Tidal Shift
The Shed Summer PlazaNew York City
Summer 2022
A site specific installation at the Shed for public use and to support live DJ and dance performances as part of the outdoor summer programming.
Tidal Shift responds to the angular geometry of the Shed’s facade and offers sculptural platforms for sitting, lounging, performing, and gathering. In contrast to the monumental towers and vast public spaces of Hudson Yards, the project supports the scale of human bodies through inclined planes and stepped surfaces that invite play, rest, and social connection.
This project continues the work of WIP Collaborative, a shared feminist practice of independent designers, which creates spaces for embodied experiences in the public realm. Tidal Shift’s family of sculptural shapes supports both everyday relaxing and a range of summertime programming from the Shed, enabling multiple configurations for performances, dance parties, and events. The blue-green colors and undulating forms of the project are celebrations of movement and action on the plaza, as well as expressions of solidarity with the “Green Wave” of feminist activism that has gained global momentum with recent hard-fought victories for women’s healthcare rights in Latin America. Through its forms, colors, and responses to context, the project calls for a tidal shift in the liberation and care for diverse embodied experiences.
WIP Collaborative Team:
Elsa Ponce
Lindsay Harkema
Bryony Roberts
Ryan Brooke Thomas
Abby Coover
Sera Ghadaki
Sonya Gimon
About Summer Sway:
Inspired by the rich history and vibrant presence of Black social dance in NYC and beyond, the Summer Sway lineup includes DJ and dance performance events by various artists on the plaza every Friday and select Saturday evenings during the summer of 2022.
More info on the Shed’s website.
Fabrication by Konduit NYC.
Photos by Michael Vahrenwald and Toni Mumtaz.