The Plastic Infinite

A friend alerted me yesterday to some goings on in Washington Square Park. Activities are not well covered here, so it took some involvement to find out what was going on. What initially appeared to be a trash heap of plastic shopping bags over tetrahedral frames, turned out to be an architectural project conceived by U.K. architect Usman Haque, who has created many interactive installations and mass-participation performances. More photos here. Initially titled Project Unspecified: "The NYU Program Board Performing Arts Committee has invited architect Usman Haque to design and oversee the construction of The Plastic Infinite. Members of the public are invited to come together to design, construct and inhabit a temporary inflatable structure in Washington Square Park, New York City. In the tradition of “barn raising", where members of a community gather to build a structure for a new family, The Plastic Infinite is a collaborative event for the city. The park will be transformed into a playground for creative exchange." In addition, Tali Hinkis and Kyle Lapidus of LoVid added video to the installation. It actually was quite a bit of fun getting inside the structure - people were coming and going all day and night. The space became a place of social interaction. Inside while shooting, I struck up a conversation with someone who, initially unbeknownst to me, was the architect himself. I found him very approachable, congenial and down to earth - we had an interesting conversation about architects and architecture ...