The Experiential Project, a new commissions project by Lee Walton, consists of intimate “happenings” that take place almost surreptitiously in public spaces, at neighboring business, or sometimes just in front of Art in General. Somewhere in Chelsea, a woman halts to reposition her shoe; At a nearby restaurant, a note is left for you in the last page of the guest book; In front of Art in General, a biker stops and breathes heavily and then continues, and then repeats this action and again for the course of an hour; a gift is offered to you if you touch your nose in a specified neighborhood bar. All these ordinary and commonplace events are orchestrated by Walton—but not necessarily announced.

These happenings are organized in three parts. The Experiential Project consists of eleven “things” that you encounter while following Walton’s script. Life/Theater Performance is comprised of fourteen scheduled “events” throughout the city and in Life/Theater Today, happenings taking place every Thursday through Saturday, 4-5pm from October 1-December 17 right in front of Art in General, seating included.

For The Experiential Project and Life/Theater, the script and schedules are poetically mapped on individual postcards with image and text indicating the place, date, and sequence of events or things to look for. The postcard set of 25 is available for free at Art in General, and a project schedule is also published at the gallery and the Art in General website. For Life/Theatre Today, however, the happenings in front of Art in General will be unannounced. They will simply repeat themselves every 15 minutes for the course of an hour for an audience that may experience the unannounced performances of Walton’s orchestra—a group of artists, urban planners, writers, actors and modern day flâneurs. Once in a while, the artist and Art in General staff will also join his orchestra and make cameo appearances. Anyone interested in participating as an actor in The Experiential Project is welcome to contact Lee Walton through his website.