Can you spare five minutes for the environment?

July 30th, 2007

One of my favorite things that has been written about the project was written by Andy Goodman, of “good ideas for good causes.” He talks about the people on the street pleading for you to stop and give some time (and money) regarding any number of good causes, and then says “In one of America’s busiest cities, Mosher isn’t stopping people to talk about global warming. They’re stopping her.”

I put that to the test in Lower Manhattan this weekend.busy people on the street

I had myself sort of psyched up for the chalking from Brooklyn Bridge to Chambers street,where I would pass by South Street Seaport, Wall Street, through Battery Park and then past the World Trade Center site. I had in my mind that it would be a really different weekend, it would be the first really business heavy area, the first big tourist area, the WTC site, and the area with the highest security. All of that certainly made for an exciting weekend, but there is more. Let me tell you about it…

Friday I biked from home to the Canary Project studio, arriving at about 9:15am. I was met by a cameraman and sound guy from TF1, French news television. They were to follow me around for the day. They shot some stuff of me checking out the maps and loading up the trike (chalker, 50 pound bucket of chalk, misc locks, camera, my bag) and took some shots of Ed and I heading out. We rode to the gas station so that I could put some air in the chalker’s tires (it’s called the heavy hitter and it’s tires deflate bi-weekly). Then on the road again.

A little ways on the TF1 guys stopped me because they wanted to try a different shot. The cameraman wanted to ride on the front of the trike and film me while I pedaled along. I’m sorry, you want to do what? He wanted to sit on the heavy hitter and face me (with an enormous camera) and ride along. I, um, well I don’t know. He protested that he didn’t weigh much and it wouldn’t be for long, could we just try it out? Keep in mind that I am already pedaling about 100 pounds of weight on the trike, which is a single speed (no gears) with cruiser brakes (pedal brakes) and some super bouncy shocks (I feel everything).

My favorite ballast

Reluctantly I agreed – concerned more for his safety than for my ability to pedal it – so on he popped and off we went. Turns out the ol’ trike can make the weight not feel so bad. It was a little awkward to have to look around the huge camera in front of me, but all in all a pretty fun experience. At the end of the block the cameraman jumped off and off Ed and I went for the Brooklyn Bridge.

It can be a pretty slow slog up the long ramp on the bridge (although Ed said I “booked it” but I think that is a relative term – “booked it” compared to expectations not other bike speeds). The first couple of times that I rode over the bridge, I had to walk part of the way. Now I can make the whole ride up – not that it is easy or fast by any means. I get quite a lot of looks along the way as I pedal the trike across the bridge. Most in sheer wonderment – I don’t know if the looks are for the tricycle or for the chalker on the front (might be both). The bikers on the bridge are an interesting story too – I get about half that are totally wowed by the trike and think it is a hell of a thing, and about half who seem more annoyed than anything (I am after all like an SUV in the bike lane).

Ed and I met the TF1 guys at the Manhattan side archway on the bridge. First we did a shot of me riding down past the cameraman, then I had to ride back up again and down one more time since the sound guy was in the first shot. They were apologetic about making me ride uphill again, but at least it wasn’t a steep part, and I explained it wasn’t a big deal since I did this ride pretty frequently lately.

Then the cameraman again requested to ride on the front. I knew it would change the braking dynamics, but was willing to give it a try. Up again, perched on the chalker and off we went for the long downhill ride. Wasn’t too bad except for the crowds of tourists (which can make unexpected swerves and movements on the bridge) the swing of the heavy camera when he panned (the front of the bike can be squirelly) and the soreness in my leg from holding the brakes on…We looked a little like a super budget film crew or something.

Loading the hopper

At the base of the bridge the cameraman hopped off and we went on our ways (I have to take sometimes a much more circuitous route) to meet up again at Water Street and the south side of the Brooklyn Bridge. There we were also joined by Jose, who is doing some documenting of the project, and we had Megan from Canary Project, who met us on the bridge when Ed had to leave. I unloaded everything and locked up the trike, filled the hopper of the chalker with the 50 pounds of chalk, walked over to the bridge wall and started putting down the line.

Cobbled streets

It was pretty quiet on the north end of South Street Seaport, was able to just go along quietly chalking on the cobblestones. At the plaza where Fulton, Pearl and Water come together we started to see a lot more crowds – mixed bag of tourists and business people. And a traffic cop that I skirted around on my way across the busy plaza.

Harsh words from security

I wound my way through the forest of skyscrapers, marking chalk lines past construction sites and lines of hungry business people waiting in line for their lunch. While I got a few curious glances, most people were rushing to or from their lunch break. A few security guards gave some harsh words – not to me but to the people documenting – warnings about photographing the buildings. About halfway through and still no people interested in talking about what I am doing (what a contrast from the Brooklyn neighborhoods!)

middle

The TF1 guys found someone who was asking about the project and corralled him over to talk to me about it. A block later and a young woman asked “What are you doing?” I came over to tell her about it, but when the cameras got close she shied away saying “I don’t want to be on camera I was just being nosy!” But she let them film as I explained the project and handed her and her workmate some Action Packets.

I was just being nosy

Jersey floods too

I talked to a number of the street vendors, they had more time to spend talking and asking questions. Most of them were from outside the area – one from Jersey, a couple from Queens – and they were interested in the larger impact of climate change and talked about their own experiences with flooding and storms and the changes they had notice climatically in their own areas. We finished the day chalking right up to the edge of Battery Park, where I would continue (on the other side of the construction) on Saturday.TF1 at Battery

More images of the bike ride coming soon from Canary Project…

Posted in C40, chalk line, climate change, community, French News, global warming, public art, street vendors, Uncategorized, Wall Street | 3 Comments »

This is your city on climate change – any questions?

July 17th, 2007

Brooklyn Bridge

Sunday was the day to travel to the Brooklyn Bridge. I went right up to the bridge too. Below the line on the East side, from 14th to Brooklyn Bridge lay the FDR drive, a waste transfer station, a huge power station, a lot of river front parks, and of most concern, innumerable New York City Housing Authority complexes. Within these houses live (from what I saw) an incredible diverse and vibrant community. I have been working with Deborah Balk who is researching the impacts of climate change on coastal communities by looking at census data. She is investigating the economic, ethnic and ages of those along the coast. One of the fascinating aspects is how much NYC is a microcosm of the world. While in the US much of our coastal property is highly sought after and high value, in many parts of the world it is where the very poorest in the community live.

In the afternoon I was lucky enough to sit on a panel at CitySol with some of the fantastic artists who had done installations for the event (mine was the “offsite project”). The artists were The 62, Situ Studio, The Canary Project, Natalie Jeremijenko and Kate Zidar. We had the opportunity to discuss the power that art has in motivating awareness or action around climate change. We talked about the power of the visual message and the importance of engaging and empowering people. One thing that was brought up by Natalie was how artists can portray themselves within the discussion about climate change and how they are most useful. Her point (my interpretation of it) is that they are most valuale in raising questions. Not merely illustrating scientific data regarding climate change (which is in constant flux) but either acting as the questioner themselves (the artist) or providing the catalyst or tools for the viewer to ask questions.

Which got of to thinking about High Water Line (of course) and whether or not this was true for this project. Is it merely illustrating one potential climate scenario, or does it venture into the questioning role?

Brooklyn Bridge

Perhaps the most obvious questions it raises are the most frequently echoed – what does this mean to me and what can I do about it? I think it also gets people to rethink their perception of climate change. Maybe to begin to look at and define their immediate environment in a different way. To reframe the global warming issue from a global one to a local one, with real, tangible actions.

Any other thoughts?

Brooklyn Bridge

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Evolution of ideas

July 15th, 2007

High Water Line Beacons

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.

Power Plant

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).

Through the looking glass

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?)

Down the looking glass
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.

Sunset on a pile of chalk

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’)

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

July 13th, 2007

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. Power Plant on East River

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!)

Tricycle on Brooklyn BridgeCan’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.

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All gone in a puff of smoke (or car emissions)

July 2nd, 2007

A number of people have asked me what I feel about the fact that the line is gone so quickly. Admittedly, mostly I am just fascinated by the changes that the line undergoes as traffic (cars, buses, foot, bike, strollers, etc) passes over it. As a car goes through it, a puff of chalk rises in the air, and the chalk splats into a star. The bigger the car, the bigger the puff of chalk and the larger the smear of the star. The car also gets marked with some blue on its tires. It’s always interesting to retrace the path of lines drawn throughout the day.

But sometimes, just every once in a while its kind of sad. I stood on the island in the middle of the 8 lane (yeh, 8 ) Ocean Parkway where it intersects with the Belt Parkway and watched as the cars rapidly deteriorated the line. And I thought about all the work that has gone into the project (the almost 11 months of planning) the long hours of writing grant applications, the physical aspects of moving the bags & buckets of chalk. The time spent mixing the pigment and chalk. The mapping of the line. And, then, in a puff it is gone. Most frequently erased by one of the very things which is the reason for its existence. That can be sad.

But that’s the kind of existence that any performance has, there are months or years of planning, writing, building, rehearsing, promoting, and it’s over in sometimes a matter of a few days. The exhilaration of the performance is the reward. And the impact on the audience is the lasting impression.

Posted in chalk line, climate change, community, public art | No Comments »

Bearing witness

July 1st, 2007

chalk pile

Today, while out in Manhattan Beach and Brighton Beach I had a photographer from Canary Project, Curtis along with me. He spent the day climbing lightposts, dodging traffic and laying on the ground to document the project. As I drew the line in front of a tall nursing home building, Curtis asked “So the nursing home would be under water?”

“Yes,” I answered simply.

Sheepshead Bay

It really got me thinking about how this project is both about local in the city/community sense, but also truly local, as in that building, that house in Manhattan Beach, that home in Canarsie, and yes, that nursing home in Brighton Beach. Curtis also spent some time photographing the things that would be lost. The park next to the NYPD horse stables, the long row of enormous condominium buildings on Ocean Parkway, the pizzeria, the small row of houses, the community college.

Ocean Avenue

I hope to work with a few different groups to get neighborhood youth out looking at where the line hits, and talking about the areas and places that are of importance to them or their neighborhood that would be lost.

There was the guy in Gerritsen Beach whose family grew up in and owned houses in the neighborhood dating back to his grandmother – in the worst case scenario, his own grandchildren wouldn’t have that opportunity. The gentleman who chose to spend the summer at his mother’s place in Manhattan Beach instead of his apartment in Bushwick, his children or grandchildren may not have that opportunity.

curb

But this project is about hope and belief in our ability to change the course we are on. There is the guy whose meditation class is focusing in July on less consumption. The woman in Sheepshead who wanted to get involved in the community in order to raise awareness about flooding. The family on the way to the beach who remarked how by saving energy, they could save money.

The project, for me, is a little bit of a rollercoaster ride every day and every week. It has its highs and lows. Sometimes I am really tired of pushing against the wall of trying to get permits. But then I speak to someone at a school or organization and there are great ideas for interactive programming. And for every one person who is a skeptic or annoyed about the chalk on the street, there are the 10 or more that are so excited about the project and the information that they high five me on the curb, or call out to say hello as I ride my tricycle down the road. Sometimes I am utterly utterly exhausted by the end of the day, but as soon as I put down the next mornings first stripe of chalk or have a kid run up to ask “What are you doing?” I feel energized and ready to take on the days path.

tricycle

So here I am, about halfway through Brooklyn (because the line is really twisty in the South I have covered about half the mileage of the project), and getting ready to do my 6 weeks in Manhattan. I get to look back at the stories that I have heard and the incredibly varied neighborhoods that I have seen, and the people I have met, and I feel really truly honored to be the one who is bearing witness. I hope that I can find a way to share the sights and stories from the project. I hope that I also am able to give something back to the communities through which I pass and to the people that I meet.

heavy hitter

Posted in chalk line, climate change, community, global warming, public art | 1 Comment »

Celebrate the differences, and the interconnectedness

June 28th, 2007

Some of you may have seen the NYTimes video on the High Water Line project. In it you can see me and “a guy named Ed” talking about the Brooklyn neighborhoods through which I am traveling. I am saying how fascinating and wonderfully different all of the neighborhoods are, but how this line (and climate change) connects them all. In fact it connects all of us, around New York and around the world.

This weekend I will be getting a big taste of those differences between neighborhoods. I will spend tomorrow wandering the streets of Gerritsen Beach. I really like this neighborhood – small streets with small plots of land and tiny little bungalows. To me, it is the epitome of what an urban beach town should be. It is a little spit of land between Plumb Beach Channel and Shell Bank Creek. Unfortunately I will only graze the northern portion of the area, because in the climate change scenario I am tracing, Gerritsen Beach will be all but gone.

Saturday I will travel through Sheepshead Bay, Gravesend and a little bit of Brighton Beach. These areas will be the most densely developed that I have traveled through yet. Brighton is getting a lot of new luxury condos lately, all on the ocean (flood) side of the line.

Sunday takes me into the tony Manhattan Beach neighborhood where I will draw a few block diameter circle which will outline the tiny portion of Coney Island which lies above the 10′ above sea level line.

CommunityWalk Map – *High Water Line* – Mill Basin to Ocean Parkway

Which takes me back to the connectedness which climate change engenders. The line that I am drawing, and the scenario of flooding every 5 years, is a worst case scenario if we stay on track, living and acting the way we do now. If we act now (as in today) and change habits and attitudes we can keep this flooding from happening. And it will take all of us acting together to have the greatest impact.

So, if you see me out drawing the chalk line, make sure to ask me for some extra Action Packets so you can hand them off to friends, family and neighbors. And if you are reading this blog, definitely forward links (and your thoughts on the project and climate change) to everyone you know – all around the world!

We can change the future…

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Beach Cities

June 18th, 2007

I think yesterday, in Mill Basin, was the first time I actually could see the water. And it wasn’t the ocean or the bay, it was one of the many basins that snake up into south Brooklyn. I have already skirted Spring Creek Basin, Fresh Creek Basin, Paerdegat (pronounced pah-deh-gat) Basin and now, East and West Mill Basin. All of these inlets provide ample opportunity for flooding, much like the canals that criss cross New Orleans.

Bergen Beach

I had heard some time ago about insurance companies pulling out of home insurance in the NYC region (I could only find this reference), one of the dads I talked to on Father’s Day confirmed this. He said he lost his homeowner’s insurance last year and has had a hard time getting new insurance. This even though based on the 10′ line he would be sitting on a dry peninsula of land…

Bergen Beach and Mill Basin proved to be much quieter neighborhoods. More suburban than Canarsie, there weren’t a lot of people out on the streets, although I could hear people out in the backyards enjoying the warm weekend weather. In fact, Sunday was so warm that I had to stop at Dolly’s for Italian ices not just once but twice. For those who are fans of good ices, this place is it. I have a picture of the menu I will post soon.

Dolly's

One of the really interesting parts of this project is getting to explore new areas of Brooklyn that I might never otherwise see. Certainly with the lack of transit or good biking options, Canarsie, Mill Basin and Bergen Beach aren’t going to be on most people’s itineraries, but I am glad they were on mine. It provided an opportunity to meet and talk to some really interesting and engaging people. I think ultimately to understand the power of the piece you really do just have to be there. So I encourage you to do so. If you are interested in coming out, check out the timeline and then contact me. Next drawing will be June 29-July 1 and I will get to visit Gerritson Beach and Sheepshead Bay…

chucks

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Map links fixed…

June 17th, 2007

My apologies to all who visited the site yesterday and today. Appears a number of the “Detailed Map Views” on the timeline page were broken. I have fixed all of those, so now you can see where the High Water Line is, has been or will be in your neighborhood.

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When it rains it pours…

June 16th, 2007

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….

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