John, while the point you are making is valid, it is ultimately uninformed as well as near-sighted. It is clear that the relationship between unsold luxury homes and homelessness in new york is a shame we should all feel. And though the art’s purpose is not overtly political, the apparatus used is clearly charged, and not in any ways unknown to either the organizers of, or artists involved in Super/Prime. However, artists don’t run City Hall, or Banks or Real Estate Firms, they make art, the purpose of which (in the abstract) you either understand or do not understand. If you choose to not understand the purpose of Art (in the abstract) than you purposefully ignore its willful and potent magnifying glass, a lens with the ability to scrutinize, criticize, isolate, & amplify cultural, social, theoretical, & spiritual issues often left on the periphery of our vision. In a sentence: No one is saying that artists have more of a right to this space than the “people hanging out at Bedford and Pacific,” but they clearly have used the only means available to draw attention to an issue with far greater impact than a poorly researched blog comment.

Best,
Harry Gassel (an organizer of super/prime)