January 1, 1970
Westbeth stands on a precipice. It extends as far out west of New York City as you can get, precariously peering over the Hudson River, just scraping the edge of New Jersey.
The outside world restlessly sneaks into its interior. The rising and setting sun, in an impromptu clash against many a susceptible windowpane, floods the room. The sounds of the surrounding environment penetrate its ambiance. Even the wind seems to whistle a different tune when one is inside Westbeth.
The positionality of this three-building complex inherently defies exclusivity; it is simultaneously in and out, within the city and nearly escaping it. The physicality of Westbeth, occupying an entire city block, speaks for itself and echoes across the convergences it facilitates. Part residence and part artistic space, the different purposes its architecture has and continues to support indicates its expansive functionality.
It is here where television was first broadcast and moving pictures gained sound. It is here where the marriage between video and dance was officiated. It is at Westbeth, amidst it all, where The Kitchen finds its current home.
The prominence of Westbeth Artist Housing as site in catalyzing artistic partnership transpires from the early collaborations between dancer/choreographer Merce Cunningham and media artist Charles Atlas. Surrounded by the peculiarities of Westbeth, their creative work materialized within its walls.
A site with layers of characteristic idiosyncrasies duly facilitates the eminence of multiplicitous work. Cunningham and Atlas’s collaboration with each other was also a collaboration with the expanse of Westbeth, and flourished with complexity as a result of the space they occupied.