The Six Foot Platform: Pennants and Poets | Jenny Polak
The DUMBO Improvement District in partnership with Brooklyn Arts Council presents the inaugural Six Foot Platform Experimental Residency Program. Twelve Brooklyn-based artists were chosen by a panel following an open call for works in spring 2021 to participate in full-day residencies on a 6’ by 6’ platform on Washington Street, one of New York City’s most iconic blocks, every Saturday from June 19 - September 4 from 12pm - 9pm.
August 21, 2021
12:00pm – 9:00pm
Pennants and Poet is an installation and spoken word poetry event. Together with poets from the Fortune Society’s Writers’ Group, Jenny Polak will install 50+ pennant flags on the platform, each one printed with a poem or message from people who have been or are incarcerated. The Pennants were developed through meetings between Writers Group and Hour Children Working Womens’ Group participants and artist Jenny Polak in summer 2020, with additional poetry contributed by people in NYC jails in fall 2020. The combined messages form a powerful and moving collective call for an end to mass incarceration and empathy with the millions affected by it. The pennant form, with its nautical and sporting associations, together create a resilient and celebratory image.
By Jenny Polak