Glasslands Gallery


Glasslands Gallery was a music venue, dance club, and art space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Glasslands was founded by Brooke Baxter and Rolyn Hu in 2006, as a relocation of Baxter's earlier art space in the same building, Glass House Gallery. Hu and Baxter held the lease on the Glasslands space until 2012 when they made a turn-key sale to Rami Haykal and Jake Rosenthal of PopGun Presents, who had been managing bookings since 2009, and day-to-day operations since 2010. PopGun owned the business and lease for two years until the venue was displaced to be converted into Vice Media‘s office headquarters. As a concert venue, Glasslands was one of the longest-running of several 2000s independent creative venue spaces in the vicinity of the Williamsburg waterfront, which included 285 KENT, Death By Audio, Secret Project Robot, Monster Island Basement, B.P.M., Live With Animals Gallery, the Rock Star Bar, and many others.

Fully functioning venue and club (2011–2014)

In the years prior to the transfer of ownership, PopGun increased the frequency of booked shows, eventually reaching a point where Glasslands was booked with events virtually every night, save holidays. A green room for artists and coat check were installed as well. In 2012, ownership of Glasslands was transferred to PopGun's Rosenthal and Haykal.
Glasslands’ continual improvements and augmentations allowed for it to book some national touring acts looking for an intimate space with some underground credibility. FKA twigs, Disclosure, WU LYF, SZA, Angel Olsen, Charli XCX, Darkside, Grimes, Alt-J, Franz Ferdinand, The Clean and Nils Frahm were some of these acts.
Vashti Windish's paper clouds installation, which had hung above the stage since 2008, was declared by the New York Fire Department to be a fire hazard. It was replaced with a large array of controllable LED tube clusters, designed by Noah Norman of Ancillary Magnet and built by the Glasslands management and their friends. The clouds were memorialized in the design for Glasslands’ first T-shirts, made available at the venue and online shortly after the installation's removal.
In July 2013, Glasslands announced that they had upgraded to a Danley Labs Inc. sound system. Under PopGun's leadership, the venue took on more late-night parties with a DJ focus. These included select dates with DJ Jonathan Toubin as well as a monthly residency with the neo-disco and house collective Discovery. The themed Cat Face and Rebel Bingo nights found a home at Glasslands, as did the Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival. The Adventure team also put on a number of notable parties including the season Robyn-themed party, an emo Valentine's dance, and a Twin Peaks-themed Halloween party. Major electronic acts and DJs including Jon Hopkins, Baauer, Mister Saturday Night, Omar S., and Sophie all made memorable stops. Bands that made repeated stops during this period include Unknown Mortal Orchestra, How to Dress Well, Crocodiles, Empress Of, Cecile Believe, Lower Dens, Dum Dum Girls, Le1f, Torres, The Range, DIIV, Trust, Shigeto, MØ, Hooray for Earth, Zambri, The Yellow Dogs, King Krule, Light Asylum, THEESatisfaction, Cloud Nothings, Anamanaguchi, Kelela, Mon Khmer, Air Waves, Majical Cloudz, Peelander-Z, Slow Magic, Mykki Blanco and Chrome Sparks.

Closure

After the sudden closure of the neighboring venue 285 KENT in early 2014, as well as the announcement that Glasslands’ building neighbor Death By Audio would also be closing, rumors circulated in the press that Vice Media had its eye on the whole of the warehouse complex that contained Glasslands for its new headquarters. Press accounts reported that the print magazine turned conglomerate received a large tax incentive from the State of New York to remain in New York City. Glasslands announced on October 21 that New Year's Eve 2014 would be its last night of operation.
While neither Glasslands nor Vice publicly stated the exact reason for the venue's closure, the announcement resulted in an outcry against the media company, with many alleging that it was cannibalizing the alternative culture that allowed it to flourish. Others chalked it up to the inevitable onset of gentrification, pointing out that the landmark Domino Sugar Refinery across the street from Glasslands was being demolished to make way for luxury condo high-rises. Columns and features on the closing were published in The New York Times, Billboard, Paper Magazine, Gawker, Gothamist, The Fader and other outlets.
In its final weeks of operation, Glasslands harkened back to its art gallery roots, bringing in Collective Craft NYC to install works by visual artists Jillian Siegel, Courtney McKenna, Grant Guilliams, Ashley Blanton and more. Annalise Yuri Murphy, a projection artist, created a mapped visual installation projecting all the Glasslands Posters from opening to closing. Glasslands bartenders Luiza Kurzyna and Zachary Clausen also contributed new pieces, as did James Devito of Anamanaguchi and Kengo “Peelander Yellow” Hioki of Peelander-Z.
On December 15, 2014, Glasslands announced its final event “Lastlands” for New Year's Eve, and when tickets went on sale two days later they sold out instantly. The show's line-up – DIIV, Sky Ferreira, Smith Westerns, and Beverly – was not revealed until doors opened for the event. Recapping the night, Jen Carlson wrote, “RIP Glasslands. RIP Williamsburg. RIP Brooklyn. Etc.”

Trivia