Startups

The new Klip Collective art installation at the Bok is for all the haters

“I can’t wait for all those haters to come to the installation,” said Klip Collective director Ricardo Rivera. “It’s an honest tribute to the building and the people who were there.”

Part of "Vacant America," Klip Collective's new installation at the Bok. (Courtesy photo)

Northern Liberties creative agency Klip Collective has chosen a controversial location for its newest work.

“Vacant America: the Bok building” opens Friday at South Philly’s Bok, the artist and maker hub located at the former Bok Technical High School, which was shuttered in 2013.

The exhibit intertwines physical objects like school desks and chairs with audiovisual elements like interviews and ambient sound to evoke memories of the building’s previous life.

The nearly 80-year-old, 340,000-square-foot facility has been dubbed a sign of gentrification. It got some backlash after a pop-up beer garden opened on its rooftop. The newly imagined space is the work of real estate developer Lindsay Scannapieco.

As a South Philly homeowner, Klip Collective director Ricardo Rivera says he doesn’t think the development’s intention is to erase history, replacing it with something ill-fitting.

“They’re trying to honor the history of the building by putting it to use,” Rivera said. “That’s why I wanted to do a piece here that honors the past of the school.”

There’s a tinge of anger in Rivera’s voice as he speaks of the previous backlash. Rivera says the reasons some people protested the development are “bullshit.”

“I can’t wait for all those haters to come to the installation,” he said. “It’s an honest tribute to the building and the people who were there. This to me is much better than the building being empty or, worse, turned into condos.”

To further link up the initiative with the surrounding areas, the Collective is looking into setting up a donation stream for the Southwark School, located across the street from Bok.

The expo, which opens this Friday at 6 p.m., will run through the month of June, on Wednesdays (6-9 p.m.), Fridays (6-9 p.m.) and Saturdays (1-4 p.m.). Conrad Benner, from the blog Streets Dept, has some exclusive pics of the exhibit.

Companies: Bok / Klip Collective / School District of Philadelphia

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

Not all jobs are the same. Why do workforce agencies treat them like they are?

After nearly a decade, the federal program for immigrant entrepreneurs is finally working

Block the bots or feed them facts? How Technical.ly uses AI in journalism

A week before Election Day, some Philly city employees question unexpected website change

Technically Media