The Philadelphia Navy Yard has a new resident.
A 35-foot-tall fresh art installation titled ‘Seated Little Cloud’ comes from Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist duo FriendsWithYou, who debuted the work last week.
This latest venture marks the seventh effort for the curatorial collective Group X and the Navy Yard. Their goal is to pepper the city with publicly accessible and interactive art installations, and it will be on display throughout the month of September. Philadelphians can catch a glimpse of the work in Crescent Park, just past the campus’ main entrance on Broad Street.
‘Seated Little Cloud’ is the first large-scale work from FriendsWithYou (made up of artists Sam Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III) in the City of Brotherly Love. The West Coast duo have been friends for over two decades, and banded together to start the art incentive when they realized the need for human connection in a world of digital updates.
“When we made FriendsWithYou, it was a very conscious decision to battle isolation and [to make] this fine artwork that was this healing device. Many healing devices uplift people or give some kind of unification tools and concepts… like a redesign of spirituality for modern times,” explains Borkson.
The duo started with plush toys as emulates to help people, then moved on to garnering museum shows, and then went on to the fully interactive communal showcases. They used their experiences of “togetherness” at events like raves and music festivals to help influence the meaning behind their work.
“What’s really interesting about working together is that we’re kind of running these experiments. Basically that’s what art is to some degree…you’re unearthing these things and then trying it out and just sharing it,” adds Sandoval. “We’ve been running these experiments now for 24 years, taking that data, processing it, making it into other media, and shifting it into other experiences.”
Throughout the course of their career, FriendsWithYou have exhibited their artworks in museums and public venues worldwide from New York to Bangkok to Japan to Toronto and a few stops in between. In 2022, the City of Miami Beach commissioned ‘Starchild’, a 50 foot-tall, monumental steel sculpture, which has since been acquired by the city as a permanent artwork, a release notes. The duo also released their Rizzoli-published monograph ‘We Are FriendsWithYou’ in May 2014, and created the hit animation series ‘True and the Rainbow Kingdom’ on Netflix.
“It’s always been about the soul and the spirit and healing and how do we give this experience to people in these various ways? Whether it be a singular art piece that people see in someone’s house and it blows their mind and they can look at it forever, to an experiential communal [space] where you’re gathering,” says Borkson.
“It’s all either healing you with sound or light or with an environmental temple experience. Or, interpersonal [experiences] where we’re selling these objects that are amulets that help your life and bring you positivity, or larger scale work of doing kids television shows. It’s all pushing positive propaganda.”
With ‘Seated Little Cloud’ specifically, talks with the Navy Yard and Group X started six or seven years ago according to the artists, which, is the nature of a project to this degree.
“It usually takes a lot of time and effort and a lot of people really believing in the message to get it into fruition. The cloud is very interesting and has a story on its own. It’s this idea that you’re not alone, that it’s going to be okay, that you’re within this system that wants you to win as opposed to [one] that is trying to make you lose,” explains Sandoval.
“This symbol somehow embodies this levity and this optimism. I think that this incarnation of it as a sitting little cloud, it’s yet another way of showing this symbol in a manner that is more reflective. It invokes this idea to take a deep breath and find the little moment of peace there to share with yourself and with the people around you.”
Philadelphians may recognize another cloud from FriendsWithYou in the city if they head to Pizzeria Beddia in Fishtown, but ‘Seated Little Cloud’ is the group’s official debut here.
“We have tons of Philly friends that are out here [in LA]. We’re big hoagie lovers, we get the food, we get the space and when we visited, we really vibe with it. It’s just such a cool city. We’re just happy to be representing there,” says Borkson.
‘Seated Little Cloud’ debuted on Sept. 5, and is open to anyone and everyone in the community. Philadelphians can also check out the installation at the Navy Yard’s Night Festival happening this Thursday, Sept. 12. The event will feature food trucks, live music, yard games, and more from 4 to 8 p.m. The prime viewing of the new 35-foot tall piece is just a cherry on top.
“We always thought that the same way that you get the symbolism inside of a church, even though you don’t know what it really stands for, you understand it at a core weird level. It’s the same [idea],” finishes Sandoval. “We want to make art that is accessible at that kind of primal spinal level without you having to have the historical or refined understanding of art or accessible art. And that’s at the core of what we always wanted to do from the beginning.”
To find out more information on FriendsWithYou, visit friendswithyou.com
