HighWaterLine

Brace yourself

Wow, can’t believe its Tuesday already and I haven’t yet posted for the past weekend. Granted it was quite a crazy weekend and having been knocked out with a cold the week before I still have some recovery time. That and things are still kinda crazy this week. So here’s how it rolled:

Thursday I installed the beacons in Brooklyn Bridge Park for the Dumbo Art Center’s Arts Under the Bridge Festival. Came home to clean up, then jetted back to the park to illuminate the beacons. I have to say that I really love that park. If you haven’t been there before, you should really go. It lies under the Manhattan Bridge, and is connected to the Empire Fulton Ferry Park which runs along the water almost to the Brooklyn Bridge. Both of the parks provide a beautiful greenway that has stunning views of Manhattan. At night it is particularly lovely. You can look at all the lights of the city (and on the bridges) - let’s hope they are all low energy bulbs using alternative energy. Usually  its is quite a peaceful park, but this weekend it was not. It was pretty much all crazy and crowded all the time.

After illuminating the beacons, I jumped on the B61 to ride over to Williamsburg where I had been so graciously invited to speak about the project as part of a 100-mile dinner at Like the Spice gallery. It was great, I spent a lot of the time talking with Gordon, co-owner of Urban Spring, who prepared the great meal.

Saturday was going to be a long day of drawing, making up for the Red Hook chalking that I didn’t get to finish and then doing the first pass in Dumbo. The water in Red Hook goes pretty far inland. Not as much as Spring Creek and Canarsie, but it is a much more densely populated area, with a lot of high rise NYCHA buildings down there. I also chalked past the working waterfront that still exists out on the west side of Carroll Gardens (I think they call it Columbia Waterfront). Then we rolled into Dumbo. There was quite a crowd down there. And I should have thought of this, but with all of the activity down there, most people just looked at me and didn’t think twice about my chalking activities. Having said that a few people did ask, and even more impressive I heard a number of times as I passed by someone explaining the project to their friends. “Oh, yes, she’s marking the flood zone from climate change - she’s done it all around Brooklyn.” Perfect! Let’s talk to each other (not just me) about the issues. Hurray!

My friend Tara DePorte from Lower East Side Ecology Center had come out to give away t-shirts on which she was asking people to write sustainable promises. That way, she reckons, every time they wear the shirt, if they haven’t done their promise, they will feel guilty and may be more likely to do it. I also think they will want to brag that they have in fact done it.

I popped into Nelson Hancock Gallery to drop off some more action packets and Rives (who works in the gallery) said they had a constant stream of people interested in and asking about the project. So the word is getting out!

And in order to help do that, I am working with Cicala Filmworks to create a documentary of the project. We will be airing a *very* rough cut at the HWL closing party next Sunday. Come on out and help celebrate!

The details are:

SUNDAY 7 OCTOBER 2007 6:00-8:00 PM

THE OLD AMERICAN CAN FACTORY
232 Third Street at Third Avenue Gowanus Brooklyn

Presented by The Canary Project + XØ Projects Inc; the evening’s events include: An exhibition of the project’s maps, drawings, images and tools; an installation of the Beacons; re-marking of the HighWaterLine at the Gowanus Canal on Third Street; a screening of a preliminary rough-cut of a documentary film by Cicala Filmworks; Q&A with the artist and filmmakers hosted by CUP: Center for Urban Pedagogy, and beer from Ommegang Brewery!

Please also keep in mind that this project is still seeking financial support - so donate here!