Locations: telephone kiosks @ Bowery & Rivington Street, Bowery & Grand Street, W Broadway & Spring Street, Broadway & Broome Street, NYC

Produced by No Longer Empty for the About Face exhibition, a part of The Festival of Ideas for the New City organized by the New Museum.

To be a foreigner - one who is defined as "not from here" - often means unknowingly breaking rigid social and cultural rules. Definitions of these social and cultural standards often say a lot about the "native" society. Outlining national identities has proven to be a subject of global political interest - the French government has put up a website forum advising what it means to be French; the Russian government has recently focused on defining "Russian Identity"; and here in the United States "what it means to be an American" is loudly and frequently discussed on national television.

As the proverbial "Land of Opportunity," the United States has always had a steady stream of new Americans.

For their Cultural Tips For New Americans project, Alina and Jeff Bliumis gathered advice to help recent arrivals assimilate and understand their new home. The artists took advice from published guides, public forums, streets questionnaires, social websites, and friends to create tips like:

"#1. Never refuse gum if an American offers it to use. Offering gum is a polite way to tell someone that they have bad breath. (Source: Jenny W. on Facebook)"

and

"#3. When two Americans are standing and talking to each other they stay at least 16 inches away from each other. (Source: Life in the USA, The Complete Guide for Immigrants and Americans by Elliot Essman)."

Alina and Jeff Bliumis have illustrated these tips and created posters to be placed on telephone kiosks on the Bowery and in Chinatown and Soho, from May 1 to May 28, 2011. Telephone kiosk locations are: Bowery & Rivington Street, Bowery & Grand Street, W Broadway & Spring Street, Broadway & Broome Street.

Accompanying the street-level posters, the artists are also producing a handbook of all the tips, which will be given for free to pedestrians during the festival. In addition, the artists will ask visitors to share their Cultural Tips with them.

This performance/variable media art work was made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Major support of the Franklin Furnace Fund was provided in 2010-11 by the Lambent Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation and Jerome Foundation. This project was also made possible by the Center Without Walls project of COJECO, funded by the UJA-Federation of NY and Genesis Philanthropy Group. This work is produced by No Longer Empty for the About Face exhibition, part of The Festival of Ideas for the New City, organized by The New Museum.

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