Gathering
September 7th, 2023
Mixed media installation and performance: canvas, rope, and found objects
Situated at Nolan Park on Governors Island, Gathering is a participatory installation by Molly Gochman that invites us to consider how our actions shape our world. Through public engagement, the work encourages viewers to deepen their connections with each other and with the land on which we all live.
Gathering is composed of more than 200 waxed canvas tarps that appear intricately woven into the grass, outlining the shape of Governors Island before its alteration through excavation and dredging in the early 20th century. Draped in white tarp and fastened with rope, the structure undulates across the landscape, encompassing approximately 13,000 square feet of land. The result is an open environment that encourages participants to engage not only with the work itself, but with each other, through acts of play, collaboration, and even alteration. Throughout the month of September, Gochman will periodically unveil sections of the installation, revealing the mosaics of tarps concealed beneath.
Dancers, knot tyers, meditators, healers, community organizers, and other various participants will also energize the site, extending an invitation to join and collectively enrich our understanding of one another. On these occasions, visitors will be invited to take a tarp with them. As they depart with this canvas, the immense installation’s form will begin to evolve—its outline slowly eroding. The work will take on new meaning through this process, as pieces of it find new homes and purposes. The form of Gathering will eventually disappear, yet the exchanges hosted on the site will generate lasting experiences for all who decide to interact with it, just as the individual tarps that make up the work, distributed among these participants, will move on through the world. It’s a dynamic that reflects Gochman’s long-standing social practice, which focuses on activating spaces to facilitate profound collective experiences.
