Smökers consists of a miniature monochromatic wooden cabin, temporarily installed throughout New York City. This cabin replaces the brightly colored plastic steam tubes that dot the New York landscape, allowing the byproduct of the city’s essential industrial process, which provides power and heat to thousands of homes and businesses throughout the city, to be highlighted and subverted. Inspired by Reigelman’s childhood fascination and familiarity with small hand-made German objects (Räuchermann), the project seeks to redress the purpose of steam tubes, and insert the notion of whimsy and imagined narrative to the everyday. Räuchermann, also commonly referred to as ‘smokers’, are simple wooden incense burners, often resembling cabins, animals and chimney sweeps. The aesthetic of these common German objects references the visuality of the orange and white candy-cane striping of these plastic steam tubes but more importantly, both objects have identical functionality and usage - to channel and release smoke, compounding the nuance of the work. This project was supported by a Windgate Fellowship Award administered by The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design.
