Shannon Finnegan
Date. Color photo prints; signed pledges on colored paper; recollections about the event as prints of handwritten black text. 50 sheets of 8.5×11″ paper arranged in a 5×10 grid.
This work is a documentation of a live happening, and art-as-activism event conceived and executed by Finnegan called the Anti-Stairs Club Lounge. The artist hosted a gathering protesting an iconic and controversial architectural feature constructed in New York City in 2010s known as The Vessel, a tourist attraction made of steel beams connected in a honeycomb pattern. The Vessel features myriad staircases between a balconies in a structure comprised only of viewing platforms with no space to rest and no elevators.
The Anti-stairs Club Lounge presented the crip ritual of public protest in the face of the inherent ableism of inaccessible public infrastructure, here reimagined as an opportunity for crip care and community in a gathering in the public square at the foot of the vessel. Participants were offered snacks and the invited to sign a pledge stating “As long as I live, I will not go up a single step of the Vessel.”
This piece, in conversation with Finnegan’s other work in the show, makes an argument for respite as a crip political project, an opt-in ritual of resistance against museums and galleries designed without disability in mind.
Link to Shannon Finnegan’s other work in #CripRitual:
Shannon Finnegan Describing the Installation
Audio Clip:
Transcript:
The second piece that I have in the show is documentation, or kind of, my attempt to show an event that I organized in spring of 2019 called “Anti-Stairs Club Lounge,” and it was a protest of a building, or kind of public sculpture made in New York City called The Vessel.
And The Vessel is essentially a kind of monument, building-size structure that’s made up of all stairs. It’s this kind of, looks like a basket, with interconnected stairways. There’s I think 154 stairways.
And I felt angry about the inaccessibility of that structure. It had a huge production budget 150 million dollars I think, and yeah just felt really like I want to respond to it in some way.
And so, I organized a gathering of about forty people, where we kind of hung out adjacent to the space. And I had made these bright orange beanies that had a crossed-out stairs symbol.
There were newspapers that had an article that Kevin Gotkin wrote about The Vessel, titled “Stair Worship,” that also kind of functioned as signage. They said “Anti-Stairs Club Lounge” on it.
And there were snacks and it was really, it was a protest but it was also just a chance for people to hang out. And so this, what’s being shown in the space is kind of a way of trying to share what that day, or that event was like. So it’s a mix of things.
One is just photos from the event. So different people kind of hanging out in their beanies, chatting, posing in front of The Vessel, things like that.
And then there’s also a bunch of these pledges, which were, people were asked to sign in order to participate in the event. And so, they say, “As long as I live, I will not go up a single step of The Vessel,” and then a space for people to sign and date them.
And so, the photos and the pledges are kind of collaged onto the wall, also with handwritten quotes that I collected from people that participated in the event. I wanted to, as I was thinking about how to share about this, I also wanted to tap into what the experience was like for other people.
And so, some of them, Marie Clapot said, “One of the things that stands out most at this point in time is the feeling of togetherness that emanated.”
Chloe noted that it was a great weather day.
Orion Martin said, “I remember someone coming up to our group saying hi, and then when they looked up at The Vessel for the first time they said, ‘What the fuck?’ with a look of bewilderment.”
Jerron Herman said about his experience, “We demonstrated in front of The Vessel. The camp and otherness persisted with no desire to recapitulate to an ableist format.”
Pelenakeke Brown said, “Wearing the cap on the subway and having people take, getting a double take at the cap logo, especially in a deeply inaccessible subway system.”
Kevin Gotkin wrote, “I remember seeing so many people I loved, and feeling a very palpable sense that something so vital and emergent was happening.”
And, you know, that’s just kind of a sampling of it but, so that’s, that’s what is kind of on the wall. And then there’s a bench that has some cushions that I made for, for the event that also have this crossed out stairs symbol on them, and some copies of a kind of reproduction of that, that newspaper that I made that has Kevin’s article inside and the text that says “Anti-Stairs Club Lounge” on the other side.
The Anti-Stairs Club Lounge at the Vessel, New York City
Photo below by Maria Baranova.
Written Image Description:
A group of about twenty people lounging in front of the Vessel, a building-sized, basket-like structure made of 154 interconnected stairways. The people are sitting, chatting, and reading. All wear neon orange Anti-Stairs Club Lounge beanies.
Installation Documenting the Anti-Stairs Club Lounge
The photos below, taken by Wibke Bramesfeld, are from a previous installation documenting the Anti-Stairs Club Lounge. The installation was part of the Rights of Way exhibition in November/December of 2020, at Onomatopee Projects in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Written Image Description:
A grid of colorful papers and photos. It includes signed pledges that say “as long as I live I will not go up a single step of the Vessel” as well as photos from the event (people in orange hats in front of a big copper structure.) There are also handwritten quotes from participants about their experiences. For example, a quote from Simi Linton that reads, “I went to the event with my 60s activism mindset. I thought there would be chanting and shouting and disruption. But this was a very different kind of event, one that was ultimately more meaningful and invigorating.”
Written Image Description:
A zoomed-out view of the same installation. A grid of colorful papers and photos hung on the wall in front of a bench with cushions. A gallery visitor sits reading a newspaper.
Written Image Description:
Gallery view. A wooden bench with three white coloured cushions placed on top of it. The bench is in front of a grid of colorful papers and photographs hung on the wall.
Written Image Description:
Gallery view deatil of an artwork by Shannon Finnegan. A grid of colorful photographs and texts. Texts include reflections by participants in an activist event, as well as signed pledges that read “As long as I live, I will not go up a single step of The Vessel.”
Shannon Finnegan’s website: shannonfinnegan.com
Shannon Finnegan’s Twitter and Instagram: @shanfinnegan
#CripRitual 