Global Square

space for performance Arts. Community. Culture. - UNDER CONSTRUCTION - Prospect Heights < Brooklyn < New York

[gsquarearts]

August at a Glance

August is already here, and we've got a quick overview of what we're planning for the month!

Two tours are scheduled for Saturday August 9th and 23rd at 3:30pm. RSVP at [email protected] to reserve your spot. Tours only last half an hour, and then we all head over to a local happy hour to chat. Artists and neighbors, come meet us!

We will have our 4th edition of the GSQUARE Commons Newsletter out next week. If you're not yet on our mailing list, please fill out your GSQUARE profile here.

Word on the street is that we will be collaborating with Park Deli for an fun Crown Heights scavenger hunt. Stay tuned for that.

Lastly, our artist submissions for our pre-launch season closes at the end of the month (August 31st at midnight). Make sure to get you proposals in to us by then! You can submit your work here.

We hope everyone enjoys this lovely weekend in Brooklyn, and we want to thank you all for being a part of the GSQUARE story!

[gsquarearts]

Artist Call for Submissions

Hey artists!!! Our call for artist submissions is still open! We are looking for local and emerging artists across disciplines in music, dance, theatre, film, visual, new media, cross-genre and the literary arts to submit proposals for participation in our 2014-2015 Soft launch season themed UNDER / CONSTRUCTION.

The extended deadline for submissions is midnight, Sunday August 31st.

You can submit your work here.

[gsquarearts]

Final July Tour!

We can't believe this month is almost over! The running joke in the office is that it will be 9 degrees outside again before we know it... So to help keep that summer spirit alive, we want to remind you all of our final July tour this Saturday the 26th at 3:30pm. All attendees are encouraged to bring a guest, and anyone who does will be entered in a raffle to win a super comfy Crown Heights t-shirt from Crosby Coffee. RSVP at [email protected]!

[gsquarearts]

What We're Listening To:

The GSQUARE managing team and creative producers are constantly on the hunt for good music, especially while our space is under construction. Our temporary office consists of a few desks and, most importantly, a record player with a JBL EON 210P Portable PA System.

Who are we jamming to this summer? These amazing albums feature a fraction of the musicians that we dream about hearing on The Global Square Main Stage when we fully launch next year. Obviously, Led Zeppelin and William Onyeabor aren't going to be able to make it, but we are still nonetheless inspired by their recent re-releases of epic tunes from the 70's.

Listen to the Spotify playlist our Director of Communications put together that features a song from each album here:

GSQUARE JULY JAMS

    From left to right: The Arctic Monkeys, Tame Impala, Led Zeppelin, Courtney Barnett, The Strokes, Little Dragon, William Onyeabor, Lee Fields & The Black Keys.

[gsquarearts]

Artists that Inspire Us

  Katrín Sigurdardóttir is a New York–based Icelandic artist whose sculptures and installations explore entanglements of body, perception, and memory. We met Sigurdardóttir at a local event hosted by BOMB Magazine last weekend, and we just couldn't pass the opportunity to view her work that is currently on display in Long Island City.

Read BOMB's exclusive interview with Sigurdardóttir about the scope of her work here!

Foundation, Iceland's representation in the 55th Venice Biennial in 2013, will be on view at SculptureCenter for the next week through July 28, 2014. 

[gsquarearts]

UNCONSTRUCTED: conversations with creative innovators

#2 Lydia Zimmer

Global Square Artistic Director Hassan Christopher talks with dancer / choreographer Lydia Zimmer

Bring it All In…

I first saw Lydia Zimmer perform in Los Angeles in 2013 and was immediately captivated. She had that unmistakable presence around her that both charges and connects the space. It’s rare to see, especially in combination with the level of fluidity and technical prowess Ms. Zimmer displays when moving through contemporary balletic lines that hover off center into grounded “creaturesque” floor work that poetically disorients the mind.

Zimmer is a rebel… Contrary to the “check it at the door” mantra that most young artists are taught in school, she made a decision early on to start “bringing it all in with her.” [It] being whatever is going on within her that day, that moment and at that time in her life emotionally. Perhaps it’s this philosophy that makes her improvisational performances so hauntingly electric to watch.

While Zimmer can easily boast virtuosity, she says for her, “Improvisation is about moving beyond the wow factor and waking up the movement.“ She wants people to open their eyes and let experience really affect them, and she feels dance can do that.

In fact, it was observing a young man with Parkinson’s disease watch a dance performance that fueled her passion for being a movement artist early on. “He was shaking uncontrollably, but as soon as he started watching the performance the shaking stopped." Zimmer continued on about mirror neurons and the power of transference as our conversation spiraled into an agreement that we are both motivated by the therapeutic power of practicing and teaching improvisation.

There is a big difference between practicing improvisation and actually performing it. Zimmer uses a host of techniques and approaches to get herself into the performance zone. “Keep it an experiment,” “erase the moment before” and “surprise yourself by going in a completely different direction” are a few of the key thoughts that anchor Ms. Zimmer to what she calls a “whirlpool tapped into her senses.”

“Performing improvisation is like jumping off a cliff, so I have to settle down and conquer my adrenaline before going onstage.” When Zimmer doesn’t do this she may go through an entire set without remembering what happened or become self-conscious mid performance. However, she feels even this can be an opportunity to wipe her mind and start again. “When I’m not in the zone it feels like I have ADD, and I am hyper-aware of all the wrong things. When I am, it feels like ecstasy ” she laughs, “…not the drug”.

Check out more of Zimmer's mini-experiments: YouTube.com/lydzimmer

[gsquarearts]

Tour Raffle Winner!

This month we are doing a fun contest on both of our July tours of the space under construction. Anyone who brings a guest to a tour is automatically entered to win a bit of Crown Heights neighborhood swag. We did the drawing today from all the participants of the July 12th tour, and the winner is..... Kaiqwon Sehiii!

Congratulations!  Kaiqwon has won one of our favorite Crown Heights t-shirts from Crosby Coffee. 

We have another tour coming up on the 26th, and there will be a chance to win for anyone who brings a guest to that tour as well. We will see you there!  RSVP at  [email protected].

[gsquarearts]

GSQUARE Tour Invite

It's almost the weekend, and we are setting up our 8th GSQUARE Tour & Mixer for this Saturday, July 12th, at 3:30pm. Tours last 30 minutes, and then we head to The St. Catherine to mingle and enjoy their happy hour. 

Anyone who attends our tour and brings a guest will be entered into one of our July raffles. This week's prize is one of our favorite Crown Heights t-shirts from Crosby Coffee.  The winner of this weekend's raffle will be announced next week.

RSVP at [email protected].  We can't wait to see you there!

[gsquarearts]

Construction Update : Framing the East Wing

What used to be the dividing wall in the commons space is now open for the installation of our bar. You can see the knocked out space in the images above from both perspectives of the East and West wings of Global Square. We also have plumbing almost completed for the public restrooms, and the framings for our office space and green room are finally up.

We are actually ahead of schedule for this phase of construction! Come check it all out at our next tour this Saturday afternoon (7/12). RSVP at [email protected]. 

Anyone who brings a guest to the tour will be entered in our first July raffle for a Crown Heights shirt from Crosby Coffee!

[gsquarearts]

Our 3rd GSQUARE Commons Newsletter is hot off the press just in time for the holiday weekend.  Before you fire up the BBQ and meet up with family and friends, be the first to preview our new logo.  We also have some cool prizes lined up for our July tours.

Have a safe & happy Independence Day everyone!!!

-The GSQUARE Team

[gsquarearts]

OUR BRUNCH CONTEST ENDS TOMORROW!

$100 to spend on brunch at The General Greene is up for grabs, and our contest closes tomorrow (Monday) at midnight.  Have your friends take our one-minute survey that helps us determine future programming. 

Hint: 3 referrals is the number to beat!

HOW TO WIN

1) Forward your friends this link: http://gsquare.org/survey

2) At the end of each survey have your friends put your name in the “referred by” section. 

3) The person with the most referrals by June 30th WINS brunch on us! 

Offer valid for brunch only with a party of 3 or more.

[gsquarearts]

Construction Update: East Wing Floor

5 tons of concrete (that's 10,000 lbs or 50 yards) just got a new home.

Global Square's east wing floor is poured and finally level with the other half of the building. During our last tour of the space, we couldn't even take our guests into the east lab or where our future dressing rooms will be because the floor was so uneven. Now that's all covered up with tons, literally, of fresh concrete.

Want to be one of the first to test it out? We are giving a group tour of the space this Saturday at 3:30pm. RSVP at [email protected] to reserve a spot.

[gsquarearts]

GSQUARE TOURS SPOTLIGHT 3

You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who hasn't heard this musician play: Jeffrey Ziegler has been the cellist of the internationally renowned Kronos Quartet for eight seasons. He is now focusing on various solo projects, collaborations and teaching in NYC. Jeff is a fan of ours, and we caught up with him again last night on Pier 15 for the LMCC's Original Music Workshop series.

Drummer Jason Trammel of post-rock band Sinkane attended one of our group tours last month. Be sure to check out the preview for their next album: New Love. Up-and-coming bi-coastal dynamo Shoshana Bush also swung by the construction site to see what we have been up to.

Don't forget to sign up for our final June tour this Saturday at 3:30pm.  RSVP at [email protected]!

P.S. Our June contest is almost up, and the number of referrals to beat is only 3!

[gsquarearts]

Out With the Old - In With the New

Formal construction on the east wing (aka our "lab" performance space) began earlier this month, and we brought in a huge dumpster to fill with debris while tearing up the old floor to level it with the main space.

With 12,000 sq ft of space to renovate for our opening, you can only imagine the kinds of treasures we have found in the old Dean Street Parking structure. This fascinating collection has been growing since the late 60's, but all of it has to go to make room for our build out.

...so does anyone need a spare tire or an industrial size fan?

[gsquarearts]

GSQUARE TOURS SPOTLIGHT 2

Our second edition of "Gsquare Tours Spotlight" highlights some of the incredible local, national, and international artists that have stopped by Global Square on one of our tours. 

Last week choreographer Ryan Heffington swung by our space to check out our progress. Some of you may recognize his latest work in Sia's infamous "Chandelier" video and in "We Exist" for Arcade Fire.  Bi-coastal dancer/stunt-woman Marissa Labog showed off some of her skills in an impromptu photo shoot with us. Jason Das, a Brooklyn-based illustrator and visual artist, also made a guest appearance.

Want to join us and more artists at one of our upcoming summer tours?  RSVP at [email protected]!  

- G [  ] tour & mixer #7                         6/28/14

- G [  ] tour & mixer #8                         7/12/14

Also, don't forget our current promotion: Win Brunch on Us!

[gsquarearts]

WHO WANTS FREE BRUNCH?

We want to ask you: what could make this cozy Saturday morning 100x better? How about $100 to spend on brunch at The General Greene? It’s as easy as referring friends to participate in our future audience survey. 

(And if you haven't participated yet, you can simply "refer yourself.")   *wink*

HOW TO WIN

1) Forward your friends this link: http://gsquare.org/survey

2) At the end of each survey have your friends put your name in the “referred by” section. 

3) The person with the most referrals by June 30th WINS brunch on us! 

Offer valid for brunch only with a party of 3 or more.

[gsquarearts]

What weighs 3 tons (6,000 lbs), took 10 men and 2 hours to move, and is currently sitting in Global Square? 

...our brand new pizza oven!

We can't wait to see what kinds of pies will make the cut to our final menu. Stay tuned for updates on our food and beverage program later this year!

See the installation in action on our Instagram. Follow us @gsquareARTS!