What's Next? There's No Time Like the Future

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the idea of the High Line, and the 10th Anniversary of its first section opening to the public. Since its inception as street-level freight trains in the mid-1800s, all the way to its current use as green public space, the High Line and its surrounding areas have seen great transitions and transformations in every part of civic life. Today, the neighborhood continues to be in flux, alongside a changing city, country, and globe.

To commemorate our anniversary, artists Salome Asega and Keenan MacWilliam, Alicia Grullon, Ronny Quevedo, Tattfoo Tan, and Betty Yu will mount participatory art projects and performances throughout the afternoon at various locations on the High Line. Starting with the provocation, “what will the High Line and the surrounding area look like in 100 years?” Neighbors and visitors are invited to imagine our collective futures from vast and varied vantage points such as the environment, data collection and technology, housing, urban planning, immigration, intimacy, power, collectivity, and more.

Please see below for a full schedule and list of program locations.

New Earth Ceremony

Tattfoo Tan

1-3pm

26th Street Viewing Spur, on the High Line at 26th Street

The environmental challenges of the 21st century require individuals who understand environmental, scientific, and spiritual complexities and can implement a multi-disciplinary approach to environmental problem-solving at personal, local, regional and global scales. In this two-hour workshop, artist Tattfoo Tan uses participatory prompts, games, and affirmations to teach an ethos of self-reliance, playfulness, and of living closer to the earth. Tan asks: How can we connect with nature in a society that gives primacy to disposability and mass-consumption? How do we move away from a mindset of scarcity and individualism to one of collaboration? How can we transform from the egocentric “i” into the love supreme “I AM”?