Asser Levy Park, Brighton Beach, NY
October 7th – December 31st, 2024
Installation series: cut white vinyl silouehettes adhered to concrete
Courtesy of Molly Gochman. Photographs by Alex Mctigue.
In dialogue with her sculptural series, UKR|RUS, which physically embodies the Ukraine-Russia border using reclaimed materials, Gochman’s Dispersed Geographies offers a contrasting medium. This installation translates the border into a two-dimensional form, cut from white vinyl and placed on sidewalks throughout New York City.
By fragmenting the silhouette of the border into 16-inch wide segments that range from two to five feet long, and situating them primarily in historically Ukrainian neighborhoods like the East Village and Brighton Beach, the work explores interconnectedness across distances and communities. The segments, sometimes mere inches apart, at other times separated by entire blocks, highlight the liminal spaces between places and people. These gaps serve as bridges between the local and global, the individual and the collective.
The sidewalk, a ubiquitous public space that facilitates movement and connection, becomes the canvas for Dispersed Geographies. Transforming this familiar ground into a site of contemplation, the installation prompts viewers to reflect on their own journeys. The border fragments become a shared iconography, points of recognition within the neighborhoods where the white silhouettes reside.
UKR|RUS can be viewed at The Ukrainian Museum from September 26–December 31, 2024; and at Asser Levy Park in Brighton Beach from October 7–December 31, 2024. A series of Programs & Events have been scheduled as a part of these installations. Click here to learn more.
Dispersed Geographies can be viewed at various locations around New York City. For a detailed map of the silhouettes’ locations, a Google Map has been created.
