Fall on Your Sword

There’s something about entering a school that always gives a feeling of déjà vu, with the pastel-hued hallways and orderly lines of desks likes ghosts of the past. That’s something that makes the SPRING/BREAK Art Show’s return to the Old School on Mott Street something of a challenge, in that the curator-driven art fair feels like another semester rather than a completely new experience (although that’s a common feeling with art fairs, and this is only SPRING/BREAK’s second year). However, like any return to school there are new faces, new ideas, and in the mix of 22 curators and 80 artists there are some compelling moments, particularly with the installations (the involvement of Paddle 8 with an online auction is obviously a component more focused on the less site-specific work), although there are a fair amount of geometry-heavy pieces and the sort of sleazy chic work that seems spawned from a hidden chamber of a Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe installation.