Artist Nestor Gil will host LaJiraGira, an art-inspired community picnic, on Aug. 6 at 4 p.m. on the Karl Stirner Arts Trail. Rain date is Aug. 13 at 4 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public. Meet at 4 p.m. at the Silk pedestrian bridge linking to the arts trail. The group will walk together over toward Labyrinth. Participants are encouraged to bring a blanket and a beverage. Food will be supplied by the La Perla Tapatia restaurant in Easton.
This event follows the art tradition of social practice and is intended to bring people together to share in a common experience.
Gil, a Lafayette College art professor, said, “Caminemos juntos, comamos juntos, compartamos ese recurso tan precioso, el Tiempo, juntos en comunidad, como una obra de arte. Como tantos movimientos artísticos anteriores (Dadaísmo, Surrealismo, Fluxus, Situacionismo, entre otros), podemos simplemente caminar juntos, comer juntos en el parque y reconsiderarlo a través de la lente del arte. El arte nos permite ver la comunidad en que vivimos, sus espacios y las oportunidades que estos espacios nos brindan para considerar nuestra relación con ellos y con las demás personas con quienes somos esta comunidad. ¡En este instante podemos reconocernos el uno al otro, manifestarnos más visiblemente el uno a otro, sentir la energía vibrante que está siempre ahí, esperando a que amanecamos, a que reconozcamos que no estamos solos!”
English translation: “Walk together, eat together, share in that most precious resource, time, together as a community, as an artwork. Like many art movements before us (Dadaists, the Surrealists, the Fluxus artists, and the Situationists, among others!), we can take something as simple as a walk, as simple as a meal in the park, and reconsider it through the lens of art. Art gives us the opportunity to see the community in which we live, its spaces, and the opportunities these spaces present for us to think about our relationship to it and to other people with whom we are this community. In this moment we can recognize one another, become more visible to one another, heed the buzzing energy that is always there, waiting for us to stir, to recognize that we are not alone!”
LaJiraGira is made possible by a Hotel Tax Grant from Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
