chess: relatives
On the High Line at 13th Street
May 6, 2017–March 1, 2018
Are you someone’s stepsibling, pibling, great grandfather, step father, mother, niece, aunt, brother, nibling, grandchild, grandmother, brother-in-law, great aunt, son, daughter, first cousin, or nephew?
We’re seeking people to become chess pieces and/or chess players for a game of chess on a 16 x 16 foot chessboard on the High Line. Knowledge of chess is useful, but not essential.
For his High Line commission, New York-based artist Darren Bader presents chess: relatives, consisting of a large-scale chessboard designed by the artist and located on the High Line at 13th Street. Visitors are invited to take part in chess games during open park hours in which they become chess pieces, their positions determined by their familial relationships to others.
In order to play, visitors bring a group of 32 people together, who will be “played” by two additional people. Visitors are encouraged to assemble teams with their own friends or family, or to branch out and recruit strangers also visiting the High Line. Referring to the onsite instructions, the group self-organizes according to chess: relatives rules. Read detailed instructions here.
Darren Bader (b. Bridgeport, Connecticut) lives and works in New York City. Recent solo exhibitions have been presented internationally at venues including Kölsnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany (2015) and MoMA PS1, New York City (2012). Bader’s work has been included in group exhibitions at institutions such as Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria (2015); Serralves Museum, Porto, Portugal (2015); and Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (2013). His work was in international exhibitions including the 13th Biennale de Lyon, Lyon, France (2015) and the Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2014).
