HighWaterLine

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Yesterday I did another very long line out on the shore parkway. This time I was on the more pristine north side of the Verazzano Bridge, heading up to Owl’s Head point (a pier, park and sewage treatment plant). It was a crisp brightly sunny day with a nice breeze blowing off the water. As I was chalking along, a mother and daughter rode up to me on their bikes, the mother asked what I was doing and I explained the project. Then she asked how long the line was going to be there and I told her that it would only be a day or two depending on the weather. “Oh,” she said, sounding relieved, “because it’s ugly.” I have to admit I was quite taken aback. I had yet to hear this kind of comment on the project, I was also very tired.* Usually I would respond very nicely and say that I was sorry that she felt that way and that it is indeed very temporary, but it is an important way to get people thinking about climate change. Instead I blurted out (while laughing) “You think the line is ugly, you should see the devastation that climate change will bring!” The mother looked at me sweetly and said something along the lines of understanding climate change but she was still glad it would be gone soon. Hmmmm.

I did have a number of other great conversations. One gentleman was able to share with me his first hand experience of the devastation wrought by the tornado that touched down in his neighborhood of Bay Ridge. I had two different guys who said that they just couldn’t stand it any longer they were so curious they just had to know what was going on on - YAY! I also made friends with a lovely woman named Eileen who was interested in the project and even took the time to read through the packet (I hope she went home and told some friends and neighbors about it). Another interesting comment was “We don’t get much of this kind of thing around here.” “What kind of thing?” I asked. “Art.” Oh.

In the evening I went to a lovely opening at Nelson Hancock Gallery in Dumbo. He put together a group photo show called Topos : Brooklyn. It featured: Tim Connor, Rebekah Farley, Michael Iacovoni, Michael Itkoff, Michael Piazza, Michael Simon, and Torrance York. Michael Iacovone had a piece which investigate the “edge of Brooklyn” in which he photographed the border of Brooklyn. He and I had a great time talking about all of the odd things along the coast (since we have seen some of the same neighborhoods - some which few people who don’t live there ever see). The show was a really interesting group of people interested in looking at Brooklyn and investigating it to find the pieces or parts that appealed to them. It will be open until mid-October, so make sure you stop by to check it out. I am showing a long strip (3″x170″) of images and will add images as the project continues to progress. A huge thanks to all of my photographers, Ed Morris, Susannah Sayler, Megan Baker and Curtis Hamilton (all from Canary Project) and of course Hose Cedeno.
*I’m tired since I forgot that the opening was this week (in my head it was next week) so I spent the week leaping hurdles to get the long print made for the opening. Which I absolutely would not have been able to do without the unbelievable assistance of Taylor, and of course the infamous Ed. Plus I am ultra tired now, I will add in links later!

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!

Speaking of global issues

Saturday was an exciting day for the HWL project. After drawing the chalk line through the financial district, I was going to spend the day not walking and talking, but pretty much staying in one place and meeting the people passing through.

I was up early to load up the ZipCar with all of the beacons and equipment to install the illuminated beacons in Battery Park. After a number of people said I wouldn’t get a permit to install in the park, I got enthusiastic support from the Battery Park Conservancy and City Councilman Gerson’s office and was able to install the beacons and chalk the line through the park. (It’s a good thing too, since I was indeed asked for permit proof for the first time in the project).

I installed around 40 beacons from the Greenwich Street entrance down almost to the water. I chalked from the East entrance of the park all the way to the water and then back along to Greenwich Street, chalking in between the beacons.

This line was interesting in some of the things that lay below it. Not only was Clinton Castle on the other side of the line, but also the Staten Island Ferry Building, the Governor’s Island Ferry Building, the Whitehall Street subway station and the Battery Tunnel - that’s a lot of transportation infrastructure.

After setting up the beacons, filling them with water and capping them off, I did the chalking with the assistance of my friends Sky and Margo. We spoke to some ladies visiting New York from Wisconsin and Florida, a couple from Long Island who had brought some friends to the Statue of Liberty, and a gentleman from India who was visiting on business.

He was very interested in the project because he felt that Americans were very much talking about environmental issues in comparison with India. He said that despite the severe weather events which they have faced, and the potential massive devastation that could occur with climate change, there was not a public discussion around environmental issues. Instead the entire country was obsessed with growth, development and acquisition of wealth. It’s too bad that developing countries don’t look at America and instead of thinking “we want all that” think maybe, we want more, but we want it in a better less devastating way.

As the day wore on, the crowds in the park ebbed, and as the sun was setting the TF1 crew came out again to see the beacons in the park. I went along the line of beacons and lit all of the led’s at the bases.

The beacons lit into a glowing blue line of light. I have to admit, I was stunned with the beauty of them. It was such an interesting contrast with the rest of the project - most of the chalking is noisy, interactive, always moving. The beacons are quiet, still and contemplative. The few people left in the park were enjoying the serenity of the beacons in the park. A gentleman from New Jersey who was on a bike ride, stayed in the park for an hour or so and enjoyed walking around and photographing the beacons. I also got to talk to a local resident for some time who really liked the installation in the park and appreciated the site-specificity of the work and the message which it brought to a diverse crowd of people visiting the park.

I really enjoyed watching the transition of the park over the day. Early in the morning I spoke with a man who fishes off the walkway on the water and a man who has been feeding the squirrels for years, and all the squirrels come to sit on and around him. Then the vendors started setting up and the Statue of Liberty guys came in and got on their costumes - they are all short large men in those outfits! Then the crowds started coming in and the buskers showed up. There is an amazing amount of cooperation between the various factions that operate down there - it is all very professional and friendly - they help each other out, take turns entertaining or taking breaks, etc. As the day drew to a close, the tourists disappeared, a truck showed up and took away all the vendor carts and the illegal bag salesmen filed in. Then it all emptied out and the locals were able to enjoy the peace and quiet of a beautiful waterfront park. It was a long day, but endlessly fascinating.

Sorry about the fuzzy beacon images, both Jose & I didn’t think to bring a tripod!

Evolution of ideas

I am sitting in Corlear’s Hook Park at Cherry Street and FDR Drive, waiting for the sun to go set. I did my first installation of the illuminated beacons for High Water Line, and am waiting to get some pictures of them after dusk. It seems as good a time as any to delve into the topic of the evolution of ideas. A number of people have asked how I went from the studio work investigating the relationship between built and natural environment to a community outreach project dealing with the specific issue of climate change.

When I look at the High Water Line project as a single, whole entity (the entire line, the beacons, the nature of the project), I see a seamless connection between it and my drawings, intervention installations, narrative works and my tendency towards obsessive. For some the connection isn’t so obvious. So my friend Michele and I broke it down into a specific narrative the other day (a lot of which you could get from reading this blog in a linear manner).

My work has gone through a number of phases (as would anyone’s of my tenure). The work previously being shown and developed was that which investigated the intersection between body and space. Or, to put it another way, humans and their environment (see the seed was already there). Last January, I wrote a blog entry about viewing a photo essay in Sierra Magazine about the shrinking glaciers. I was awed by the power of the visual message and I decided to make a conscious change in the direction of my work. About the same time, we had decided to move. As anyone familiar with the NYC real estate market knows, this can be an all-consuming task. So my studio practice was negatively affected. From that time until well after the move (my tiny studio at the new place was filled with boxes), my artistic practice was primarily that of drawing ideas in my sketchbook. These works were all explorations of specific environmental issues (deforestation, urban decay, migration, waste, genetics).

Alongside this, I was trying to come up with ways to get my work out and seen by more people (this didn’t have to be galleries). I realized the easiest and best way to do this was to put it out on the street and in the parks right out in front of them. Would be pretty hard to avoid that.
I played with a few ideas and pretty quickly landed on the idea of marking the sea level rise sculpturally. Hence the genesis of High Water Line (nee Sea Change).

So the original idea was to create sculptural elements that were fairly elaborate and could be installed permanently around the city. For reasons of funding, fabrication, maintenance, liability and science (that this wasn’t a concrete line), the idea quickly morphed into simple illuminated beacons installed in parks around the city, connected by a chalk line. (Sound familiar?)

It was in the process of writing about the project, for grant applications, that I began to better understand the project and all of the various aspects of it - performance, community, witness, etc.

Which leaves me here, waiting for the sunset, meditating on the project, and the relationship between humans and their environment.

(cross-posted on my blog ‘works in progress’)

Let’s just be real cool and act like nothing’s weird…

You know it is the stereotypical New York attitude of not noticing the things happening around you. Mostly I think that is a great NYC attribute, it helps so many of us live in a really dense crowded active place. You create your own little bubble and just keep on walking.

It prevented, I imagine, a lot of people from speaking to me today. It was certainly one of the busiest areas I have been in thus far. I also didn’t speak to that many people. I did have a good conversation where a gentleman translated the information into spanish for his workmates so they could understand what the project was about too. We will have to see how things change as I get into the more touristy areas.

One thing’s for sure - the tricycle is a big eyecatcher! (That and I need to do some fundrasing to hire a strong-legged person to drive it around for me, going over that bridge is a workout no mistake!)

Can’t write too much tonight, I am getting everything ready for the park installation tomorrow! I will be out in Corlear’s Hook Park in the afternoon and very early evening for the first of the sculptural installations,it is off Jackson and Cherry in the Lower East Side (just below Grand at the FDR) so come by and say hello.

When it rains it pours…

I am really thrilled by the great (and multi-medic!) coverage of the project in the NY Times. The photos and the story really give, in my opinion, the intent and spirit of the project. I have also gotten a lot of great emails - I promise to get back to everyone after the end of the weekend.

I picked up my beautiful beacons from the fabricator today. They are so elegant looking and I really look forward to installing them. Unfortunately, some the permitting sort of fell in between some administrative cracks and I don’t have a permit for the weekend. I decided that it would be best to wait on the Canarsie Beach Park installation and re-schedule it when I get a chance to come out to do a presentation with Chris in the area.

So instead I spent the day drawing again. I finished up Canarsie, and moved into Mill Basin. I was being chased by a thunder storm, which finally opened up on us, so I will return tomorrow to finish the rest of Mill Basin. I had a really great day and got to talk to a lot of kids today. That was really fun. One young boy listened intently to Ed talk about climate change and actions to take on and then he said, “I’m on it!” We had a group of kids from like 5-9 following us around for a little while, and one girl was telling me about the butterflies that she saw at the museum. I don’t know if they fully grasped what we were talking about, but maybe the next time they hear something about climate change (in school or other) they will remember seeing the line and it will really click.

I have more stories to share, and will post those tomorrow (and hopefully get some of Ed’s great pictures!) And by the way, I fixed the rss and atom links for this blog - sorry about that….

Learning and growing

I had a couple of really informative meetings last week with the Regional Park Managers for big swathes of land in South Brooklyn. Talking with and even learning about the existence of the Regional Managers helps to comprehend the incredible intricacies involved in the running of our huge crazy city. One of these managers handles all of the beaches in Coney Island. I hadn’t even thought about those as parks! They both handle all of the city parks and playgrounds in their region as well as greenways and the greenstreets, trust me these guys have a lot on which they are working.

I also am gearing up for the launch - this Thursday! The mayors are in town today for the opening of the C40, and as they wrap up on Thursday, I will be starting out. I don’t currently have anyone joining me, but I hope that changes over the week.

I also am looking for a space in which to store and mix the chalk and pigments, if anyone has a loading dock and a little space they don’t mind getting dirty, let me know - I moved 3,000 pounds of chalk into my storage space for the time being.

I will start out in Spring Creek on Thursday morning, so let me know if you are interested in joining me!

Coney Island image courtesy of Trevor Little, Eastern Parkway image courtesy of Brownstoner.com.