A Field of Dreams in Brooklyn

The tag line “if you build it, they will come” has been recycled countless times in countless situations, but that is exactly what Grammy-winning guitarist and producer Andres Levin and the artist collective the Bruce High Quality Foundation aim to do this weekend in Brooklyn with Field of Dreams. The one-day festival will characterize the essence of DIY culture, building from the ground up a temporary and vibrant community of visual artists, performers, musicians, and everything in between. The event is being ambitiously billed as the “World Fair ‘39 meets Summer of ‘69 in the recession of ‘09.” The recession of ‘09 part we can all understand. The reenactment of the other two historical events will have realize their potential day of.

The activities start at 4 pm on Saturday and will take over the bandshell in Prospect Park, an area usually reserved for single concert shows. Field of Dreams is also part of Celebrate Brooklyn!, which this summer is itself celebrating its 32 year of concerts and organized events. What can the wandering Brooklyner or DIY junkie expect to see at Field of Dreams? The musical line-up features a bevy of talent, including Cucu Diamantes, Andres Levin, Pablo Picasso, Les Nubians, Monsta X, Groove Collective, Mista Sinista from The Executioners, Keziah Jones, Los Hankey Pankey’s, Shantell Martin, Trixie Whitley, and more. Actor Luis Guzman will also perform. Artists will be sprinkled across the grounds and will cover the gamut of approaches and mediums. There will be Elliot Arkin, who will be manning his mobile art lab, Mister ArtSee. Arkin is currently building Mister ArtSee in Gowanus, Brooklyn but upon completion, he plans to tour the country with it, bringing contemporary art exhibitions wherever he goes. Artist Glenda Reed will recreate her living room and host anyone who wants to stop by for a conversation and some pretzels and iced tea. Kate Pane and Valerie Suter invite attendees to revisit their childhood and explore the past as they ask visitors to recreate the forts and enclosures we all made as youngsters. Ari Richter will perform a Art Marathon lecture during which he will give 30 minute lectures on 12 separate topics complete with slide show and dry erase board illustration as teaching aids. These are just a few examples of the more than three dozen artists who are currently signed up, but as Field of Dreams explicitly states, attendees are more than welcome to bring their own art as well, whatever form that takes.

In the end, Levin and the Bruce High Quality Foundation’s collaborative event promises to lay an eclectic foundation for the DIY movement’s evolution. The event is open to the public with a $3 suggested donation. The mix of people who will attend and who are presenting art and music will enact the ideal of Bruce High Quality, who sought to interpret the potential of public spaces as sculpture. And for Levin, the musical line-up for Field of Dreams is a heady progression of Latin and hip-hop influenced artists befitting of a man called “the master chef of Urban fusion” by the Los Angeles Times.

via Music Has No Enemies.