In the field 02 - first weeks of April - Pluggin into the NY art world

My study consists of a handful cases of situated art practice. Artists that include their social and physical environment in their work of art. These artists produce "situations" instead of not artifacts or performances. I could have selected these cases before I came to NYC but I chose not to. Making a selection based on the information I had access to in the netherlands would have been a decision filtered by the media through which they were dispatched. I wanted to be led by well informed new yorkers on location. I also wanted to make my decisions based on direct observations and my own experiences.
Fellow PhD student Lynda offered me generously to "plug me into the New York art world". She invited a number of art professionals to a party at her apartment on April 5th. From that moment I have gotten into flow of encounters and discoveries. But just hanging out with Lynda would have been good enough to get in touch with more then sufficient friendly and inspiring art enthusiasts.
I met several teachers of the columbia art and education department who gave me a couple of good tips. Razia Sadik introduced me to one of her students Laia Solé. She is a young artists who does not "make art" but "lives art" I would say. After entering Razia's graduation program she had to buy a lot of literature. She decided to load all this literature in an open cart and drag this through the neighborhood. These walks became journeys with many amazing encounters. She even met a street cleaner who appeared to be a former east european academic. This street cleaner explained many interesting things about the unread literature she was carrying.
Sean Justice sent me in the direction of public art (example) and - virtual - street take overs (example). Following this lead I ended up in Alphabet City in the MoRUS or Museum Of Reclaimed Urban Space. Richard Jochum sent me to the Flux Factory in Queens, a Fluxus inspired living and producing community of artists. This community appeared to be a gold mine. I will get back on them later.
I also had tea with Gloria, a well informed New York art lover. First thing she asked me was if I was straight or gay. Since our first meeting she put  me on her mailing list. The amount of things to see and do she sends me leaves me with no spare time left anymore.
Finaly I met Abby Scher, editor of the report "Can Arts Change the World?". She told me a lot of interesting things about the political scene in New York.She recommended me to get in touch with Caron Atlas. So far I haven't heard from her.