Taylor Sakarett's A Human Pile Archive
I’ve closely collaborated with several artists over the years, including Taylor Sakarett. Taylor passed away on January 22, 2020 at age 30 after a brief illness. Taylor left a majority of his belongings to me, a collaborator in life and art since we met in 2009. Following his death, organizing and archiving Taylor’s belongings and art became a part of my studio practice. I mounted a memorial exhibition at the end of 2022 at Flux Factory showing his paintings, sculptures, and video works. Archiving Taylor’s art holds urgency for me as a tactic to impact recorded histories.
Gallery Overview, Taylor Sakarett’s a Human Pile presented by Lena Hawkins, Flux Factory, Queens, NY, December 2022 - February 2023
Duke Papi: Complete Series
Taylor began filming life around the city at the age of 12, documenting all aspects of their life. Along with a group of friends, a crew known as Moldy Films, they produced videos of antics as teenagers skateboarding the Manhattan streets. By age 18 Taylor produced a TV series that aired on MNN, the Manhattan Neighborhood Network, public access from 2009 - 2011 called Duke Papi. Made in collaboration with Ben aka Lansky, the duo shared footage from graffiti and skateboarding missions interlaced with interviews and metaphysical conversations in the street.
Duke Papi is a time capsule of the city, primarily filmed from 2009 -2014 the show includes Moldy Films footage dating back to 2001. Duke Papi is far ahead of its time, pre-dating any social network video app and the confluence of smartphones in our lives. The show features many notable characters and creatives including but not limited to KRS-ONE, the Mosaic Man, Kembra Phaler, Julia Fox, and Rambo R.I.P.
"I have a cable access show in NY called "Duke Papi". The show is about a family of humans that we all come across. It an attempt to illustrate and bring to light various members of the sub group which comprise the five boroughs. It’s documentary style, raw. Basically the order and the flow of the show mimics my everyday walk through life. Sometimes the experiences are epic and sometimes just normal. But it’s all about the interactions between people.
I live in Brooklyn now, but grew up on 42nd Street in Manhattan. When I was a kid I was getting into bullshit. I have been locked up 8 times, I’ve gone through the system in all boroughs. I did not know then that the experiences I had were going to open up the door for this project. I am now using the same energy that was getting me into trouble to do my show.
Spending the last 20 years in this section of the earth has definitely shown me whether I wanted to or not, the most ridiculous and crazy sides of the human psyche."
-Taylor’s Bio from Dazed article New Kids published in 2009 on Dazed Digital