AMAZE, VOGUE, ASCEND, FLOURISH
—ASSUME VIVID ASTRO FOCUS
October 11–12, 2025
Free and Open to the Public
Faena New York
Presented by
FAENA ART ANNOUNCES FIRST COMMUNITY COMMISSION
IN NEW YORK CITY
As part of this mission, Faena Art debuts its first site-specific community commission in New York with Amaze, Vogue, Ascend, Flourish, a bold roller rink installation by Assume Vivid Astro Focus (AVAF), on view October 11–12, 2025 at Faena New York.
Anchoring the immersive experience, is a larger-than-life billboard featuring original artwork in front of the new Faena New York. Free and open to all, the experience includes complimentary skate rentals, daily DJ sets, live performances, and culinary pop-ups, kindly supported by Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Radiant and kinetic, Amaze, Vogue, Ascend, Flourish, transforms the roller rink into more than a place to skate, it becomes a living archive, a celebration of movement, memory, and joy. The work draws on the energy of New York’s ever-evolving creative spirit; its artists, dancers, designers, and dreamers, and the expressive freedom that has long defined the soul of Chelsea and the city. Just across the street once stood the legendary Roxy, where roller disco, music, and nightlife collided in an iconic celebration of culture and self-expression. This Faena Art installation channels that same energy, reawakening the rhythm of a neighborhood that has always moved to its own beat.
Faena New York
18th Street Plaza on 10th Ave
Drop off between 17th - 16th street
A Culinary Journey by
Francis Mallmann
INDULGE IN A GELATO ADVENTURE WITH
MASTER OF CEREMONY
LADY BUNNY
MUSIC AND PERFORMANCES BY
LADY BUNNY, APRIL HUNT, MONDAY BLUE, KERVYN MARK, HEAVY PLEASURE, THE MUSES, STORMIN NORMAN, URSULA1000 AND JUSTIN STRAUSS
Amaze, Vogue, Ascend, Flourish is the newest iteration of AVAF’s iconic roller skate rink project — first unveiled in 2004 in collaboration with the Public Art Fund and the Whitney Biennial as a tribute to the Central Park Dance Skaters Association (CPDSA). Two decades later, this radiant site- specific Faena Art commission transforms the rink into an unapologetic celebration of queer icons — past and present — with a devoted spotlight on BIPOC and trans trailblazers whose contributions to culture, activism, and joy have been too often erased or overlooked.
In this new form, the roller rink becomes more than a dance floor — it is a kinetic archive, a public altar, and a glittering arena of queer futurity. Each figure honored in the space was carefully selected to embody the intertwined legacies of resistance, expression, survival, and love. From the underground shimmer of ballroom to the frontlines of protest, their stories live in motion, in rhythm, in community.
Bordered by the Meatpacking District and the West Village — neighborhoods that were once vital epicenters of queer and trans life in New York City — the rink sits near a geography charged with memory. In decades past, these streets pulsed with underground nightlife, protest, sex work, chosen families, and radical joy.
Long-known for its vibrancy and culture, New York holds a place in all of our minds as a city of icons, creativity, and endless reinvention. In this large-scale, hand-drawn installation, collective assume vivid astro focus (avaf) brings the roller rink back to the city with a site specific commission by Faena Art. The rink comes back not as a relic of nostalgia, but as a living, breathing arena of joy, contemporary resistance, and radical collectiveness taking over the 18th Street Plaza covering the ground, windows and billboard above. This first major Faena Art project, an immersive experience where we further our commitment to celebrating the communities with the support of the arts, and our mission to serve as a catalyst for innovative, site-specific and socially engaged practices through the creation of collective cultural experiences.
Presented as an immersive roller dancing rink, amaze, vogue, ascend, flourish transforms public space into a unifying dance floor, inviting all bodies to move, to roll, to release. This is an open call to everyone to celebrate resilience and connect through motion and rhythm. avaf has created a swirling dynamic work of art that lives through participation and collective energy, an intergenerational multicultural experience. Their visual language dazzles the senses with a riot of neon color, ecstatic patterns, and maximalism. But the rink serves more than just a space for fun and excitement, and avaf’s commitment is more than just aesthetic. Pivotal icons like Marsha P.Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Keith Haring, and Lady Bunny appear dancing through the rink alongside visitors, paying homage to the past with a visual archive of figures who have shaped New York City.
amaze, vogue, ascend, flourish is a call to collective movement to roll toward one another in celebration, a space for everyone to feel bright, fearless, and full of radical joy.
ABOUT AVAF
assume vivid astro focus / avaf is an artist collective founded in 2001. avaf can assume different formations depending on the projects they are involved in. avaf works in a vast array of media, including installations, painting, tapestry, neon, video, wallpaper, sculpture, performance etc. often confronts gender, politics, and embedded cultural codes through an overabundance of shapes and colors.
The pseudonym is a fundamental aspect in their process of working “collectively”: the ultimate aim of their projects is the creation of a Gesamtkunstwerk (“total work of art”) where the public becomes one with the artwork. Being inclusive is key to the realization of their works – avaf uses color as a universal language with the intention of guaranteeing the public’s participation and surrender. The viewer is always centerpiece in all avaf projects.
Avaf uses color also as a conduit of energy. Color functions then as a unifying force in their projects: between people and between people and space/architecture. Color brings people together and is inclusive, not exclusive. Color can transmit joy and hope and therefore color can be used as a healing tool.
Personal expression and a lust for life are prominently emphasized in projects that are simultaneously rooted in politics of free speech, civil rights, classifications of class, gender and national identity. avaf challenges conventional assumptions about authorship and the role of the artist’s persona in society and the contemporary art world with their core beliefs as foundation: “generosity and freedom to share, assimilate, spread, contaminate, be contaminated, inseminate, be inseminated, devour, be devoured”.
Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers receive exclusive perks:
One-hour early access to activation before opening to the public
Limited edition complimentary gift
Priority access line
Valid on October 11 and 12. Must have a valid Chase Sapphire Reserve card, Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business card, or J.P. Morgan Reserve card to receive perks. Available on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last