Deluxx Fluxx NYC: Faile and Bast
Street art is definitely having a NYC moment. First there was Shepard Fairey's takeover of downtown Manhattan, from his massive Houston Street mural and several other major "rogue" pieces, to his packing-them-in show at Deitch, the final exhibition ever at that pioneering gallery before its namesake owner flees the city for the west coast, and MOCA. Now Brooklyn duo Faile and their frequent collaborator Bast give us Deluxx Fluxx, a sensory-overloading pop-up gallery/video game arcade on Allen Street.
First and foremost, Deluxx Fluxx is a total blast. Created by Faile and Bast, this temporary installation combines old-school arcade games with rude and raucous art to evoke "a time when the Lower East Side was still a redoubt for punk rock and graffiti culture," as the exhibitors say.
In the front room of Deluxx Fluxx there are ten classic games, plastered with Faile and Bast pieces, and reprogrammed so you can actually "play" their art on the screen. Although it's generally unclear what, exactly, you are supposed to do–except in a Frogger reboot, in which you navigate a cartoony crayon through rumbling traffic–these are all satisfyingly loud and frantic and subversive and fun. The walls are covered floor to ceiling with some great Faile and Bast collages, adding to the gritty, glorious mayhem.
The back room is maybe even better. Here Faile and Bast have gone stoner-den crazy, blanketing the entire room–floor and walls–in manic, complicated, blacklight, wheatpastings. In the center sits a playable fooseball table which, no surprise, is wrapped in art. Really cool, this space. And tween- and teenage children? Bring 'em if you got 'em.
Faile and Bast Deluxx Fluxx details
Faile and Baste's installation Deluxx Fluxx is located on the east side of Allen Street, between Stanton and Rivington Streets. The exhibition is open on Tuesdays through Sundays, from 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., until May 27.
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