HighWaterLine

I highly recommend it

If given a chance to get out and speak to people somewhat randomly on the street, I highly recommend it.

I don’t mean going out and soliciting funds or votes or anything like that, but just having the conversation with people about something which you can share. It is highly unlikely that if it weren’t for this project, I would ever meet the people I have met. We might ride on the same train, or be in line somewhere, or shop at the same store, without ever talking - simply because we would have no reason to speak. By putting myself out in public and doing something which raises people’s curiosity, I have the chance to have conversations with people. Sometimes it is a passing curiosity that they have and the engagement is quite short, but more often than not I am able to have a relaxed and engaged conversation with people. I tell them what I am doing, they tell me about their own experiences - whether it is loosing flood insurance on their home, cleaning up bags and bags of plastic washed up on the shore, experiencing severe weather themselves or by way of family members. It is an entirely different experience from merely informing people about climate change. It is a chance to connect on a very personal level, and maybe (just maybe) have a greater impact because of that. I treasure every experience, and have been able to play the role of storyteller, passing on one story that I heard to another person with whom I speak, thereby sharing all of our experiences.

Yesterday I installed the beacons in Calvert Vaux/Dreier Offerman Park, which is (as many are in NY) a park built on landfill. It is quite a large stretch of recreational and open space. It is well used by baseball and soccer teams, a group of remote controlled helicopter fliers and lesser used by dog walkers, fishers and recreation seekers. It overlooks an inlet that separates Sea Gate from the mainland. You will notice some of the sea life captured in the beacons, I filled them with the water from the inlet - with the help of some of the people fishing off the rocks. In addition to that assistance, I had the help of another park visitor in the de-installation of the piece - it was a nice community effort!

I was joined for the day by my friend Cecile, who is back in New York (from France) for an installation at FIAF, and to work on a project regarding stories about public places. She has done a number of public works that also allow her to have similar interactions with people that this project has allowed. We were both discussing the unique experience and value that these conversations have in both creating work and connecting art with people.

The project, while there are some pretty big weekends ahead, does seem to be winding down. At this point I am working on putting together some kind of closing party (Oct. 7 - save the date!) as well as organizing a show for the spring (if you know of a good space let me know) and working on the proposals for upcoming projects. If you haven’t had a chance to come out for the day, I highly recommend that you make time in your schedule to join me. It is a fascinating journey.

You got gold in there?

My favorite quote of the day: “You got gold in there? — Who needs gold when you have love?!”

That was the first interaction on this very, let’s call it “sultry” day.* Lucky for me, I was out on the water for most of it, and that fabulous statement kicked off another day out on the High Water Line.

As most of you know, I try to do most of the project by way of the fabulous yellow trike. Sometimes though, there is a whole lot of chalk to put down - 6 buckets or so (at 50 pounds a bucket…) - those days I usually get a Zip Car (because you STILL don’t need to own a car in this city, even if you do have to move a lot of stuff around). Today was one of those days. I was covering 2 contiguous miles of the High Water Line along the promenade along Shore Road Parkway.

Even though in the project description, I mention that I am marking 70 miles of coastline, that number isn’t entirely exact. Brooklyn has 70 miles of coastline, but the 10-foot above sea level line follows its own very twisty path which may be more than 70 miles, or may be less. I promise to figure it out sometime soon. Regardless of that, the actual amount that I walk is far far more than that. I park the trike or Zip Car in one location and go back and forth with the chalker to refill it. For example, today, today even though I was chalking two miles, I figured out that I walked about 15 miles in the four hours I spent chalking. Each bucket covers about 1/3 of a mile. (Check my math :))

I also was reminded of the part of my project description that says, “I will be drawing” - so even if there isn’t anybody out to document it or walk with me, I am still out there, loading up the chalker every 1/3 mile and laying out that ephemeral blue line of chalk (which also explains why some days there are no pictures of me). Good thing there were a lot of people out on the promenade today to talk to, many of them there to enjoy some free time, which meant that frequently they had the time to ask what I was doing and then have a conversation about climate change. Today I spoke with one gentleman about the loss of flood insurance in the coastal communities. I also spoke with a few different people who were quick to point out the rather crazy weather we are experiencing in New York, and certainly the weather and its affects around the world.

One person even asked, “So you are giving up all your free time to do this?” “Um, yeh, pretty much.” Although I don’t really think of it as giving up free time. If you love what you do and therefore spend all your time doing it, is it really giving up free time? This is basically the second or third time that I have been asked why I would take on this project. I don’t have a really good answer for that. I guess its because I felt like something needed to be done, someone needed to say something, and instead of waiting for someone else to do it…

*I am pretty sure what we were experiencing wasn’t fog but rather the sea water turning to steam in the heat.

Welcome back to Brooklyn…

Amidst a small amount of fanfare (well, actually none at all), the High Water Line project returned to Brooklyn today. After some the busy days that were the Manhattan drawing days, I was looking forward to a return to the quiet of Brooklyn. I definitely got that today.

I returned to Ocean Parkway, picking up where I left off at the beginning of July. I drew the line through the mostly industrial parts of Gravesend, and ended at the edge of the compilation of city parks known as Calvert Vaux/Dreier Offerman Park (which is where I will be installing the beacons on Sunday).

I traveled through areas where a few homes were sprinkled in amongst the heavy industry of auto shops (think buses with engines idling), speeding cars coming on and off the Belt Parkway, a concrete plant, and a Home Depot which managed to completely segregate a small grouping of homes from being part of any larger neighborhood. The area has a few waterways and canals cutting through it, guaranteeing flooding along the heavy industrial zones. And it is home to the very huge Coney Island rail yards (also known as the “Coney Island Complex” - the largest in the world), where the B, D, F & Q all converge.

It was a short day, in expectation of the long day (over 2 miles) of chalking that I will do tomorrow along the promenade on the water side of the Shore Road Parkway. As I drew the line up to the baseball fields in the park I wondered if people might think I was an errant parks employee. Speaking of both the parks department and the promenade, I received another last minute okay on chalking in a city park - whew! - thanks to another great regional park manager. (Spoke to him at about 4pm this afternoon - about tomorrow’s drawing! This happened with both Manhattan parks too!)

I am still looking for people to join me this weekend, so be sure to drop me a line if you are interested in coming out!

The High Line and the High Water Line

Today I spent a quiet Sunday chalking the line through the West Village. I picked up where we left off yesterday, at West 10th and Washington, and traveled North to West 14th Street.

I went across a lot of cobbled streets and for the Northern part of the line, followed along the path of the High Line.

It was the last day in Manhattan, the last trip over the Brooklyn Bridge with the tricycle loaded with the chalker and chalk. Today was quieter than it has been in a while, no media, no entourage. It was a good way to finish the day, it is more like the line drawing is on most days. Me, the chalker and sometimes a friend or a photographer.

I passed some beautiful old buildings (Charles Lane is really something) and a lot of pretty fancy new developments. I also went through the Meat Packing District, which despite its dressing up over the past few years, still has plenty of reminders of a pretty gruesome past (including smells and toxic looking puddles). I ended, ironically? at a gas station on West 14th Street.

I was stopped by someone who knew about the project and just happened to run into me today. He had told his daughter about the project, so it was nice for her to get to see the chalk lines being made. We talked a little about the project and she, her friend and I looked at the maps together to see where we were and where the line was. I also gave them Action Packets which they would be able to take home and go through.

I also wanted to say thanks to the strangers that I have met along the way - there was the biker who past me twice yesterday (Saturday) and gave me encouragement on getting the load up the bridge (it can be a slow ride sometimes!), the street vendor who couldn’t believe that I was going to ride across the bridge with the load but gave words of praise and encouragement, and the random guy (maybe a tourist) who applauded for me as I pedaled up the bridge. It’s a long long project that I am working on, so those anonymous bits of encouragement along the way really help.  Of course special encouragement comes from both my friends who have come out and helped with the project (you guys help keep me going!) and all the people who have stopped to talk with me along the way.

Don’t worry there’s still a lot of project left to do! August 23rd I pick back up at Ocean Parkway, and that weekend will wind my way up to the Verazzano Bridge, I will also install the beacons in Drier Offerman Park on Sunday, August 25th. Just a reminder (since I haven’t mentioned it in a while) if you would like to support the project and help pay for materials, you can donate here.

A good day to…

I was going to say “a good day to save the world” but I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong idea. I don’t think that I am saving the world. But I do think that if I talk to someone, and they talk to someone and so on, well then maybe we have a chance. And besides the weather was absolutely gorgeous today, especially after the kind of freakish weather we had this past week in NYC *(see footnote).

I set off with the trike to just South of the World Trade Center site to make up for the chalking portion that I didn’t get to finish last time out. I met up with my friends and documentary people - Justin, Jose, Ed & Margo and my new friend from the Discovery Channel - Kasey. (She and I have spent a lot of time together lately, and have had some fun while she has been documenting the project - I will put a link to the pieces when they are up online). The first streets were pretty unpopulated and small (lower Manhattan), but there is a lot of construction going on down there.

Then we got to the the WTC site. The line goes pretty much right through the middle of it. And I was to draw the line right through the viewing area on Liberty Street. I have to be honest, I get really emotional whenever I pass by the WTC site and drawing the line - I was nervous about it. I didn’t want people to think that I was being disrespectful - far from it. At the same time its a pretty powerful statement to say, you see this site here, the destruction that happened here? Well look at this line, it goes right through this site, and this is destruction on a global scale. So, yeh, I was nervous. I asked Ed (my ally and staunch supporter) to come talk to me before I started. I said to him, “What do you think Ed, you think it is okay?” and he responded with the words I had told him regarding his questions to me many months ago about drawing there, “You have to Eve, you just have to.” So with tears welling in my eyes, I opened the lever on the chalker and walked across the pathway through the viewing gallery, leaving a line of blue chalk, right up to the wall of the WTC site… Then I just looked at it for a little while, and thought about it…

On the North side of the site, we got to chalk right up to the wall of 7 World Trade Center, a LEED Gold Building. Then I continued on through Tribeca and into the West Village. Ending today just past Christopher Street.

We spoke to a number of people today, (mostly because Margo is so great to have out - she sees someone looking at the line or me funny and she says “don’t you want to know what she is doing?” most of them do, they just don’t have the nerve to ask). As Margo and I walked back to our bikes though, one gentleman stopped us to ask “Hey are you the ones chalking all these streets?” Why yes we are! We got to talk to him and his two friends about the project (then he wanted a picture of the people chalking the streets), and gave him an action packet. The really cool part? As we were walking away, we hear them talking about their own experiences and knowledge around climate change! Proof that its working, we got them to stop their routine (they were visiting from Atlanta and just in the city for a day), and consider the real consequences of climate change.

Tomorrow I will go from West 10th to West 14th (it’s longer than you think - there are lots of interstitial streets). Then its back out to Brooklyn in a couple of weeks! If you haven’t been out to see the line, there is still time, but definitely mark on your calendar the following: September 28 & 29 HWL will be part of the Dumbo Arts Center Art Under the Bridge Festival, and October 7, as thats the last day of drawing and I am hoping to put together a bit of a final bash…

*I spent Wednesday trying really hard not to write a post saying “See!” As many of you already know, we had a pretty strong front move through - thunder and lightning that shook the house (and of course set off the car alarms) that also caused a tornado to spawn in Brooklyn! (Apparently first one since 1800). The storms were fast and hard and despite the fact that this storm wasn’t really that big (not compared to a hurricane, well as you also know (or heard) practically our entire subway system shut down. There were just no trains that weren’t flooded. They have pumps in the tunnels which were functioning at the time, but were apparently clogged with debris. After the storm cleared we got hit with some incredibly nasty humidity. The Second Avenue station really really did feel like a steam room. (Often people say that, but it was stunningly gross down there). Couple the heat and humidity with delayed overcrowded trains, and well the A/C on many of the cars broke down. It was all in all a pretty miserable commute.

Then on Friday we got more storms (by now the pumps were cleared so now more flooding), and it cleared away the heat and humidity - leaving us with *near* record cold temperatures! Seriously, it is the middle of August and I was freezing! (This from the girl who likes winter and thinks that SF has the most perfect weather in the world - I mean I like cool weather!) Don’t worry, I’m not so presumptious as to claim that these weather events were caused by climate change - I’ll leave that up to the scientists.