Bells

Hi Everyone! I am waiting for the first coat of paint to dry on the sawed-off bike handle bar (donated by Larry's Bikes on Flatbush and Ave K, Brooklyn) which will be what i mount the 4 bells on. I went to Larry's on Friday and tried ALL their bells and found some that made a little melody - I'll record it and post MP3s if I can actually figure out how to do that here.... maybe I can save them as Video files.... I'll be fixing this to a bench in Coenties Slip Park - 38 Water Street (the last park we saw) tomorrow. I hope some of you can come by and try it out.

And for other self promotion - my band is performing at the BAM cafe this coming Friday at 9 pm - FREE! Please come and join us - One set. It was great to meet you all and be a part of the workshop - thanks again Kendal and Zhenia!

POST-IT PROJECT WEBSITE

Hello Everybody,
Post-It project website is online and active:
http://www.zidny.us/
Please check it out.
Tomorrow I will stick 100 post-it notes around Wall Street area.
Through the web host analytic service it will be possible to see how many visits website gets.
see you soon - Danijel

Streets Are paved in Gold

I sample it out on a street near my home just to get a feel. Decided not to leave it the area was too loose. Getting ready to leave town will look at he blog over the next few days to stay in touch. It has been a great experience.

Street are paved in Gold- update

After consulting a restorer I found several ways of applying the gold but the time frame from beginning to takes at least 4-6 hours. I will not be able to have some ready to presentation on Monday downtown but wanted to show the progress and get feed back. Each application process is different and it show.

WTC - Interviews with visitors - Why do they come? What do they find?

I live four blocks from the WTC site. Every day when I leave my house, I see tourists from around the US and around the world looking for the site. They ask directions and I direct them. I know this site is very charged with feelings and opinions and convictions. But there isn't much for them to see or do. Only a big construction site. And now there are beginning to be commercial "museums" to fill the void.

I have wanted to have more interaction with the visitors, to know what they are thinking and feeling, where they come from, why they come to my neighborhood. I will conduct short interview the visitors about their impressions and record the interviews. Maybe they have questions for me. I could take pictures of them at the site or me, a real live New Yorker and neighborhood resident, with them. There are a few vantage points with pretty good views of the site. People stand and look and they take pictures. This is where I would go to collect interviews. I imagine that themes will emerge from the interviews.

I plan to do a test session for several hours on Sunday. I will work with a buddy (Nina). I will see if people want to talk, want to be taped, want to take pictures and what they want to ask me. My buddy can record audio and take pictures.

Neighborhood Acronyms Revised

NYC neighborhood acronyms are examples of re-generation and gentrification encompassing socio-economic, cultural, political and architectural developments. Acronyms are tools that Madison Avenue creates as catchy marketing tools to improve a community's image to promote the "it" factor as new, hot and trendy.

SOHO and TRIBECA have become household names, followed by NOHO, NOLITA, LES, and DUMBO. Now we have FIDI (Financial District), NOMA (NOrth of MAnhattan-Bronx & Riverdale), NOHA (NOrth of HArlem) and SOBRO (SOuth BROnx).
My idea is to create wall drawings as an ode to something or someone that disappeared as a result of neighborhood development where something of significance to the old neighborhood had to be torn down because the shopkeeper couldn't afford the new rents, or a person disappeared as a result of displacement in the gentrified neighborhood. A couple of examples include CBGB, the old rock n'roll club, and the Record Shack in Harlem, a neighborhood staple for resident musicians.

Printing in town - for Anna and all

I tried to post this morning, but the site was down. Anna, I've dug around for in town quick printing and don't know if photo/digital printing can be done in time for Monday, but here is a couple things that may help.

Kinko's (aack!)
www.fedex.com...
no full color or digital on corrugated plastic, but they do have 2-3 color. Start at about $30

Dash Printing
153 W. 27th Street
212-643-8534
www.dashprinting.com
Have lots of options. Best to call. May have to pay for expedited service which can double usual prices. These people have been on my 'to try' list for a while, but I have not yet used them...

Grand Photo Solutions/GPS
42 W 17th Steet
212-242-7667
www.gpsnyc.com
I use them for photograph printing. very good. cheaper than duggal. I don't think they print signs, but they will laminate your 11x17 print for $4. That may be an alternative.

Miranda

'Something' project

I invite everyone to participate in this performance - a chorus/soundscape of the word 'something.'

We will each pre-record our voices repeating the word 'something' on portable playback devices (iphones, tape recorder, etc.) I will record the word 'what?'

Dispersed along the subway station platform on Friday afternoon, our bodies (pockets, bags, etc) will speak the word 'something', at staggered intervals.

The performance will be documented on video.

Budget: 5, $10 mini portable/pocket speakers = $100

in-kind: 5 additional speakers, player devices, performers' time, camera/cameraperson

exact location: TBA

*I would love for a subway musician to improvise a musical component to this - an instrument speaking the word 'something'. Jessica, I'd be very interested in your input/collaboration

Here's the sign

POST-IT

I never lived in lower Manhattan, I know it only as occasional visitor.
On Tuesday, walking towards the Wall Street, three moments stroke me:
- multiple Post-It notes stuck on lamp posts ("Looking for extra income?" )
- The African Burial Ground Memorial, that I have seen for the first time
- the Wall Street buildings, that I have seen for the first time. The NY Stock Exchange and buildings around it
reminded me of the eastern European totalitarian architecture (I grew up in former Yugoslavia)
And maybe because of the route of our walk, those buildings seemed directly connected to the African Burial Memorial.

The idea was to incorporate a project into Wall Street area
where permanent neighborhood community seems absent (workers who come and leave, tourists, visitors)
and which I have perceived through impressions rather than experience and research.

As a visual artist my working method is based on trial and error. Through correcting of shapes I'm searching for the right composition and proportions,
and since i've been doing it for years, I can control the process and the results can come relatively fast.
With this project I'm in a completely new territory and language, I miss the distance necessary for clear seeing.
But here is the idea and i feel very uncomfortable putting it out,
since it's raw and unprocessed:

- to make multiple Post It notes (50-100 or more) and stick them around the streets of the area
All notes are the same, with a simple visual symbol and web address written underneath it, zidny.com (pict-1)
- To create a website which, for those who picked the notes and bothered to check it, opens the door into the interpretation of visual symbols
(pict-2 and pict-3)

There is an explanation for bringing in Daniil Harms' poetry
but it would be better to see and read notes and website without any guidance.

Open for thoughts, questions, suggestions and criticism.

Budget:
- post it stickers, $10
- rubber stamp $30
- web name registration $10

i [ ] u

My three year old niece is able to communicate her ideas and thoughts with the few words that she has acquired. when she finds that she is 'missing' a word, she substitutes it with a description to the best of her ability.

sometimes even when one has access to a much more extensive vocabulary, some words still come up 'missing'. in this instance we have a choice:

a. say nothing because you don't know how to say it,

b. use another word that you hope is close enough (running the risk that you have chosen incorrectly and thus distorted the entire meaning)

c. try to describe the missing word with a string of other words/references to other things (i.e. the game TABOO which i absolutely love!)

In my life experiences, I have noticed that words tend to go missing the most when it comes to emotions and saying how one feels at a particular point in time or to a particular person.

i [ ] u deals with the space where words are difficult to express how one feels about another person. who is the i? who is the u? and what is the feeling?

A. Initially I thought of the project as something that would be installed outside (as a sticker, stencil or wheatpaste image) for people to interact with and fill in the blank. In this way, the 'i' and the 'u' remain anonymous.

B. Then I thought of starting an i [ ] u day where people send text messages to someone to express their feelings. Neither the 'i' or 'u' are anonymous.

My fears are that the above two aren't personal enough...?

C. The most recent iteration of this project is as a series of postcards. Postcards would be made and pre-stamped (within the U.S.) and given to people to send to someone. The 'u' is identified but the 'i' could remain anonymous if the sender choses not to include a return address.

I have been doing a handmade postcard exchange with a friend of mine for the past six years and really enjoy the tactility of collage and experimenting with different papers and materials. I also do NOT want to interact with the public directly and so have to think of ways to get the work out there without being out there making the work! Everyone loves to get personal mail...I appreciate it as an old school way to share thoughts and feelings and also perhaps a 'safer' (or easier) space than talking directly to someone.

Budget

.27c stamps x 100= $27

Paper, lino pad (to cut a stamp for i [ ] u), pens, glue stick etc.= $23

I welcome your thoughts!

Thanks!

ruby amanze

Excuse me project @ wall street area

Background: This project is about the ownership of public space and privacy. The idea is inspired by the experience of living in Queens and lower Manhattan. People in lower manhattan area always seems in a hurry. When I am walking on the sidewalk, people just keep on saying “excuse me” even there is a lot of room next to me. The way they said “excuse me” is like a command. They are the authority and I must give up my way to let them go.

Participation: I would like to invite all classmates to participate in this performance.

********
Execution: A “drama” about excuse me

We all disguised as strangers and don’t know each other in the wall street area. Some having lunch alone, or as a group. Some walking around that area.

Let say A run in to a group who are also walking on the street and say “excuse me”.
The group run after / follow A and say “excuse me”. A and the group are walking in a circle.
Then, they started to have a flight about “excuse me”. for example,
(1)point out there is a lot of space.
(2)Who own the space?
(3)Why a space can be owned by someone?
(4)We all come to this world and the natural resource should be shared. Who own the air? etc.

Meanwhile, the group around use mobile camera to record the event. Some start to just the flight.
The group will also response to people surrounded and questioning about the privacy. for example,
A and the group may say “It is a very privacy conversation, why you tape it?”
Someone : “If it is privacy, why you do it in the public?”
A:”So when you go to the public toilet, you expected that there is a camera looking at you.”

How to end:
stop by security
A take out a toy gun filled with water to declare the ownership of the space A is standing.


Budget:
toy gun
food

The Bronx is Here

I am ready to do this for our ceremony tomorrow. (Yikes)

Budget:

Poster Board

Spray Paint

Xacto Knife and blades.

$30-$50

Possible sites for stencilling. I think this will work anywhere, but the sites that most appealed to me were the construction border at the corner of N Moore Street ( in front of my old place) and then a trail of my markers at intervals going to Bogardus Plaza. Definately one of my old pathways.

Budget:

Poster Board $7.08

x-acto knife and blades $5.13

2 cans of spray paint $14.60

Total $30 - $40

I am looking forward to supporting in any way I can all the marvelous ideas that are percolating.

Also, belatedly, here are some process pictures from my last project "Mapping Greenways", commissioned by Sims Metal Management and in collaboration with Green Roofs (Sustainable South Bronx) - a 320 running foot mural interspersed with growing climbers throughout. I was the designer, manager and one of 8 muralists selected for the project. The work is on sheet metal and is cut to form a map of the Bronx River which lives near the site.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thepointcdc/5097795609

Two Ideas for Public art/ sound projects .... Sounds in the City

Two possible Ideas for Public art/ sound projects ....


It was nice today to hear most everyone's ideas - and to journey through the city and look at places for creating artworks in public spaces - and learning about new public spaces amidst all the fortresses of wall street...! I have two ideas that involve sound installations, playing with

1. Idea 1: Bells

I am struck by how loud New York can be, how much constant sound clutter there is and how the public often is seeking solace and quiet spots, or retreating from loud noise or the sounds of other people and their environment, through cellphones, ipods, headphones (creating a different, separate kind of aural landscape from where they actually are). I thought about how one could entice the public ear with sounds that could provoke thought and a new kind of awareness of the urban space we live in...

I believe that by introducing quieter, softer sounds to people can draw them in more than louder, over encompassing ones. As a performer who teaches music and can make a fair bit of volume when making music, I've also noticed that people of all ages can be very hesitant (at first) to play with an instrument and freely make sound, especially a "noise-maker" that they might not think of as an instrument. I am also a constant bike rider with a bell ... bells create a soundscape in themselves - a tone by the striking, resonance and decay of sound that can transport the individual to a different "space" emotionally / psycho-acoustically. Bells also have a long history of uses: it is one of the oldest man-made instruments (dating back to 4th century BC) used for rites and rituals, cleansing the spirit, to give warning, to provoke or be released from trance, ships in a fog, dinnertime, musical/percussive instruments... While it is often true that bike bells are intended to be loud and give warning, I am hoping this is an opportunity to transform the perception of their rings into music.

I am interesting in creating an interactive sound installation/instrument that would:
- encourage active participation, sound creation, listening and reflection
- be non-intimidating to the average non-musical person on the street to play (bike bells - easy!)
- a variety of tones (different sized bike bells) that could also be played to make a melody of the player's inspiration
- provoke thought and / or wishes (ring this bell for...)

Installation thoughts:
I would want to install these bells maybe on benches (in parks) where people could sit and play them easily, ideally somewhere the sound would have some resonance (off buildings) I would want to paint the bells with inviting colors (I think warm red, orange yellow but don't really know) and stencil instructions such as "ring this bell for..." or write images on the bell that might be conjured by their sound (ocean, sea, spirit, wish, air...)

I also like the idea of the bells placed on some kind of post like a bouquet of bells someone could play....

I'd like to have 3 bells per installation so people could make some kind of triad chord...

Bells to get - this may be a challenge to get diverse sounds if I am only using bike bells... trying to find larger one with deeper tones seems difficult -
Mirrycle Incredibell Big Bicycle Bell $7-16 (Amazon) they say it's melodic
Kettler Red Metal Bell ( for 2 year olds!) $7
Crane Copper Bell - $17
Classic Crane SOMA brass bell - $15
Incredibell Brass Bike bell - $11
Pyramid "Ding Dong" Bicycle Bell $8 (the one i have)
Electra Bike Bell (ringer chrome plated) $9


Practical questions:
how to mount the bells - in clusters, in a line?
Where?
What paint works on the metal and would last
What visually defines the bell cluster as an instrument?
Instructions included?

*****************************

IDEA 2 - Painting with pre-recorded sound installation to bring the public closer to quiet surprising sounds in a loud and busy urban environment

I would like to collaborate with a visual artist to create a painting/sound installation.
The painting could be on a large board (city or subway scape) 4/8 plywood
In 4-8 places on the picture sound would be triggered by the audiences proximity to the painting. The sounds could be of musical instruments, ambient tones, rhythms, environmental and industrial sounds, etc. Some kind of sensor would trigger the sound to play from behind the painting. Individual sounds could be heard as well as an entire composition if enough people came close enough to the piece to trigger all the separate sounds at once.

Please participate in my work, Thank you all!

Hi, all.

I really enjoyed today. It is really nice to know people, who have same interests with me. I keep thinking of my idea. Today, when Kendal mentioned 'seed' of the Idea, I felt relieved. Cause I was under some pressure. Anyway, I think I will try to make a prototype of my idea. And to do that, I need you guys' help little bit. I think it's neither hard nor much time consuming (In my judgment :)) So I would appreciate if you help me.

What I want you to do for me is just to write about 'your' lost places in Manhattan and send it to me. There's no limitation when you choose the place. You can choose a building, a shop, a park, even a bench in public space. Just think about the places you used to hang out or enjoy to be there but now are now vanished Of course the places you pick need to be no longer present.

When you pick the place, please describe the appearance of the place as in your memory. You can also write about your personal history within the space. You know, since my concept is tour guide program, you can talk like a tour guide in your writings.

When you send your writings to me, I am going to visit the places and take pictures of them. Therefore, I need actual addresses of the places. Please include the address. The final form of prototype of my idea will be the photos of current landscapes with your writing about old places. There’s no required amount of writing. Plz write freely. Thank you for reading this.

Please send your writings to kwantaeck@gmail.com

Random Acts of Public Art

I really enjoyed this afternoon's session of exploring ideas for public sculpture. I think it could have gone on for alot longer. I especially appreciated the group's interaction with each other's ideas. Very supportive and expansive.

The attention to street art is refreshing as a way to get started interacting with public space and the public. Faster, easier and less costly than installing steel sculptures.

Thanks to everyone!

my partial idea/s so far...

Also thinking of the character of lower manhattan-- but caught on the population/demographics. It varies wildly, but am interested in all the office workers (the non-billionaire ones) around wall street.

Putting that together with a couple of different thoughts...

-My interest in the people handing out menues and flyers on street corners (really feel for them). Especially trying to reach the jaded wall street crowd. You know what they have: Food menus, "free medical massage" coupons, etc. What if it was not "buy this" based? something out of the rhythm?

Other parts...

-My deep dis-ease with the sort of "personification" of the two current wars... I believe they are calling it Islamic profiling... Such an old tactic of vilifying the culture and people of the enemy state/s... The current version is all the more slippery because of our media saturation... Something that no one and everyone is doing and/or trying not to do.

-A contiuing strain in my work that looks at human violence through information (statistics, narrative)... offering uncomfortable ideas in a seductive and/or decorative frame/container helps us spend more time contemplating these ideas without shutting down or jumping to our usual safe conclusions.

So I'm thinking of handing out Sufi poetry in some decoratively printed format--asking people to 'start the day with poetry' in early a.m. rush hour downtown.

Within that stated exchange would be another. The short pieces of sufi poetry (carefully chosen) would be followed by plain-stated author information connecting the poetry to it's Islamic source. Very rough example:

"Don't be bramble,
become the rose. Let your beauty & wisdom unfold.
The brambles will only burn."

--Yunus Emre. A Turkish shepheard who lived in 14th Century,
called "the greatest folk poet in Islam," who sang mystical songs
which are still popular today.

BTW, totally prepared for 90% rejection rate. It's the nature of leafleting I think.

Would welcome any suggestions or feedback you might have. Thanks.

Miranda

Idea for a project...

It was really nice to meet everyone today and to learn about your different backgrounds and artistic practices.

I was thinking about the broad space of Lower Manhattan, a storied area of New York City and also a place that has changed vastly over hundreds of years. In terms of New York as an urban environment, I am interested in the history of the city's inhabitants and the ways they have shifted the meaning and uses of urban space.

For this workshop, an idea I am considering is a historical street game, something along the lines of a scavenger hunt. Passersby will encounter clues about the histories of Lower Manhattan, and can participate in directions sketched on walls, sidewalks, etc. in order to discover past narratives and insert their own experience in the process.

What do you guys think?

Let the Games Begin...

Hi Artists  - I am really excited about next week’s intense workshop on public art and look forward to working with you all.  The format will be relaxed and informal as that’s how I like to work and it will be fun otherwise, why bother. For the past 20+ years I have been commissioning public art - first with the NYC’s Percent for Art Program then the MTA’s Arts for Transit Program and now on my own as a consultant on a global scale, and in my opinion, about 80 – 85% of the public art out there is mediocre at best. Why is that? I will be the first to admit that I am guilty of putting some of the doozies out there but I’ve learned and I keep learning.

You are all artists – and some of you have delved into the public art world and some of you have not. To best serve you, I want to know what you are hoping to get out of this four-day workshop and I will do my best to provide it. You will no doubt come out of this exhausted and with a better understanding of what is involved in being a public art artist.

We will communicate through this blog because I want this process to be transparent and open and welcome comments from the general public. Keep an eye out for the homework – yes, there will be homework.

Your last project?

I'd be interested in knowing what your last public art projects were.
In an "elevator speech" kind of description, mine was FACE, consisting of 30,000 paper napkins, ten different designs, each consisting of 2 different questions; napkin 6.6”h x 4”w; paper and ink. Commissioned to address a race bias event at Williams College, the questions for this project evolved through conversations with students, faculty and staff of color at the College. The napkins were distributed through dining halls and lounge areas in academic and administrative buildings. The goal was simply to foster conversation between people sharing coffee or a meal. (Example of questions on one napkin: Whatever your race, what does being white mean to you? and Whatever your race, when and where were you in the racial majority?)
Would love to see/hear what others of you last did!
Peggy

This is Teddy Lo from LEDARTIST, can't wait to meet you all in May.

The Schedule

Bird City, Yaroslavl, Russia

May 9, 2:00-6:00 pm at CEC ArtsLink
Kendal Henry presents international socially engaged public art projects successfully conducted in Russia and Central Asia by the participants of CEC ArtsLink’s VisArt Public Art program. Followed by Q&A and a brain-storming session about the desired outcome of the workshop.

May 10-11, 2:00-6:00 pm at various location downtown Manhattan
The heart of the workshop, a 2-day intense how-to master class, will focus the participants on the needs, available resources, structure of the projects, implementation of the ideas into a collaborative work, and interaction with the public. The project, its venue, and the materials will be decided upon and implemented during this time. Mr. Henry’s previous experience as a Manager of Arts Programs at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) sharpened his eye for the unorthodox locations and artistic methods and will be critical in guiding the group’s activity. The most unique and invaluable aspect of Mr. Henry’s approach is the reliance on the resources already available to the participants and the community. By necessity, the resulting installations and/or interventions are often transient. This method allows the participants to be uninhibited in their creativity, promotes resourcefulness, and allows greater flexibility in responding to the local and the immediate.

May 12, 2:00-6:00 pm
Participants present the resulting project to the public in an opening ceremony. A debriefing session at CEC ArtsLink concludes the workshop.