Not Just for Refined Tastes

Roar! I know I often write about sweet art but this time the art isn't just sweet to look at but also to taste! Turns out Creativetime is presenting an amazing new sculpture series by Kara Walker that's housed in the old Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg! This will probably be the last chance I get to go inside the factory before it's razed and turned into condos so I decided to head on over to the Williamsburg waterfront to check it out! Roar! 

Roar! Here I am outside of the Domino Sugar Refinery. Look at this huge line of people waiting to see the Kara Walker Domino! Give me a break! Turns out the line moves really fast and it didn't take more than half an hour for me to get inside. That is also pretty sweet! Roar!

Oh Henry! Kara Walker has sculpted a giant sugar sphinx in the center of the refinery! The full title of the installation is "A Subtlety or the Marvelous Sugar Baby an Homage to the unpaid and overworked Artisans who have refined our Sweet tastes from the cane fields to the Kitchens of the New World on the Occasion of the demolition of the Domino Sugar Refining Plant."  Woah! That is one serious title, though I've got to say there really isn't anything subtle about this installation. Roar! 

This pictures bound to get a few Snickers.  What can I say? I like, this, art, and I can not lie... this is incredible! I feel like I've hit PayDay at the Domino refinery, not only do I get to see this amazing art but I also get to check out the factory I've long admired from the Williamsburg bridge! Roar! 

There are a ton of other smaller sculptures through out the refinery. Everything is made of sugar and it's melting the whole time the show is up. I hope as this guy's arm melts he doesn't get butterfingers and drop what he's carrying! Roar! 

Here are a bunch of photos of the decaying interior of the refinery. Things are so decrepit in here, I can't help but think it's a long way from 5th Ave! Roar! 

There is also a bunch of old machinery in the refinery, this is, it's, it's a, you know... Whatchamacallit? Oh I forget! Roar! 

There is a lot of other stuff that's messed up in the refinery. Here you can see all the walls that have begun to Krackle. No wonder they are tearing this place down it would cost more than a 100 Grand to fix this place up! Roar! 

Here are a couple detail shots of some crumbling stairs and pipes and rotting insulation. Despite all of this decay it really is a great location to host an art installation. Kudos to Creativetime for organizing it. Roar!

Here you can see the sugar from the sculptures melting and dripping all over the floors. It certainly added to the ambiance of the place. I must say Kara Walker certainly hit a Grand Slam with this show! In an interview she said this was some of the most fun she's had making art and it shows in the work! Roar!

The looming Domino refinery will soon be no more. A Subtlety is a great piece of commentary on the dark aspects of the history of sugar and presents plenty of ideas that a person probably wouldn't think about when staring at this building while biking over the bridge. It's also a fitting send off to a building with it's own rich history that's become something of a Brooklyn icon. The show is up until July 6th so if you have time come down to the sugar refinery and Take 5 with some sweet art. Roar!