The Gowanus as Muse

Check out a little article about Jose Gaytan's photo series of the Gowanus Canal, and make sure to click on the 'Lens: Essay' to see his beautiful photos. Brooklyn, represent.

Jose's work will be on display at the main branch of the New York Public Library through August 29th.

Tillin' the earth in the BK

My building has been given the go-ahead to use the empty lot next to us for a garden. Yay! It's a lot of work, however, and we'll need an enormous about of topsoil, which is kind of pricey. Hopefully we'll be helped out by GreenThumb, a NYC organization that helps out people starting community gardens. I'm thankful to the folks in my building who spearheaded this project (ahem, Dana), and look forward to seeing all of our work pay off!

Anevay helped clear a lot of rocks...

So did Dasha!
Alberto attacked weeds. He also happens to be helping with the design of the garden (he's an architect)...

Amie, raking rocks.
Annee, picking up crap in the lot that has accumulated over many years. Some residents of our building apparently have even thrown garbage from their windows, trying to make it close to the dumpsters (which are located in the lot). WTF?!
Chris welding a sharp tool. What are these things called?

Our mascot?

Wish us luck... We're going to need it!

What are these flowers called?!

I call them 'fliff-fluff' flowers; Anevay calls them 'fliff-fliff' flowers. Sure would be nice to know what they're really called. I've tried explaining them to people, and sound like an idiot as soon as I call them by the name I've given...

Recession street art?

4th of July

This was a FANTASTIC way to start the 4th of July, with a Bloody Mary's at Dumont. It helped to diminish my wretched PMS. (pic by Clare Hambly)
I assure you, I wasn't saying anything amazing, but I like how I placed my hand on Orit's shoulder for emphasis... (pic by Clare Hambly)

Part of our gang at Dumont for brunch...

The second part of our gang.

Alexander opening wine. After one glass while sitting in the sun on Orit's patio, and I was sleepy...

Kafi, Eram, and Cassie.

Anevay at Orit's place.

Cassie and Anevay on Orit's patio.

We left our first group of friends late in the afternoon and made our way over to Jessica and Gil's for a BBQ. Anevay and Leo started making mixed drinks for Tom... In this one, they added apple AND pickle juice, potato chips, tomatoes, and blackberries.

A break from mixing drinks for some ribs...

The completed most disgusting drink on the planet.


Here's drink number two...


Brave souls, all who gave it a try...

The onset of evening meant that Anevay started to feel excited about the fireworks.

Unfortunately, our view was terrible. Oh well.

Riis Park Beach

Thursday night, Anevay and I watched Leo so that his mom (Jessica) could go out with girlfriends, and his dad could go to work. Above, a pic of the kids piling into Jessica's bed to wake her up so that we can go to the beach!

Nicole, wearing one of the best beach outfits EVER.

Strawberries!

Leo's shirt drying in the sun.

Leo buried Anevay...

Although he forgot to cover her toes.


Look closely and you'll see that not only is there a man hanging from the ladder, but that the side of the helicopter says 'GI Joe'. Weird...

Universe of Keith Haring

Last night Anevay and I watched 'The Universe of Keith Haring', a documentary by Christina Clausen about the life and art of the artist. Living in NY, one gets a glimpse of his work just by walking the streets. How many millions of times have I walked by this mural?

But Keith Haring's work goes far beyond large mural pieces... Hoards of people wear the sort of iconic linear designs that made him famous:

Keith Haring was concerned with semiotics, and spent time early in his career crafting his own set of recognizable, repeated symbols. Many try to do this, but what makes Keith's work so unique is that it is truly recognized after seeing just two or three simple lines. Not many are able to do this- it's partially what made him genius. I'm not particularly in love with Keith's aesthetic, but I do appreciate the art of recognition.

Another aspect of his genius is how he helped revolutionize the art world. He took his work outside of the gallery, into the street. He made art accessible to the masses- by putting his image on t-shirts and other small items, he made his work affordable.

One of the best quotes in the documentary was from Yoko Ono:

Andy Warhol made art that looked like it meant something, but it meant nothing. Keith Haring made art that looked like nothing, but meant a lot.

The documentary was filled with much footage of Keith Haring, and chock-full of friends and family offering glimpses into his life. The man truly lived and breathed his art... He traveled all over the entire world, invited by prestigious galleries to put on exhibitions- his condition for doing this was that he be allowed to make a public-art piece- a mural... This was the art he would leave behind for everyone. Told by many throughout his life to make less art (which some gallery-owners and collectors thought would increase his prices and demand for the art), but he did the opposite. He drew on clothing and shoes for for anyone who asked, and created more in his short lifetime than would seem possible. He had an incredible drive and sense of self which has really been maintained, and in fact, cultivated, since his death.

After Keith Haring learned he was infected by HIV, not only did he became an even more prolific artist, but he founded the Keith Haring Foundation:

The mission of the Keith Haring Foundation is to sustain, expand, and protect the legacy of Keith Haring, his art, and his ideals. The Foundation supports not-for-profit organizations that assist children, as well as organizations involved in education, research and care related to AIDS.

Keith Haring (1958-1990) generously contributed his talents and resources to numerous causes. He conducted art workshops with children, created logos and posters for public service agencies, and produced murals, sculptures, and paintings to benefit health centers and disadvantaged communities. In 1989, Keith established a foundation to ensure that his philanthropic legacy would continue indefinitely.

The Keith Haring Foundation makes grants to not-for-profit groups which engage in charitable and educational activities. In accordance with Keith's wishes, the Foundation concentrates its giving in two areas: The support of organizations which provide educational opportunities to underprivileged children and the support of organizations which engage in research and care with respect to AIDS and HIV infection.

Keith Haring additionally charged the Foundation with maintaining and protecting his artistic legacy after his death. The Foundation maintains a collection of art along with archives which facilitate historical research about the artist and the times and places in which he lived and worked. The Foundation supports arts and educational institutions by funding exhibitions, educational programs, acquisitions and publications that serve to contextualize and illuminate the artist's work and philosophy.

The above description is taken from the Keith Haring website. Click here for more information.

My daughter and I got a lot out of watching the documentary last night. Perhaps you will, too. Check out the trailer:

Part girl, part fish.

Anevay and I joined the pool in our neighborhood today. The pictures, unfortunately, don't convey Anevay's extreme excitement over this (she likes to act blase infront of the camera...). She's determined to become a stellar swimmer this summer- she just recently learned how to swim, and isn't yet proficient, but it will come. Today I taught her the breast-stroke, how to tread water, and we worked for awhile on dunking her head under the surface of the water. Apparently the pool has a swim team- Anevay wants to join! I think she'll work hard this summer to learn most of the strokes, and we'll see what happens come fall (when the swim team resumes). I told her to be patient... if the team doesn't work out, then perhaps a swimming lesson to work with a group of kids on her techniques.

Until lately, Anevay was terrified of the water. The fact that she's worked so hard to overcome her fear makes me an incredibly proud mama...

Even more Paper Towel (sc)Roll pics...

Yesterday I said I'd post a few more Paper Towel (sc)Roll pics. If you haven't seen other images I've posted, click here and here.

Here's a very quick write-up about the (sc)Roll:

Sartre wrote, 'We are all condemned to freedom'. I think about this concept often. Our physical and mental selves experience many different levels of both freedom and bondage. Society dictates not only guidelines for what’s right and wrong, but determines how we view gender differences as well as our relative ages: infant and childhood; adolescence; adulthood; middle age; and geriatric- often the conditions of our bodies in no way reflect how we identify with our inner selves. The freedom to which Sartre was referring- the lonely freedom that only our innermost selves are privy- is nothing more than our individual sets of dreams, memories and desires, compiled by the particular make-ups of chemicals and electricity found in each of our human bodies.

The Paper Towel (sc)Roll is a visual record of some of the memories that make-up my identity. Many of my memories- from my earliest to my most recent- happen to be sexual. Growing up, I felt that many of the ways I thought about sex were unusual- often, there was cross-over between my fantasies and pop-culture images, as well as a desire to stray from the social constuct of what is 'normal'. An exploration of this as an adult feels imperative.

The ways I perceive my body, the violence done against me as well as violence I’ve only imagined doing to other people, and finally, the cross-over between fantasy and reality, have all given me a wealth of what I call ‘ghost images’- mental pictures that come back to haunt me. These ‘pictures’ consist of both real and pseudo-images (the latter being fantasies that have been retained so long in my memory that it is hard to untangle them from truth). I've embroidered some of these images over my (sc)Roll. In addition to my ghost images, I’ve embroidered fragments from photographs and drawings of some of the places I’ve lived, as well as images I appropriated from pop culture, to layout a non-linear map that one may use to help navigate the most private parts of my person. Images such as a woman masturbating are combined with childhood figures such as My Little Pony and The Last Unicorn. This may be disturbing to some, and yet, with research telling us that over 80% of children pretend to be animals, and with around the same number of children participating in some sort of sex-play, it isn't unlikely that there would be some playful mental crossover. I vividly remember, as a very young child, fantasizing about the centaurs in the Disney film Fantasia- those frolicking, half-naked creatures definitely entered some of my secret imaginary play!

In the (sc)Roll I also explore the blurred line between victim and willing participant (a line that doesn't necessary become less blurred as one enters adulthood).

Using a medium most often used to clean up messes, I made the Paper Towel sc(roll) as a tool with which to metaphorically wipe up some of the mental messes of my life. This is an ongoing, extensive project that I believe will help me to cut through some of my more painful, confusing memories, in order to celebrate my many joyful memories and dreams. In this way, I hope to enjoy my relative ‘freedom’.

First days of summer vacation

Could someone please translate this amazing street art?

Yesterday I got very little work done. Instead, Anevay and I enjoyed the weather, went for brunch with our roommate, Alberto, and caught a little 'green' festival a block away from home.

Not sure if all of the libations at the East River bar are 'green'?


I LOVE coffee icecream... so, although I was full from brunch, I managed an espresso icecream cone.


Today was a much more productive, albeit frustrating, day. To begin, Anevay met this multicolored friend at the coffee shop.

If I remember correctly, the bird is named '7'; the dog, '0'.

I spent the morning today dealing with logistics- insurance, bills, student loans... Not pretty, any of it, particularly when one is unemployed. Oh yeah, I sent out a handful of job applications. Ugh. All of it makes me feel a little sick to my stomach. I really need some sort of break, or at least a shred of luck to come my way (in the job department... I'm pretty lucky in many other ways!).

This afternoon I finally was able to get some work done. I added a number of images to the Paper Towel (sc)Roll. I'll post some images of this tomorrow, I'll just quickly say that it is becoming even more of a visual record of some of my carefully guarded memories- the ones that have really shaped me. Many of these memories are sexual in nature- sifting through them is strange- I feel as though I'm uncovering parts of me that I had forgotten.

I worked on the (sc)Roll for a couple of hours, and then spent the evening cooking with Anevay. I felt frustrated to have to stop working... I need to come up with a schedule of how I am going to plan our days! We ended up having a lot of fun. Below is a salad that Anevay made. Can you see the smily face hiding out in it?


Tomorrow I have some more logistics to take care of, and then I plan on a couple of solid hours working on the (sc)Roll. I'm excited about it. Years ago, when I was 21, I threw a box of my old diaries out on the curb. The images I'm putting on the sc(Roll) remind me of so many of the memories I thought I had rid myself of- only now- I'm older, wiser (?), and capable of dealing with some of them...