Below are selected quotes from press we've received. Click on the links to read the full articles. For all press inquiries, please contact Blake Zidell via email or at 718.643.9052.
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Features
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Cartoonist Roz Chast draws her experience from Andrea Polli's "City Island Hop". The New Yorker 9/19/11
Todd Shalom speaks at ISSUE Project Room as part of Tedx Fort Greene Salon. 9/18/11
Todd Shalom interviewed by Janet Coleman on Cat Radio Cafe (25:20 to 42:00) WBAI 99.5 FM 8/29/11
Nice feature on the past, present and future of Elastic City. "Elastic City stretches perspectives on our cityscape" Downtown Express 8/24/11
Todd Shalom featured in "This Week in New York: Why I Love NYC" Time Out NY 8/16/11
Chiara Bernasconi's "We and Our Shaaadows" reviewed in the City Room blog. New York Times 7/7/11
Listen to Betsey Biggs and Edmund Mooney talk about their work on "Where We Live." WNPR/Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network. 6/30/11
"Ultimately our walk, which ended at the cinematic Brooklyn Heights Promenade at sunset, generated a few of those chance meetings that make New York feel so magical at times." Brooklyn Based 6/21/11
Todd Shalom profiled in "What's Next Now." Next Magazine 6/17/11
"The point of the Spontaneous Society walks, Jon Cotner explained, is to restore a basic social spontaneity that he thinks has been lost (especially since the advent of headphones and cellphones). The 'gentle interventions' we’d be performing would connect us with our fellow New Yorkers, and help us to slow down: 'If we engage daily life in the right way, it’s more than we could ever desire,' he said. 'There is plenty to marvel at and engage with.'" The New Yorker 6/14/11
"Today, Jon Cotner had given us each two simple lines to repeat to strangers that were intended—through this spontaneous commenting—to generate 'good vibes' with the people around us and also render us more aware of our environment....Members of the tour got smiles, friendly conversation, and even compliments from people they hadn’t approached. People in the group noted how they felt more 'open' to other people after the experience, and how they were surprised by how often their statements were met with smiles or laughter." Bookforum 6/10/11
Cualquier voluntad de llevarlo al escenario sería como hacer un cover?
Recorridos poéticos en Buenos Aires
Teatro Independiente La Plata Argentina 11/21/10
"These experiences are rare for being educational, interactive and personal. The artists often encourage moments of introspection and even vulnerability among participants, who may be asked to walk with eyes closed, make the sound of an inanimate object or trace the wall of a building with one’s hands. That such behaviour sounds regressive may be part of its appeal. With the right motivation, it can be satisfying to flout conventional codes of behaviour out in the open."
The Economist 10/6/10
"In Brighton Beach Mr. Shalom asked us to pair off, one of us leading the other, whose eyes were closed, down the street. My first reaction: No way! But I closed my eyes, and this listening exercise became an experience of time. It stretched, and I felt suspended. When I opened my eyes, I was oddly exhilarated." New York Times 9/9/10
"My no-holds-barred favourite is the groovy tour called "Elastic City," the one whose antics I mentioned at the top of this piece. Our group also engaged in such odd, but compelling and darn fun, exercises such as walking the streets with our eyes closed (a partner's directions kept us from stumbling into traffic) and etching group poetry in the sand of the beach." Toronto Star 8/25/10
"Through each artist's individual frame, the city morphs into a new, unfamiliar, and fascinating terrain." Brooklyn (The Borough) 8/11/10
"Remaining silent turns on all the other senses. Colors come into sharp focus. Smells intensify. We become accutely aware of the squeals of the elevated subways in the distance, which give off an industrial-musical note." WNYC video feature 8/9/10
"A guide, a leader, a teacher, but above all an artist, Todd melts into the background of the walks, allowing the participants to use the practical and poetic awareness he gives them to open up to the city in a completely new way." Gothamist 8/9/10
Neil Freeman and Todd Shalom discuss walking through the city as a medium of art, poetics and urban awareness. Urban Omnibus 7/28/10
"Would I recommend it to visitors to New York City? Absolutely.
If you can be open to the experience, I think you'll gain a lot of insights not just about the area you're visiting, but also about yourself." Pauline Frommer, Frommer's travel writer 7/23/10
"I chose Todd Shalom, Elastic City's founder, as my companion. I knew he wouldn't let anything happen to me. He wanted publicity." Wall Street Journal 7/23/10
"Hidden City: WNYC Wanders Through Brighton Beach." WNYC radio broadcast 7/16/10
"In a performance world where offensive behavior often seems rote, it’s refreshing to see people filling spaces with productive and energizing ideas." Brooklyn Rail July/August 2010
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Here's some more press. Press about a walk is also featured on that walk's unique page.
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"[Elastic City] offers unprecedented views of the Big Apple, one inspiring step at a time." PureWow 9/1/11
"You have to be open to an adventure if you join conceptual walking-tour planners Elastic City on one of their rambles." Time Out NY 7/12/11
"Elastic City walking tours take a different look at New York. Instead of history, food or architecture, the company gives what it describes as 'sensory, ritualistic' and 'conceptual' walks. Poet Jon Cotner guides a tour of 'Spontaneous Society', a chance to break down the walls of anonymity with a few simple lines of dialogue." New York Times 6/3/11
Elastic City featured in "The Summer 100: Outdoor Music & Art" City Arts 6/14/11
"Elastic City’s artist-led jaunts aren’t about famous locations or people; rather, each walk is designed to help New Yorkers make an emotional connection with the places they pass every day and to heighten their awareness of the city around them." Time Out NY 8/11/10
"By the end, you'll likely never hear the city the same way again." Village Voice 7/28/10
"The city as we know it takes on a fresh perspective with a new series of conceptual art walks." Thirteen/WNET Sunday Arts 6/13/10
"Elastic City organizes walks around New York that provide novel and quirky experiences of this much-toured city." Artslant 5/23/10
"Artist-Led Walking Tours Debut" New York Press 4/30/10
"Hear Brooklyn in New Ways..." Brokelyn 4/29/10
