Remember when you were in college and your walls were covered in blacklight posters and you spent all your time in there playing video games and doing mad drugs? Yeah, me neither, but if that past had been my reality, the Faile & Bäst Deluxx Fluxx Arcade would evoke flashbacks fo' sho!
Brooklyn-based duo Faile and collaborator Bäst have taken over a store front on Allen Street in the LES and transformed it into a classic video game arcade. The installation is complete with a change machine that dispenses tokens which you can insert into the games to obtain special screens.
This show is a lot of fun because for once, instead of not being allowed to touch the art, you're encouraged to interact with the machines and pushing their buttons often results in hilarity. I was particularly amused by a game that allowed me to turn the Eiffel Tower into a mushroom, back into the Eiffel Tower, back into a mushroom again and so on.
The Deluxx Fluxx Arcade will be open to the public until May 27. I would recommend visiting at night as the neon light bars on the front windows probably don't look as cool in the daytime. Check out some photos below.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Deluxx Fluxx Arcade
Shepard Fairey's May Day
Shepard Fairey has been making a lot of noise around town the past few weeks. First there was the mural on Houston, which may or may not be legal, then the Obey popup store, all leading up to the sonic boom that was his May Day opening at Deitch Projects last night, the gallery's final exhibition.
When we arrived shortly after six, the horde of eager fans outside Wooster Street had already wrapped itself the length of the block on Grand Street and beyond. Our friends had just given up their spot in line but we convinced them to get back in and let us join them further up. We took advice from the guy behind us in our original spot and grabbed some beers and brown paper bags from a nearby bodega to soften the realization that we were going to be there for a while.
An hour and a half later, we found ourselves inside the immense space with limited edition signed prints in hand. Hundreds of Fairey-stylized images of iconic figures lined three of the walls with a replica of the Houston Street mural filling the back wall. I freaked out a little upon spotting the Macklovitch brothers, A-Trak and Chromeo's Dave 1 at the opening.
May Day will be up all month until May 29 so be sure to check it out and say a proper goodbye to Deitch as well. Check out my pictures from the show below.
