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James Casebere opened Archive Project Space on North Street in December. Here he stands by his favorite pieces in Ari Marcopoulos' 'Time Motion' exhibit.
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The gallery offers 1,000 square feet of space on North Street.
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Archive Project Space Contributes to Downtown Pittsfield Art Scene

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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Ari Marcopoulos' is displaying his photographs and films made over the past 14 months at Archive. 'Time Motion' opened Saturday and runs through August.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Archive Project Space opened in the thick of the pandemic and has been contributing to the artistic landscape of downtown Pittsfield since.
 
The gallery at 141 North St. opened in December with painter Roberto Juarez's exhibit "Ramona's Front Yard" and welcomed "TIme Motion" by photographer/videographer Ari Marcopoulos on Saturday.
 
"In the depths of the pandemic it was good," owner and artist James Casebere said about the gallery's first year. "It actually, at least, provided certain social connections, and people came up to see work from various places."
 
Archive is the front half of Casebere's studio at 141 North that he has inhabited since 2015. A 2019-20 Abigail Cohen Rome Prize Fellow, he was in the midst of his term at the American Academy in Rome studying architecture and sculpture when the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to return to his second home in Canaan, N.Y.
 
This is what inspired Casebere to open up the 1,000-foot gallery to the public, bringing a colorful and airy exhibition space to a corridor with many empty storefronts.  
 
Casebere will welcome a wide range of art including painting, architecture, drawing, sculpture, sound, film works, photography, and multiple disciplinary installations.
 
Ari Marcopoulos' exhibit "Time Motion" debuted at Archive on Saturday. The exhibit features large photographs and several films of friends, neighbors, strangers, light, and other things that Marcopoulos has observed in his travels.  
 
"I hope that people will come, check it out and see things through my eyes," he said.
 
The images are mainly from the last 14 months, as Marcopoulos was moved by the "strength and suffering" he saw in so many people during these unprecedented times. Also included are earlier images that "resonate with recent memories."
 
Having produced more than 200 books and limited edition zines, these photographs are a continuation of his bookmaking.
 
In the 1980s, Marcopoulos printed Andy Warhol's black and white photographs and captured images of artists and performers active in New York's downtown scene. He is said to have a way of portraying "subcultural style" in his images.
 
Marcopoulos also specializes in action shots of snowboarders and skateboarders.
 
"Time Motion" will be featured until the end of August and an exhibit showcasing the Yale University 2020 photography graduates' work curated by Sondra Perry will open in September.
 
Archive is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 2 to 5 and on Saturday from 11 to 5.
 

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Pittsfield BOH Condemns Two Homes

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Two more Pittsfield homes have been condemned.

The Board of Health voted Wednesday to condemn 86 John St. and 224 Fourth St. It came with a pang of sadness about demolishing homes during a housing crisis and a conversation about prevention.

"I would think many years ago this property had flowers in front of it," Chair Roberta Elliott said about the John Street home. "It was not like this."

Another member said it feels like capital punishment to the properties.

Both homes have no owner or heir who wants to take responsibility for them. The city has 43 open condemnation orders — about 20 residential.

"The condemnation can be as simple as no running water, no electricity," Code Enforcement Office Andrew Gagnon said. "So it is a spectrum of severity."

The four-bedroom John Street property has been sitting since 2018 and the Fourth Street multifamily has been subject to break-ins despite being secured and deemed unsafe by the Fire Department.

"It's unfortunate that so many properties on John Street have had to meet the wrecking ball," Gagnon said.

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