Linda Pollack's Habeas Lounge, A Public Art Project: Focus on the Economy
February 10, 2009
Winter Season

A Salon as art?

Okay, this is really something you're just going to have to get your head around. A salon as art.

No, not salon as "hair salon," but salon as in the 19th century living room of the intelligentsia where great minds gathered to discuss the arts and culture of the day.

In this case, L.A.-based artist Linda Pollack is creating a modern day salon in a former flower shop on the concourse level of One New York Plaza (Whitehall & Water Streets), where New Yorkers, any New Yorkers, can gather for four hours every weekday to discuss the great economic issues of the day. HABEAS LOUNGE A Public Art Project: Focus on the Economy will be in session Monday through Friday, February 17 through May 1, noon to 4:00pm. And it's free.

Talk art? Discourse as art? A lounge as art?

Linda Pollack did it in Los Angeles in a former toy store at 7+FIG, a commercial complex owned by Brookfield Properties, which also owns One New York Plaza. (Seeing a pattern here? One of the biggest property owners in the world utilizing space in their biggest properties for serious art? For over 20 years, Brookfield Properties has been presenting serious art at the World Financial Center. Lately, they've been taking it on the road.)

This winter, Linda Pollack has taken her HABEAS LOUNGE to New York, the discourse capital of the world. As this lounge is steps from the New York Stock Exchange, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Customs House and the Finance Museum and takes place during the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, the topic for the eleven weeks is naturally economics. The HABEAS LOUNGE is designed to bring people together informally, literally face-to-face on a red serpentine-shaped couch, in a modern forum for civic dialogue. The artist orchestrates a constellation of activities, informal talks, gatherings and events that spark dialogue among the diverse people gathered on lunch and coffee breaks during a typical working day. HABEAS LOUNGE A Public Art Project: Focus on the Economy will host weekly lunchtime discussions by an array of innovative thinkers and practitioners, crossing disciplines to include historians, economists, psychologists, artists and more. The HABEAS LOUNGE will also be the meeting point for the Wealth of Nations Book Club, affording a collective reading of Adam Smith's seminal work of 1776, with an eye to what it can tell us about America today. Also at the HABEAS LOUNGE will be the HABEAS LOUNGE Economic History Exhibition, to be viewed "chilled" in the glass refrigerator cases of the site, a former flower shop. This visual survey of economic artifacts will feature among other things, an historic letter penned by Alexander Hamilton during the 1792 financial crisis and the provocative "currency" work of artist Hanna von Goeler. HABEAS LOUNGE Ever Evolving Schedule (The artist is blogging daily at ; look there for the ever evolving schedule.) HABEAS LOUNGE A Public Art Project: Focus on the Economy weekdays: Monday thru Friday, February 17 thru May 1, noon to 4:00pm - FREE Just come in, sit down and stay a while WEALTH OF NATION'S BOOK CLUB Wednesdays, March 4, 18, April 1, 15 and 29 5:30pm - 6:45pm - FREE A collective reading of Adam Smith's seminal work of 1776, Wealth of Nations with weekly insights and reflections by John Clark, Senior Fellow, Sagamore Institute for Policy Research, offers insights at the artist's blog at . LUNCHTIME SPEAKERS ON THE ECONOMY, HISTORY & THE ARTS Various days, 12:30pm - 2:00pm - FREE The speakers list is still evolving, so check for updates. The first speaker is Tuesday, February 24, 12:30pm -- The Trouble with Bubbles with Robert E. Wright, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Stern School of Business, NYU and curator of the Museum of American Finance In this discussion, Dr. Wright will review America's historic bubbles of the 1760's, 1776, and 1792, and what these reveal about our current economic crisis. Dr. Wright is author of Troubles with Bubbles: Financial Euphoria and Ruin in America's Age of Revolution (McGraw-Hill, fall 2009). Tuesday, March 3, 12:30pm -- Keep on Saving: How Other Nations Forged Cultures of Thrift When America Didnít with Sheldon Garon, Dodge Professor of History and East Asian Studies, Princeton University. Amidst the current financial meltdown, it has become painfully clear that Americans spent too much, saved too little, and borrowed excessively. This discussion will focus on the global and modern history of saving, with special attention to the contrast between the U.S. and Europe / Japan. Dr. Garon's publications include The State and Labor in Modern Japan (1987) and Molding Japanese Minds: The State in Everyday Life (1997). HABEAS LOUNGE A PUBLIC ART PROJECT: FOCUS ON THE ECONOMY ECONOMIC HISTORY EXHIBITION Monday thru Friday, February 24 thru May 1, noon to 4:00pm - FREE An evolving visual survey of economic artifacts such as an historic letter penned by Alexander Hamilton during the 1792 economic crisis and the provocative "currency" work of visual artist Hanna von Goeler. (The exhibition is behind the refrigerator glass doors...after all, the space belonged to a florist.) For a schedule of evolving events in HABEAS LOUNGE A Public Art Project: Focus on the Economy, click www.habeaslounge.org. Check regularly, updates may be daily. Ms. Pollackís interest in civic culture took root in Europe, where she studied art and worked for a cultural foundation following the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Whether in Europe or Los Angeles, she is keenly interested in creating environments which bolster community engagement. "HABEAS LOUNGE was very successful at Brookfield's Los Angeles property and I believe it will be equally engaging at One New York Plaza," said Debra Simon, Artistic Director of Arts World Financial Center. "Not only does HABEAS LOUNGE A Public Art Project: Focus on the Economy relate to the neighborhood as the center of finance, it offers people who work in the building and surrounding area a forum for communicating with each other." HABEAS LOUNGE A Public Art Project: Focus on the Economy is presented and produced by arts>Brookfield Properties. Brookfield Properties brings life to its public spaces through an internationally acclaimed visual and performing arts program. Local, national and international artists present a wide variety of art forms in new and unusual spaces that provide cultural experiences for tenants and visitors alike. Special thanks is given to Tandus for contributing the modular carpet for HABEAS LOUNGE in New York City. For Press Info, Contact: Bruce Cohen The Bruce Cohen Group, Ltd. brucohen@pipeline.com