HighWaterLine

A never ending story

Today is Sunday, October 7. It’s the last day of the HighWaterLine project (in the chalking stage at least). I drew the line from the edge of the largest oil spill in US History and then on to the Queens border on Onderdonk Avenue. I was joined by a young man named Jay who we met in East Williamsburg. He enjoyed exploring his neighborhood, learning about the flood zones, the oil spill and most importantly, getting up close to his local waterway. (Which he pointed out, was coated with oil, filled with trash and smelled something awful).

So how did it feel to be finished? I think it was a little anti-climatic. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I just felt, well done with the chalking. I guess because there are some spin-off projects going on, and because its not like I stopped climate change or anything, that I just felt, okay done with that, let’s get other things going. Don’t get me wrong, it felt great and it has inspired me to want to share the stories through the map I mentioned yesterday, but I am through with the chalking.

So that evening we hosted a wrap party at the Can Factory in Gowanus (a half a block from the line). A big thanks to everyone who came out to support the project, it felt really good to have all your support and interest. We hung the 119 maps that I used for drawing the project, and it was pretty stunning to think, yes I covered that much ground. Again I think the online map is important because even though the maps are impressive, its the people and places along the way that really tell the story. We also aired the fantastic short film that Justin at Cicala Filmworks has put together from the footage on the project. It was really wonderful to see that and to condense the story of the project down to 7 minutes! We are still working on the film and are adding in the more recent footage so if you want to know when thats done sign up on the mailing list.

Like I mentioned before, I am working on some projects around the HighWaterLine, including the online map with images and stories, some collaborative maps with Deborah Balk, a demographer at CUNY who has been studying data around the world of people living on the coast - trying to get a better understanding of the impacts of climate change on coastal communities. I also hope to work with Center for Urban Padagogy on some youth mapping projects, and anything else that might come up!

That and I have already started work on the green roof project!

Contemplating climate change

Sunday was another beautiful day in NYC. The sun was shining brightly in the crisp cool air. I always think things look sharper and more in focus in the crisp fall and winter air. I am one of those weird people who loves cool and cold weather. So I was pretty happy to be out chalking even if it started at about 9:30 on a Sunday morning. (I think my future projects will happen only on weekdays).

I started the day finishing up the line through the streets of Gowanus. I was accompanied again by my friend Margo, who biked from Washington Heights to Gowanus. Quite a ride, but on such a gorgeous day she said it was fabulous (I believe her!) We were headed to Red Hook soccer fields for installation of beacons AND some great food! We finished the chalking, noting all of the scrap metal and industrial sites along the Gowanus Canal that lay below the line. This means that a storm would sweep all of these toxins farther inland, as well as washing them back out to sea when the water recedes. Of course the toxins are also leaching into the groundwater and through that process washing into the Gowanus already.

We met up with Peter at the soccer fields and treated ourselves to some Salvadorean pupusas before starting the install. Hose also came out to shoot some more for me.

This was the most fascinating installation yet! For those who are not familiar with the Red Hook soccer fields, it is a soccer field that is used from dawn to dusk on the weekends from May to October. It is always packed - soccer teams, their entire families, lots of kids, the food vendors, loads of people visiting for the food and a lot of other people just out to enjoy the day. So the installation was intertwined with many other goings on.

As I started the installation, I was swamped by a bunch of kids who were fascinated by what I was doing. They all wanted to help and were fighting over trying to help me install everything. They then took ownership of the project, telling people not to touch them and keeping the beacons well guarded. I had one young man who helped me install everything, carry water to fill them and put on the caps. This was a great installation - I talked to so many people of all ages and from all areas of Brooklyn, what a great place to meet many people.

Unfortunately I ended up a little short handed in the afternoon and needed to do some more chalking. So I uninstalled the beacons later in the day (but before nightfall) in order to do more chalking. I still wanted to have the beacons up after dark, so I returned to install a small grouping of them. A group of the girls who were watching the daytime installation were still there and they loved the beacons at night. They were looking at all of the beacons with the lights in them and told me they looked beautiful. At the end of the evening, they were huddled around one of the beacons, lost in contemplation. So from a hectic day came a peaceful and contemplative evening.

Thanks to all the kids out at the ball fields for their energy, fascination and interest in learning about art and climate change!

Apologies for the delay in posting this I was trying to get all of the images uploaded and edited.

From cobbled back streets and scrap metal yards, to quiet back streets and flower strewn homes

Yesterday (9/15) and today were quite a whirlwind. If you remember, I said on Thursday that I was pretty knackered, well the business continues and I am really kooky tired this evening which means I may ramble worse in this post than I did at the Conflux Festival Panel.

I started Friday morning with a flat tire on my bike, but did make it out to 58th Street in Sunset Park industrial area to draw the chalk line in front of semi trucks, down cobbled streets and past abandoned industrial sites. I really enjoyed walking around the industrial area - with the tall hulking buildings, the sound of the machinery echoing from inside. There is even a building that is creating some sticky sweet smelling product. Friday evening I attended the preview of Susannah Sayler’s striking photographs of our environment in transition. She photographs the effects of climate change as well as the solutions. I am a big fan of adding the solutions into the project. Her images are the catalyst for the Canary Project.

This morning was an early start. I had to finish getting the images together for the panel and get out to do some chalking before heading to the Festival. I drew the line around the Gowanus Canal and had the sheer joy of walking around the area bounded by Sackett, Union, Bond and Nevins. The area has still an old charm to it sprinkled with beautiful old buildings that seem to have been carefully cared for. The Canal itself is certainly still smelly and dirty looking (there’s still a lot of industry around it) but there is a lot of wildlife thriving there as well.

The line cuts through a lot of industrial and quite toxic areas - including a massive scrap yard. It also cuts right through the Whole Foods site (also a toxic clean up site), so I hope they are considering flood planning, especially if they really are going to put in a huge amount of parking spaces instead of a porous green space with lots of bike parking. (Is my bias showing?)

In the early afternoon I biked (in quite strong wind) over to the Conflux Festival to join a panel put together by Eyebeam regarding their Eco-visualization Challenge. I was really honored to be asked to be a part of the panel and had put together some great things to talk about in relation to the challenge and public intervention projects: simple graphic statement, soundbite scientific information, action oriented, the power of community building etc. etc. I was pretty tired and spoke after Amanda McDonald Crowley, Tiffany Holmes, Michael Mandiberg and Brooke Singer, all who do amazing things and had really great presentations, so my talk was a little distracted and rambling. I promise to have myself better put together for the Conference on Social Theory Politics and the Arts (I do much better with Q&A!), it is October 11-13.

So now I am back home blogging about it all and hopefully resting up for a great day in Red Hook tomorrow - if you can, come out and have a taco and a walk around!

I also should mention that I have been speaking with my friend Nathan about the closing party (he’s hosting it at the Old American Can Factory) and he has had some great ideas to make it more of an event - so definitely put the date on your calendar: October 7!