Smökers
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The plastic orange steam-tubes placed above manholes in New York are a commonplace element within the metropolis landscape. These tubular chimneys can offer a sense of spectacle and mystery, but for the most part are one more obstacle in traversing the city. Smökers is a site-specific art intervention that forces spectators to reconsider the framework of a city’s infrastructure, and redress the functionality and activation of public space. Consisting of a miniature monochromatic wooden cabin, Smökers temporarily replaced the brightly colored plastic steam-tubes that dot the Manhattan landscape, allowing the byproduct of the city’s essential industrial process, which provides power and heat to thousands of homes and businesses throughout the city, to be highlighted and subverted. Inspired by Reigelman’s childhood fascination with small hand-made German incense burners (Räuchermann), the project seeks to contemplate the purpose of steam tubes, and insert the notion of whimsy and imagined narrative to the everyday.