By Caitlin McNamara
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

COBBLE HILL — When tenants move into a space, they usually hope it will be cleaned out beforehand. As Lucien Zayan prepared to assume curatorship of the former invisible dog-leash factory on Bergen Street, he assured his new landlord that its contents might just be the best part.

Zayan, who will guide the formation of a new art space in the three-story building, sees the heaps of novelty leashes, belts and beads as treasures. He plans to incorporate them into the 20,000-square-foot building’s conversion from dusty factory to exhibition, theater and concert space.

In fact, nearby neighborhoods were inundated last Sunday by the odd sight of two thousand people walking invisible dogs. Thanks to coordination by Improv Everywhere, people lined up around the block to borrow the leashes for a few hours as a promo for the opening.

The first art piece Zayan commissioned, a massive chandelier made of belt buckles and beaded textiles by Brooklyn artists Steven and William Ladd, indicates that the building’s final transformation could be striking.

Since the conversion began in April, it has been Zayan’s intention to maintain the factory’s history in every way possible, from rebuilding the roof with wood salvaged from inside to naming the space Invisible Dog in honor of the ’70s novelty item that was born there. Everything has been left intact and raw except where safety was compromised.

Built in the late 19th century, the factory has been quiet for almost a decade since the former owner died. It will open again on Saturday evening, Oct. 3, for Invisible Dog’s launch party. All three floors will be open to visitors and local beer will be served.

Zayan fell in love with the building in December when in Brooklyn on vacation, he says. He met Muriel Guépin, whose small street-facing gallery Shop Art was the sole tenant of the building. She told Zayan that the landlord was unsure what to do with the rest of the space.

“There were good vibrations, sun everywhere, trees,� says Zayan, who has worked extensively in theater and opera. He returned to France, enchanted, and began writing a proposal for a large-scale art center. The landlord was supportive, and in September Zayan moved to Brooklyn, to an apartment next door to the factory.

“There are no more industrial buildings in this neighborhood� — he says of why he is driven to protect it — “they were almost all destroyed.� He has been working 18-hour days on the conversion.

Guépin and Zayan recently held a brief but popular flea market to clear out desks, lights, time clocks and trinkets to raise money for construction. The open and light-filled top floor, which has been carefully preserved as is with the addition of white paint, electricity and sprinklers, is ready to be rented for parties and events. The second floor is being converted to basic studios rentable by the square foot, and there are already several tenants.

No Longer Empty

Saturday’s opening will feature nearly two dozen multimedia, multi-level exhibitions from local artists organized by No Longer Empty (NLE), which curates site-specific art installations in empty buildings.

Tom Sanford has painted a massive mural depicting a scene from Jonathan Lethem’s novel Motherless Brooklyn, whose fictional L&L Taxi service is set on the same block as Invisible Dog. (Lethem visited on Wednesday morning and reportedly liked it).

Italian artist Giuseppe Stampone painted the elevator shaft to be three levels of Dante’s Inferno. The third floor featured an exhibition organized by Recession Art, the project of Brooklyn sisters Ani and Emma Katz, devoted to helping emerging artists show and sell their work.

“I want to keep the identity clear,� says Zayan. “I want to build this relationship with the public of Invisible Dog so they trust what they see here will be good.�

Invisible Dog is at 51 Bergen St. Visit theinvisibledog.org.

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