Strip Poker For The Sake of Art
For just one week of November this year, the levels of art enthusiasm increased exponentially on Walker Street. A unique piece entitled “I’ll Raise You One” was being performed in a storefront by the name of “Art in General”, attracting hoards of onlookers, and for good reason.
“Oh, my god! They’re naked!” One shocked passer-by exclaimed. The show was certainly quite a spectacle, with a number of viewers inadvertently walking into oncoming traffic, transfixed on the exhibit. Some particularly interested parties even secured prime viewing positions, watching the action slowly unfold for hours at a time.
This reaction was all down to a performance piece directed by Zefrey Throwell. The piece, which lasted for seven full days, involved lengthy games of publically visible strip poker in a shop window on the corner of Cortlandt Alley and Walker Street.
Hosted at the same time as the much publicized “Occupy Wall Street”, Throwell’s intended expressing was of a political nature. Players were informed they could turn up with as many layers of clothes as they wished, and would be treating them as capital during the game. The concept was to echo the artist’s perspective of the discrepancy between winners and losers within the American economic system.
As you would imagine, all the players lost in the end - to the delight of those pressed up against the shop windows. Even those within crowds who did not understand the conveyed sociopolitical message were kept entertained; inspired to discuss the work they had been craning their necks to catch a glimpse of.
Two onlookers Carmen and Miriam were overheard discussing the exhibit they spent their lunch hour watching. They had heard about the event from the poker forums they often frequented. Wedged in between a sea of peeping toms, the two were heard excitedly discussing what they were seeing.
“I have never seen anything like this. Never,” said Miriam.
“They call it art,” Carmen noted.
“It is art,” Miriam agreed. “They’re being creative. They have no shame about what they’re doing, and they shouldn’t either.”
“Would you do it?” Miriam questioned.
“May if I was a James Bond girl!” Carmen laughed.
The curator and programs manager for the gallery, Courtenay Finn, was routinely spotted mingling amongst the audience, handing out programs with information regarding the show. She said it was great to see such a high number of people drawn to the gallery, despite the fact she spent much of her time there stopping distracted onlookers from standing in oncoming traffic.
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