby performance to leave you feeling reflective, refreshed and inspired.” – The San Francisco Bay Guardian
“Assemblage artist and sculptor Sha Sha Higby’s performances are the stuff of opium dreams, like Where the Wild Things Are meets a Chinese New Year parade. Shape-shifting, embroidered, larger-than-life costumed agents move interpretively to the sounds of bells and props, as if an arts and crafts store were possessed by an otherworldly spirit still getting used to its new limbs and parts.” – Chris Tenchard, SF Weekly
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Naeem Mohaimen, FF Alumn, now online at arts.columbia.edu
Please visit the following website:
Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. Murray Hill, FF Alumn, now online in the New York Times
Please visit the following website:
Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. Andres Serrano, FF Alumn, now online in the New York Times
Please visit the following website:
Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4. Crystal Z Campbell, Nguyen Smith, Justin Randolph Thompson, FF Alumns, receive 2022 Creative Capital Awards
Please visit the following website:
https://creative-capital.org/2022/01/12/the-2022-creative-capital-awards/
Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5. Franklin Furnace, Greg Sholette, FF Alumn, at Tufts University Art Galleries, Boston, MA, Jan. 27-Apr. 24
Franklin Furnace Archive, Inc. is pleased to announce that Tufts University Art Galleries is borrowing historic original materials from our archives relating to our participation in the 1984 Artists Call Against US Intervention in Central America project. Further, Greg Sholette, FF Alumn, is also participating. He writes, “I am very pleased and honored to be part of Art for the Future, a contemporary remembrance/revisiting of the remarkable 1984 multi-venue anti-war project Artists Call Against US Intervention in Central America organized by Abigail Satinsky and Erina Duganne for Tufts University Art Galleries, Boston from January 27 to April 24, with a closing event April 23. Asked to submit my contribution to the project 28 years ago, I sheepishly admitted to the curators that my work was destroyed during the intervening years, but I immediately agreed to recreate, or more accurately, reinterpret the original for this exhibition. Here is a bit more about my project Insurrection and some anecdotes related to the work…”
For more information, please visit the following website:
https://gregsholette.tumblr.com/post/672940770173517824/insurrection-for-artists-call-19842022-tufts
Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6. Veronica Vera, FF Alumn, now on Netflix, and more
Veronica Vera, FF Alumn, is featured on the Netflix 3 part Series Crime Scene: The Times Square Murders, currently streaming. “Be forewarned” says Veronica, “this is a gruesome tale, and I hope I provided some balance.” The series is a strong statement for the decriminalization of sex work.
Throughout the 1980’s Veronica wrote a monthly column about the demimonde that included commercial sex in New York and the people, places and events that made it happen. She is currently writing a memoir of those years.
Please visit the following website:
https://decider.com/2021/12/29/crime-scene-the-times-square-killer-netflix-review/
Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
7. Galinsky, FF Alumn, at Book Club Bar, Manhattan, January 20
Galinsky, FF Alumn, hosts “Poetry in New York” 3rd Thursday of every month at Book Club Bar 197 East 3rd street in Alphabet City Manhattan, 8-10pm, Free, All Ages
Galinsky is a downtown poet and performance artist and hosts a lively night of poetry in the newest hot spot in the East Village Book Club Bar. Joining him are Chavisa Woods, Chavisa Woods is the Executive Director of Steve Cannon’s Tribes Gallery, is a MacDowell Fellow and was the recipient of the Shirley Jackson Award, the Kathy Acker Award in Writing, the Cobalt Prize for Fiction, and in 2009 she received the Jerome Foundation award for emerging authors. She is also a three-time Lambda Literary Award finalist for fiction. Valery Oisteanu is a poet, writer, and artist of the avant-garde. Born in USSR (1943) and educated in Romania. He debuted as a poet with the collection Prosthesis in 1970(Litera Press, Bucharest). At the age of 20, he adopted Dada and Surrealism as a philosophy of art and life and a few years later English as his primary language. Immigrating to New York City in 1972 he has been writing in English for the past 44 years. He is also a contributing writer for French, Spanish & Romanian art and literary magazines (La Page Blanche, Art.es, Viata Romanesca, Observatorul Cultural, Artout.ro, levurelitteraire.com, etc)
Please visit the following website to get tickets:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/poetry-in-new-york-thur-jan-20-8-10pm-w-woods-oisteanu-galinsky-tickets-229591483307?ref=estwThank you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8. Betty Beaumont, FF Alumn, at New Arts Gallery, Kutztown, PA, thru April 17
Betty Beaumont
Out Of Fashion:
The Apparel Industry’s Environmental Impact
New Arts Gallery January 14 – April 17, 2022
Opening reception: Friday, January 14, 6 to 9 PM. Artist talk: 7:30 PM
Closing day reception: Sunday, April 17, 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
New Arts Program is pleased to announce the solo exhibition of New York based artist Betty Beaumont.
In recent years, the fashion industry has brought with it a massive negative impact on the environment. The term “fast fashion” was born to describe the trend for low-cost highly fashionable garments that are sold by giant brands, leading to accelerated damage to the environment. For instance, in one-year textile polyester production released 1.5 trillion pounds of greenhouse gases, the equivalent of 185 coal-fired power plants’ annual emissions. OUT OF FASHION addresses the fashion industry, the second largest polluter in the world, and the legacy it is leaving to the children of the world today who are suffering from climate anxiety.
What to do with the enormous excesses of clothing, now that it can all be purchased so cheaply? Landfill Bound (2022) is a large assemblage of discarded clothing piled high on the floor wrapping around a corner of the gallery.
Untitled (Crushed) (2008–2022). Branded paper shopping bags that have been crushed into stand-alone sculptures are affixed to the wall creating a 22-foot expansive wall work. The work is informed by changes in our social and economic world view. Belief in the American Dream is shifting—the rules are changing.
Hung from children’s hangers with clips the series Words Matter (2021-2022) comprising 70 framed text-works on the environmental disaster focusing on water, emissions, and consumption caused by the textile industry, is installed around half of the main gallery.
In the separate project space at the entrance to New Arts is the installation Thrifting. Here the Words Matter thrifting series (2022) consists of framed text-works in black ink on white paper clipped to child’s wooden hangers and hung in three rows from hooks along the 15-foot gallery wall.
Betty Beaumont has received numerous grants and awards including the 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of California at Berkeley, and grants from Creative Capital, NEA, NYSCA, the Gottlieb Foundation, and the Pollock Krasner Foundation. In addition to numerous exhibitions in galleries in Europe, Asia, and the US, she has shown internationally at museums including The Centre Pompidou-Metz (France), The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Alexandria, Egypt), National Museum of Modern Art (Kyoto and Tokyo), Museum Het Domein (Sittard, Netherlands), Bibliotéca Nacional José Marti (Havana, Cuba), Whitney Museum of Art, MoMA P.S.1, Queens Museum, Hudson River Museum (Yonkers, NY), and Katonah Museum (Katonah, NY). Beaumont has held academic positions at the University of California at Berkeley, SUNY Purchase, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, New York University, and Columbia University.
New Arts Gallery, 173 W. Main Street, Kutztown, PA 19530
Gallery hours: Friday, Saturday, Sunday 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
New Arts Program:
newartsprogram.org
James Carroll, Director
napconn@aol.com
610-683-6440
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
9. Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, FF Alumn, now online in the New York Times
Please visit the following website:
Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10. Katya Grokhovsky, FF Alumn, at Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, Manhattan, thru April 14
Please visit the following website:
https://www.studios-efanyc.org/exhibition-30?mc_cid=4555e02ace&mc_eid=6ef67dbea7
Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11. Elise Engler, FF Member, publishes new book
My book, A Diary of the Plague Year: An Artists’s Chronicle of 2020, (Metropolitan Books/ Henry Holt Books/ MacMillan) https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250824691 will be out this Tuesday, January 18. It has already received great pre-release reviews in Publishers Weekly, and on Booklist and a starred review in Kirkus Reviews.
Please visit the following website:
https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/a-diary-of-the-plague-year-an-illustrated-chronicle-of-2020
Thank you.
The book includes the last year of my five- year project, Diary of a Radio Junkie: 1888 Days of Waking Up to the News, where I drew/ painted the headlines heard on the radio every single morning and then posted the images on social media.
There are interviews upcoming, although, as you can guess, any in-person events will happen later due to—well I am sure you know what. There is a short video, shot in my studio, about the making of this work.
Please visit the following website:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sUsyK9Sab4
Thank you.
Elise Engler
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
12. Claudia Demonte, FF Alumn, at Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL, thru Feb. 14
Claudia Demonte, FF Alumn, is exhibting art in “I’ve got my art to keep me warm”
Jan 6- Feb 14, 2022, Wed-Sat 11-4pm
Jean Albano Gallery
215 W. Superior St.
Chicago, IL 60654
p 312 440 0770
f 312 440 3103
jeanalbanogallery@gmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
13. Jenny Holzer, FF Alumn, at mfc-michèle didier, Paris, France, opening Jan. 20
Alex Cecchetti, Jenny Holzer, Wesley Meuris, Antoni Muntadas, Benny Nemer
The Power of Language – The Language of Power
Opening on Thursday January 20 from 12pm to 7pm
Exhibition from January 21 to March 12, 2022
We are pleased to invite you to the exhibition The Power of Language – The Language of Power which will open on Thursday January 20, 2022.
The Power of Language – The Language of Power is an exhibition about the singular relationship that the artists can have with the text, writing and language.
Beyond a fast reading, the works presented here offer above all an experience, since they borrow the form of the text, of the story, but also of the speech, of the harangue or of the prosopopoeia for different purposes.
Each one of the artists maintains a distinct relationship with the language. The artists deploy a critical content proposing a statement or an invitation given to be read in epistolary form, under the form of the rhetoric or declamation, under the one of political slogans or in the form of aphorisms.
With the exceptional participation of Jenny Holzer.
We are already looking forward to welcoming you on Thursday, January 20 from 12pm to 7pm and will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Please do not hesitate to contact us by email at info@micheledidier.com or by phone at +33 (0)6 09 94 13 46
mfc-michèle didier
66, rue Nôtre-Dame de Nazareth, F-75003 Paris
P: +33 (0)1 71 27 34 41 — M: +33 (0)6 09 94 13 46
info@micheledidier.com — www.micheledidier.com
Subway: République, Strasbourg Saint-Denis, Arts et Métiers, Temple
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
14. Peter d’Agostino, FF Alumn, at Fundación Cerezales, León, Spain, Jan. 16-April 10
This exhibition features Peter d’Agostino’s World-Wide-Walks / between earth & water / ICE
(2014/2020) a three channel video installation featuring walks along the edge of glaciers –
at the top and bottom of the globe in Iceland, Alaska and Argentina to witness signs of global
warming. Juxtaposed with the walks and a sound score of evolving glacial dynamics composed by Reese Williams, are cautionary texts that serve as a counterpoint to the sheer beauty of these places – reminders of the fragility of massive glaciers during our current era of accelerating climatic changes. Produced and previewed at Harvestworks, NY in 2014.
For more information, please visit the following website:
http://peterdagostino.com/ICE2022.html
Thank you.
World-Wide-Walks / between earth & water / ICE was a centerpiece in d’Agostino’s solo
exhibitions ( 2019 and 2020) and is one of several climate related projects in the book,
World-Wide-Walks / Peter d’Agostino: Crossing Natural-Cultural-Virtual Frontiers (2019).
For more information or to purchase the book, please visit the following website:
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/W/bo31274544.html
Thank you.
Walking Voices is an exhibition in movement, crossing space and travels in time: from Roman
Hispania at the end of the Empire to the present; from the Antarctic ice to the Australian deserts, passing through moors and Iberian forests; from travel literature to video-installation and sound walk, going through episodes of History and Myth in between. The exhibition brings together the work of more than 20 artists, including: Peter d’Agostino, Joseph Beuys, Bruce Chatwin, Natalia Cortón, Guy Debord, Hamish Fulton, Yidumduma Bill Harney, Alan Lomax, Richard Long, Carme Nogueira, Hildegard Westerkamp, Krzystof Wodiczko. Curated by Leyre Goikoetxea Martínez and Gabriel Villota Toyos.
For more information, please visit the following website:
https://fundacioncerezalesantoninoycinia.org/en/activity/walking-voices
Thank you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
15. Simone Forti, Barbara T. Smith, FF Alumns, live online at The Box, LA, CA, Jan. 25, and more
Simone Forti & Barnett Cohen with Megan Metcalf
Online Poetry Reading and Conversation
Tuesday, January 25th, 2022
5 PM PST / 8 PM EST
The Box & JDJ invite you to a special online reading and conversation between artists Simone Forti & Barnett Cohen along with contemporary art historian Megan Metcalf to celebrate the publication of their new chapbook of poetry entitled poems poems by Open Space/SFMOMA on Tuesday, January 25th at 5 PM PST / 8 PM EST.
To join the webinar, please visit the following link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84976806443?pwd=cUZQU2JqcTF0U0pUdnFSS2ROWGJ1UT09#success
Thank you.
(Live on day of, no RSVP required).
To purchase a hard copy of the book, please visit the following website:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfYIfpvFqetPcpFVJcfF1JwG-_gObZGOVQv46X1JR23tz931A/viewform
Thank you.
poems poems emerges from a friendship: writing exchanged across a city in lockdown. “How do we get through this pandemic? How do we get through anything?” Megan Metcalf asks in her introduction. The answers offered here are various and oblique.
The chapbook is designed by LA-based graphic designer Tanya Rubbak. Special thanks to Cladia La Rocco, Barbara Bertozzi Castelli, Summer Guthery, JOAN, Mara McCarthy, The Box LA, Barbara T. Smith, LeRoy Stevens, Christine Varney, Jason Underhill, Sarah Swenson, and Jenni Lee.
Barnett Cohen (b. Cape Town, South Africa) is a queer poet, painter, performance maker, and political activist who lives and works in Los Angeles and New York City. He has exhibited, staged performances, and held readings at REDCAT, JOAN, LAXART, Pieter Space, 356 Mission, Human Resources, The Box (Los Angeles), The International Center For Photography, Beverly’s, JDJ (New York), Vox Populi (Philadelphia), City Limits (Oakland), and The Onassis Foundation (Athens, Greece). He received a BA in English from Vassar College, an MFA from The California Institute of The Arts, and has been in-residence at SVA, Skowhegan, MacDowell, and is currently an artist-in-residence at the NARS Foundation, New York. In 2020, he was nominated for the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Emerging Artist Grant. Cohen is also the founder of the Mutual Aid Immigration Network (MAIN). Established in 2017, MAIN is a trilingual free assistance hotline for people detained in immigration detention centers across the US. MAIN connects people in detention with bond funds and legal services that can accelerate their freedom from incarceration.
Simone Forti is a dancer, artist, and writer. In the spring of 1961, she presented a full evening of her Dance Constructions at Yoko Ono’s New York studio. These pieces proved to be influential in both dance and the visual arts. Forti has performed internationally at venues including the Louvre Museum in Paris (Illuminations with Charlemagne Palestine, 2014). Many of Forti’s works, including her Dance Constructions, drawings, and holograms, are in permanent collections such as at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Forti’s book Handbook in Motion was published in 1974 by the Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Her book Oh, Tongue was edited and published by Fred Dewey in 2004 for Beyond Baroque Literary Art Center, Los Angeles. Her book The Bear in The Mirror was published jointly by Koenig Books, London & Vleeshal, Middelburg in 2018. Forti is represented by The Box LA Gallery.
Megan Metcalf is an art and dance historian at work on a book about the appearance of dance and performance in contemporary art spaces. She brings a practitioner’s perspective to scholarly research, combining work in institutional and personal archives with the study of movement practices. In addition to Open Space, her writing has appeared on Artforum.com, Frieze.com, and in Contemporary Art Review LA (Carla), among others. Her research projects have been supported by organizations including the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, the New York Public Library, and New York’s Danspace Project. She received a PhD in art history from UCLA in 2018 and has held teaching positions at UCLA, Otis College of Art and Design, and ArtCenter College of Design. In 2021-2022, Megan is a History of Art and Visual Culture Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
16. Paul Zelevansky, FF Alumn, now online at greatblankness.com
To The Great Blankness Mailing List:
“…And still my heart has wings, these foolish things remind me of you.”
It has been awhile, and there is no reason
to go over the strangeness of this time.
But we were very fortunate to be able to make
a long-delayed trip to Europe and this video
is a response to that. I hope it gives you
a lift in more than one sense of the term.
Please visit the following website:
http://greatblankness.com/portfolio-items/4-new-morning/
Thank you.
For Full Set, please visit the following website:
http://greatblankness.com/portfolio-gallery/new-morning/
Thank you.
PZ, 1/17/2022
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
17. Gearóid Dolan aka screaMachine, FF Alumn, feature documentary now online
Gearóid Dolan aka screaMachine’s feature documentary “The Biggest Obstacle” (2021) is now available for free on streaming services globally:
Watch the full movie for free on Plex (Global except for China):
To watch the full movie for free on Tubi TV, please visit the following website: (Only in North America, Australia & New Zealand)
https://tubitv.com/movies/637590/the-biggest-obstacle
Thank you.
The Biggest Obstacle follows the investigations of researcher and disability rights activist Jessica Murray as she examines accessibility in the New York City Transit System over a two year period wherein she progresses from a vocal activist to a person of actual influence and import in the system, all while under the shadow of her own imminent decline into disability due to multiple sclerosis. Features numerous interviews and ride-alongs with people with a variety of disabilities as they discuss and demonstrate their experiences with the transit system and their activism to fight for their rights. Also includes documentation of numerous protests and an exclusive interview and ride-along with New York Transit President Andy Byford as he discusses the work he did to improve accessibility and his sudden departure from that position in the middle of restructuring the system.
Directed, Written and Produced by Gearóid Dolan
Associate Producer: Jessica Murray
Key cast:
Dustin Jones
Jessica Murray
Andy Byford
Julie Maury
Edith Prentiss
Jessica De La Rosa
April Coughlin
Katherine Taylor
Nefertiti Matos
Charles Cohen
Michael Lettman
Ruth Bernstein
Jennifer Bartlett
Please visit the following website:
Thank you.
Winner, IndieFest 2021 Award of Merit – Documentary Feature
Winner, IndieFest 2021 Award of Merit – Disability Issues
Official Selection, Manhattan Film Festival 2021
Official Selection, NYC Independent Film Festival 2021
If you view the film, please take a moment to go to IMDB and write a review or at least click how many stars.
To rate the film, please visit the following website:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15084766/
Thank you.
Like it on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theBiggestObstacle
and follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebiggestobstacle/
“Wow! An absolute triumph, beautifully shot and a story that just had to be told.”
Andy Byford, Commissioner of Transport for London, President, NYC Transit 2018 – 2020
“Powerful & Moving!” – Bradley Brashears – Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA
“An incredible accounting of a very complicated and inspiring journey.” – Jennifer Van Dyck – Elevator Action Group @ Rise & Resist
“Outstanding film!” – Jean Ryan – Disabled In Action
“Very powerful!” – Monica Bartley – Center for Independence of the Disabled
IMDB reviews: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15084766/
10/10 Unforgettable
qprygryc 2021
I will never again walk through the subway without thinking about how close a chair user’s wheels come to the track on this narrow places between the stairway walls and the tracks–esp knowing there is no other way for a chair user to get to an elevator. Nor will I ever see a braille sign again without thinking, “But, if i didn’t have vision, how would I even know this sign was there?” More than any other movie I’ve seen about disability, this one put me in the position of a person with disability, so I could feel, viscerally, the challenges of everyday life and think about how much better our society would be if we met those challenges head on and solved them.
10/10 Eye-opening and Powerful
pansies-05786 2021
This documentary is a vivid film of people with disabilities’ struggles and triumphs to get around their city. Many people are familiar with the NYC subway system but the participants show another side with grit, humor, and determination. There are no actors playing someone else. You might run into some of them on your next ride. The engrossing opening scene is something to be seen several times because it is outside most people’s lived experience. Let’s hope we see more documentary films by this director and producer.
10/10 Intention was for a courtesy viewing
akatsura-98677 2021
I originally planned to “watch” this as a courtesy and ended up intently viewing the complete film.
10/10 A Must-See, The Struggle for Accessible Transit in NYC
miriamfisher-17265 2021
A moving portrait of the disability rights activist, Jessica Murray, teaming with other committed activists, in the struggle for accessible transportation in NYC. Affirms transportation as a human right, still an obstacle 31 years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. A range of disabilities is shown, such as ambulatory, blind, deaf, autistic, cerebral palsy, all with different transit needs and concerns. We see how people in wheelchairs have to negotiate and plan every phase of travel, the paucity of elevators, only about 25% of the total system, their frequent breakdowns, being stranded. These are things those without disabilities don’t have to think about and take travel for granted. Distressing to see the continuing need for struggle and inspiring and compelling to see the accessibility campaign.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Goings On is compiled weekly by Danelly Reyes, Franklin Furnace University Intern, Winter 2022
