Duration: 03.1999-07.1999
Location: Public space and Artist Space, New York City
Participants: 45
Visitors: People watching Manhattan Neighbourhood Network and those visiting Artist Space
Number of Events: 3 TV series, 3 debates, 2 exhibitions.
Additional Presentations: Empires without States, Swiss Institute, New York, (11.11.1999 - 10.01.2000)

Subway to the Outside (1999) was a project for the non-profit exhibition space 'Artist Space' in New York. Artist Space has a long history of showing young emerging artists, like Cindy Sherman and Matt Mulicann, for the first time. In 1999 Artist Space turned 25, and Van Heeswijk was asked to produce a work in connection with this anniversary.

In light of how artists choose to work in contemporary art - many artists work outside institutional frameworks, they prefer the city as working domain - she thought it would be interesting to ask where the artists' space (the space of the artists) was located at that moment in New York City. Formally, Subway is a TV show, a map, a discussion and an installation.

The 'subway' was chosen as a metaphorical guide to involve people in New York, both the general public and the cultural world, in an empirical and ontological dialogue concerning the nature of art production and the place of cultural activity, and to explore the idea of 'artist space' in the context of a cultural capital. Armed with a camera, a microphone and the simple question 'Can you show me the way to artists' space?' Van Heeswijk and Martin Lucas travelled through the streets of New York. In addition, they asked fellow artists to show their own way to 'artists' space'. The project turned into an ongoing attempt to look at what the idea of an 'artist's space' means in the context of New York City. At the heart of the project was a desire to connect an understanding of the city as a shared cultural environment with real perceptions of urban life and the interactions between citizens and the institutions that surround them.
The search resulted in three television documentaries broadcast on Manhattan Neighbourhood Network, a local cable network, three discussions in Artist Space and an installation in the Swiss Institute in New York. The latter is a collaboration with Hervé Paraponaris. For this project Van Heeswijk collaborated with Samantha Coerbell, Beth Coleman, Laura Cottingham, Chico Garcia, Kristin Lucas, Martin Lucas, Joseph Di Mattia, Maydayproductions, Hervé Paraponaris, Tom Poole, REPOhistory, Saskia Sassen, Gregory Sholette, Tere Spain, Carol Stakenas, Ellen Stewart, James de la Vega, World War III Illustrated, Martin Zet and various members of the audience.