Personal Statement:
Inspiration for creating this monument comes from Angel Orensanz himself, along with other installation artists. We chose this location for its quirky addition to the Lower East Side, a large religious building on Norfolk street. Our group loved the idea of the stark contrast from traditional and gothic style architecture and interior design in comparison to the bright decorations that dress the event space up while in use. An installation as an ode to the artist and his establishment he owns seemed to be an interesting option, along with having video projected onto the installation that holds content relevant to the perspective.
In the midst of the crazy 60’s and 70’s scene of the Lower East Side, the Angel Orensanz Foundation and its synagogue was left abandoned for a few decades and only recently started being used as not only gallery space for art, but also as an event space used for celebration and bringing people together, whether it be matrimonious or cordial. In the video being projected with the “Forgotten” perspective, the idea is to focus on the life in the Lower East Side and the interior of the Synagogue in the time it was abandoned and forgotten. This would go well with the public perspective of the monument, which is heavily focused on the celebratory part of the site, and completes the two ideas we are trying to achieve of gothic style buildings with bright, colorful accents.
Group Statement:
The Angel Orensanz Foundation Center is a historical gem of the Lower East Side. Since 1849, it has stood on Norfolk Street and witnessed times of joy, sorrow, and everything in between. We were intrigued by this location for its quirky addition to the Lower East Side as well as the idea of the stark contrast from it’s neo-gothic style architecture in comparison to the bright decorations that dress the event space up while in use. With such a rich history and beautiful interior this space was the perfect choice for our project.
The building was constructed by Alexander Saeltzer, an architect from Berlin. He was inspired by the reform movement and by architectural styles seen in the Cathedral of Cologne, the Sistine Chapel, and Friedrichswerdersche Kirche. The synagogue was originally built as a place of worship for the Jewish population of the Lower East Side where they could express reform ideals, like accessible Judaism and political and social activism. It was originally named Anshe Chesed, “The People of Loving Kindness”. Later on there was a large emigration of Eastern European Jews who were not accepting of the reform style and many changes were made to the synagogue to make it more traditional. Yiddish culture flourished during this time and many great works of art were created reflecting the difficulties of the jewish working class.
After WWII there was a collapse in Yiddish culture and many places of worship and other buildings became abandoned. The neighborhood around this site declined and synagogues like Anshe Chesed were subject to destruction and theft. A place where so many that struggled to survive came to find hope, lost hope for itself. Later in the 70s and 80s artists began to reclaim the abandoned buildings of the lower east side and turn them into creative spaces. In 1986 Angel Orensanz came across the space with the same idea in mind and purchased it to be his sculpture studio. He transformed the building into a center for the arts.
For our project on the Angel Orensanz Foundation we wanted to create an installation consisting of four perspective point videos projecting on a display. The display will incorporate the Neo-Gothic architectural style of the synagogue, while the videos will add a colorful and modern touch, similar to how the space is lit up for the parties and events it holds currently.
Inspiration for creating this monument comes from Angel Orensanz himself, along with other installation artists. An installation as an ode to the artist and his establishment seemed to be an interesting option, along with having video projected onto the installation that holds content relevant to the perspectives. We were interested by the foggy stained glass windows in the synagogue and we wanted to incorporate this into our installation. We used polycarbonate sheets, patels and deodorant to recreate the window and hang it to be projected on. We also draped a white sheet across the wall to correspond to the flowy white curtains in the space. Each video projection represented a different perspective.
The public perspective focuses on how people currently view the space as a center for the arts and how a place with such a deep history, and has seen the hardships and destruction it has, is now a hub for celebration. It is a venue for personal events like weddings, parties and bar/bat mitzvahs and also holds fashion shows, art exhibitions and fundraisers. The public projected video captures this theme of celebration and portrays the feelings of excitement, unity and merriment one feels while attending events such as these. Videos of weddings and other events from the AO foundation website pieced together with Anna’s personal celebratory footage creates a montage of glittering lights and people talking and dancing. Events like these are usually held as important memories, and can have a large impact on people’s identities. The footage is slightly blurry and grainy to create a home video impression in order to make it feel personal. This auditory and visual experience will hopefully provoke the viewer to be reminded of their own special event memories.
The private perspective on this project is being able to express personal experience in the space i.e. being in the location for the first time, what it felt like, who was also in the space, etc. We show what happened while the group was there through means of video and objects important for understanding the location. The private perspective video consists of personal videos taken while at the synagogue filtered with a sequence of bright colors, dark colors, and different editing styles to show the view of the space and the juxtaposition between the bright filter, and the quiet and empty atmosphere of the synagogue the group experienced for the first visit. The synagogue was empty and left over from the night before. This was important because we witnessed the raw, natural and old character of this sacred place. This was more powerful than any mask someone would pay to put over it for an event.
Stain glass windows are put in religious buildings to inform the viewer of an important narrative to the religion. In the Angel Orensanz Foundation, my group and I were inspired by the windows there. The windows had a ghostly presence. Its intricate design was almost nonexistent, fading away along with the history of this significant building. For the history portion, I want to highlight the most important elements of the building’s past. It was a hub for those practicing their faith, a haven for those that had nowhere to turn, and now a place where two people promise their life together forever. These ideas will be projected onto a transparent plastic with a translucent motif of a synagogues stain glass window.
In the midst of the crazy 60’s and 70’s scene of the Lower East Side, the Angel Orensanz Foundation and its synagogue was left abandoned for a few decades and only recently started being used as not only gallery space for art, but also as an event space used for celebration and bringing people together, whether it be matrimonious or cordial. In the video being projected with the “Forgotten” perspective, the idea is to focus on the life in the Lower East Side and the interior of the Synagogue in the time it was abandoned and forgotten. This would go well with the public perspective of the monument, which is heavily focused on the celebratory part of the site, and completes the two ideas we are trying to achieve of gothic style buildings with bright, colorful accents.
Works Cited
Private Video:
“Siman Tov ! Mazal Tov ! – [Heiveinu Shalom Aleichem].” YouTube, 8 Sept. 2011,
youtu.be/O3AHownn3dQ.
Koenig, Mike. “SoundBible.com.” Free Sound Clips, soundbible.com/.
Forgotten Video:
“Daphne Guinness Tribute to Alexander McQueen.” Vimeo, 25 Oct. 2018,
vimeo.com/26694351.
“EAST VILLAGE NEW YORK 1971 Camera IRA GALLEN 16mm Bolex.” YouTube,
16 May 2008, youtu.be/uUQjvc4H17Y.
“Jessica Alex’s Angel Orensanz NYC Wedding.” Vimeo, 24 Oct. 2018,
vimeo.com/206635533
Public Video:
“Jessica Alex’s Angel Orensanz NYC Wedding.” Vimeo, 24 Oct. 2018,
vimeo.com/206635533
Treble, Jay. “Angel Orensanz Foundation.” YouTube, YouTube, 2 Jan. 2008, www.youtube.com /watch?v=gzOhPvYo79M.
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https://vimeo.com/user89529227/review/297518466/35d7e9e727
