Canal Street Research Association
327 Canal Street. October 2020–March 2021
Canal Street Research Association was a temporary center of operations for itinerant research unit Shanzhai Lyric. Bringing their roving investigation of bootleg goods to the epicenter of counterfeit culture in New York City, Shanzhai Lyric repurposed 327 Canal Street as space for gathering ephemeral histories, mapping the major thoroughfare’s lore, past and present, and tracing the flows and fissures of global capital. A purpose-built space designed in collaboration with architectural collective common room demarcated areas for research and performance, spread across four zones of poetic reflection: Archive, Library, Timeline, Hamlet. Construction materials of plywood and concrete formed distinct modular areas to collate ongoing research materials, blurring the lines between display and process.
The project was the first phase of a larger body of work examining counterfeit culture in relation to contemporary notions of property. In the midst of the concurrent retail apocalypse, Canal Street Research Association revisited projects both massive and minute that have transpired on the storied block, speculating new modes of inhabiting this complex interplay of hustles. The public was invited to share stories and personal artifacts, forming a living archive that will accumulate throughout the space.
Curated Constanza Valenzuela and Jack Radley, Shanzhai Lyric’s Canal Street Research Association engaged the cultural and economic histories of Canal Street over the course of several months to collect, contribute to, and archive information about the neighborhood’s legacy as supply hub and artistic muse. A microcosm of global trade routes, Canal Street has held allure for generations of artists to occupy this zone of exchange where high meets low, art meets commerce, and original meets copy. Historically central, Canal Street Research Association is just down the block from the famed Fluxhall and right beside the site of Yoko Inoue’s 2001 “Sale,” in which the artist unspooled alpaca sweaters featuring the Twin Towers to offer raw materials as tourist souvenirs.
During this exceptional moment, when a street that is typically packed with frenzied tourists looms largely empty, Shanzhai Lyric takes stock of the neighborhood’s inherent contradictions, inviting visitors and passerby to both glimpse into and engage in the process. In the midst of economic distress wrought by global pandemic and the acceleration of online commerce, the future of Canal Street remains indeterminate, yet full of radical potential. Shanzhai Lyric embraced this pause as a moment to assess the cultural legacy of a neighborhood that has birthed numerous experimental and iconic happenings, traversing both art and commercial contexts.
Shanzhai Lyric offered its archive of poetry-garments for consultation by appointment. Programming details & research findings continue to accumulate at @canal_street_research.
This project received significant support from Wallplay and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, as well as a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency.
Shanzhai Lyric Archive
Shanzhai Lyric offered its archive of bootleg t-shirts, whose poetry visitors could peruse.
Window Cinema
Wednesdays at sundown, Canal Street Research Association’s Window Cinema has featured both archival footage of performances and happenings undertaken in the vicinity, along with a feature-length flick engaging related themes & often filmed nearby, offering two views on neighborhood lore projected onto the window and viewed from outside by passerby.
CSRA Store
Canal Street Research Association dressed up as a store in drag, an homage to the legacy of artists engaging retail as a medium and to celebrate a closing with an opening, as we decamped from 327 Canal further East. One-off artworks commingled with bootlegs in an attempt to skirt the ban on counterfeits—reframing bootleg as readymade.
Timeline
Shanzhai Lyric walked the entirety of Canal Street, river to river, and captured photographs of each building. The photographs were printed and hung on the wall as a timeline, to which the public was invited to share memories, stories, musings, and speculations that formed a living archive that accumulated throughout the space.
Hamlet & Window Installations
The back of the storefront functioned as an evolving gallery, featuring artworks by Day, Carlos Reyes, Paige K. Bradley, and a fashion pop-up by Puppets & Puppets.
Neighborhood Programs
Events included Community Caricatures with local portrait artist Leo,West African djembe drum lessons, and a griot performance celebrating vendors' stories.
Radio Segments
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