FAQ
The 14th Factory is the first in a series of collaborative, inter-disciplinary and educational art experiences - this time taking place in the iconic former JP Morgan building in downtown New York.
What makes us unique? The14th Factory is a collaboration of artists from China, HK, the UK and the USA, driven by a passion to spread good art and engage communities in the process. Each event incorporates comprehensive art education programs. In addition, 100% of funds raised from an auction of art following the show will be directed to our charitable partners, who generate meaningful results for New York's underprivileged youth.
A registered 501(c)(3) charity, 14th Factory Foundation’s first project, titled The 14th Factory, orchestrated by artist Simon Birch, will open in April 2016.
What is 14th Factory Foundation? The foundation is driven by a collective mission to create independent, collaborative, multiple media art experiences that are accessible to people across age, background and demographics, which also acts as a vehicle to raise funds for charities. The foundation aims to promote the importance of collaboration, empathy and giving back through creative initiatives.
What is the project The 14th Factory?
The 14th Factory, opening in April 2016, is the first in a series of large scale, multi-sensory art experiences that would carry 14th Factory Foundation’s mission. Orchestrated by artist Simon Birch, the debut project will transform 120,000 square feet of the historical, former JP Morgan Building at 23 Wall Street, Manhattan, into a immersive installation environment that allows the audience to explore themes of universal and personal interconnectedness as ‘empires’ (whether political, economic or technological) expand and contract. Birch envisions The 14th Factory as an organically linked installation of 15 sections, constructed by collaborative units of both renowned and emerging talents from the fields of visual and performance art, architecture, film, fashion, photography and graphic design. Collaborators hail from China, Hong Kong, UK and US, and include international architects Foster + Partners, Beijing-based visual and performance artists Cang Xin, Li Wei and Yang Zhichao, Hong Kong artist and designer anothermountainman, photographer Wing Shya, and New York composer Gary Gunn, among many other talented, emerging, artists.
How does 14th Factory Foundation give back? The 14th Factory is a not-for-profit public exhibition premiering in New York, and admission will be free, making it accessible to audience across age, backgrounds and demographics. During the 6-week run of the exhibition, a program of talks, tours and special viewings will be organised in partnership with NGOs for inner city youth and disadvantaged children as well as established schools and universities.
An auction of the exhibition’s art works at its close will benefit the same charities.
What is the projected impact of The 14th Factory project? We are expecting an attendance of 200,000 to 600,000 during the show’s 6-week run, by comparing results with shows of a similar scale and duration in New York City. We are also expecting to raise $4 million for our charitable partners, through a combination of donation boxes at exhibition and the auction of the exhibition’s art pieces at its closing. It is a project that benefits both the artists who are sponsored to showcase their work, the broad range of audience who get to experience the exhibition and underprivileged youth who benefit from the education programs during the show and the work of our charitable partners.
What is our precedent record in carrying out our goals? Although The 14th Factory marks the first exhibition the foundation has created in New York City, founder and artist Simon Birch has abundant experiences carrying out non-profit, large scale and collaborative installation work in Asia. Birch, a UK-born artist based in Hong Kong and New York City, is mostly well known for his oil paintings, but he has also ventured into film and installation work culminating in notable projects, including the multiple-media installations HOPE & GLORY: A Conceptual Circus (2010) and Daydreaming With... (2012), in Hong Kong and Beijing.
These large multi-media projects integrated paintings with film, installation, sculpture, and performance, and are housed in specifically configured spaces, involving many collaborators, and has been featured and reviewed in many international publications, including Artforum, The Guardian, The International Herald Tribune, and The New York Times.
Birch also has an enduring history of giving back through his work. A cancer survivor himself, he has contributed to the Hong Kong Cancer Fund both through auctions of his work and raising awareness as a survivor, often mentoring patients directly. As an artist in Hong Kong, Birch has also advocated arts education, giving lectures in schools and universities and working directly with students. His cross disciplinary approach to art making has seen him involved in diverse projects such as the formation of the Centre for Humanities and Medicine at Hong Kong University.
The activity of 14th Factory Foundation is a meeting point between an artistic ambition to create collaborative art experiences and a desire to give back. With experience in achieving both, and the support of our charitable partners for this New York project, Robin Hood, Madison Boys and Girls Club and GO campaign, we aim to create the first in a series of projects. Future projects will be open to curation by different creatives, with an ever evolving plan for cultural and charitable contribution.
