Housing, Land & Development
CALL FOR SUBMISSION/PARTICIPATION: Parks for People Draw-a-Thon
Posted October 19, 2008 by dara_g in Artwork Needed
http://www.mucketymuck.org/b_1_exhibitions/campaigns/2008_US_ParksForPeople.htm
Due Oct 21 (by email or mail) - see below for full submission information
Union Square Park's historic Pavilion is threatened by plans for a privately run, upscale restaurant. We believe that our precious public resources should stay in the hands of the people and that the pavilion should be committed to public use. We invite artists to participate in imagine public uses for the pavilion by making a black and white 11 x 17 illustration either in advance of or at our Oct 23rd rally at Union Square celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Pavilion's designation as a National Historic Landmark. For more context please see: Union Square, Then and Now
PARTICIPATING COMMISSIONED ARTISTS
Artwork by the following artists are producing commissioned illustrations:
Steve Lambert, Carolyn Ryder Cooley, Chris Rubino, Steve Marcus, Joan Linder
CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
The general public is invited to submit drawings will be selected by a jury that consists of:
Martha Wilson - Executive Director of Franklin Furnace
Dara Greenwald - artist, activist, and co-curator of Signs of Change: Social Movement Cultures from the 1960s to Now currently on view at Exit Art
All drawings produced at the Oct 23rd at the temporary Drawing Station in Union Squares south end from 4-6 pm will be made into hand held signs to be carried at the rally at 6 pm.
Up to 6 drawings will be used in a calendar entitled Parks for People 24/7 that illustrates year-round alternate uses of the parks pavilion. Our goal is to invite citizens to consider alternate year-round uses of the park and let the BID know that the general public will not accept a compromise on their right to public space the public wants PARKS FOR PEOPLE 24/7. This calendar will be published at the end of November. At that time, it will be hand delivered to those corporations, the judge who issued the temporary injunction on the pavilions reconstruction, and elected officials (including Mayor Bloomberg) currently in charge of Union Squares privatization. The calendar will also be sold at a low-cost, the proceeds of which contribute to the ongoing campaign to save Union Square Park.
Selected drawing will also be featured on various groups websites involved as organizers such as Pond: art, activism, and ideas (www.mucketymuck.org), Reverend Billy & The Church of Stopshopping
Submission Information
Participants who prefer to send drawings in advance should send work so that it is received by Oct 21st, 12 pm in one of the following formats:
By email: hello@marisajahn.com File formats: outlined PDF with images embedded, hi resolution JPEG, TIFF, BMP, etc. Digital files should be no more than 4 Mb.By snail mail:
The Immediate Life, Box 1556, New York, NY 10013In person:
from 4-6 pm at the Drawing Station that will be temporarily set up at the South End of Union Square Park
New York Screening of Dos Americas: The Reconstruction of New Orleans
Posted September 5, 2008 by molly_fair in Film
The film Dos Americas: The Reconstruction of New Orleans by Upheaval Productions focuses on the experience of the Latino community, one that seems to be overlooked unsurprisingly in the media and unfortunately by activist communities as well. This is not to be missed.
Post-Katrina reconstruction is still in progress throughout the Gulf Coast, with much of the City of New Orleans still in ruins. This documentary focuses on those rebuilding this city through interviews with some of the estimated 100,000 Latino migrant laborers who have converged in this area over the past two and a half years. Despite terrible working conditions, massive fraud, a housing crisis, severe harassment by law enforcement, and very limited resources, New Orleans’ Latino community has mushroomed since the storm and is establishing an infrastructure proportional to its size.Take a look at how this community is organizing to defend itself against numerous injustices and the attempts to bridge the gap between themselves as new residents and the pre-Katrina population, all within the extremely unique and tragic context of post-Katrina New Orleans.
Presentado en inglés y español.
9/7 @7pm- Make the Road by Walking
301 Grove St, Brooklyn, NY
9/8 @7pm- Bluestockings
172 Allen St Btw Stanton & Rivington, New York, NY
Just(planted)seeds-this season
Posted July 16, 2008 by k_c_ in Justseeds/Member Projects
To continue with our gardenblogging I figured I'd share too. I live on the third floor in an apartment building in Brooklyn with Josh, and this is the amount of garden we have up in here. And its not due to Macphee's green thumb.
It's ok tho, despite what many of you folks are thinking, about NYC, I also get to "garden"sit a decent size plot and a handful fruit trees just a few blocks away! mmm peaches.
For what the bounty of our fire escape lacks, I bring home plenty of "specialty" produce from my farmer Morse. Yeah I've got a farmer.
"Shawn Brant is No Criminal" Fundraiser Art Show
Posted May 8, 2008 by molly_fair in Events
Punchclock Printing in Canada is having a fundraiser art show called "Shawn Brant Is No Criminal" in support of Political Prisoner Shawn Brant.
MAY 16-18 at Whippersnapper Gallery
It will feature art by indigenous, and anti-colonial artists including:
Branko, Rocky Dobey, David Morriseau Agata Mrozoski, Michael Comeau, Stefan Pilipa, Fancy Gordon Zero, Riel Manywounds, AJ Withers, Xtofer Cooke, Simone Schmidt, Shannon Muegge, Schuster Gindin, and many more! There will also be a live music show.
Money from the door will go to Shawn's Legal Fund and money from the art sales will go to Shawn or the artist.
Shawn Brant is an activist and spokesperson for the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte in Canada. He faces numerous charges in relation to two instances of rail and highway blockades erected by the Tyendinaga community on June 29, 2007- the Aboriginal Day of Action and in April, 2007. He was recently acquitted of 3 charges of mischief, but still faces charges that could result in serving a minimum of 12 years in a federal penitentiary and will stand trial in 2009. Shawn is being made an example of in an effort to crush the resistance of the Mohawk community.
Read the rest of this entry for an update on Shawn's current incarceration:
Meet the Resistance: a speaking tour of affected indigenous communities
Posted April 22, 2008 by k_c_ in Events
This April and May, hear voices of communities directly affected by the operations of Barrick Gold. "Meet the Resistance" brings together community voices from Australia, Papua New Guinea, the U.S., and Chile to share their experiences in going up against the world's largest gold miner.
New York Events:
Thursday, April 24, 7:30pm
"Indigenous Resistance to Gold Mining"-Guests, Carrie Dann, Western Shoshone (Nevada, USA), Neville 'Chappy' Williams, Wiradjuri (Australia), Jethro Tulin, Executive Officer Akali Tange Association Ipili (Papua New Guinea) will make presentations, show short films and answer questions about gold mining on their lands.
American Indian Community Center
11 Broadway, 2nd Fl, NYC
Sunday, April 27, 7pm
Indigenous Voices-Films and Speakers-Neville 'Chappy' Williams, Wiradjuri (Australia) Jethro Tulin, Executive Officer Akali Tange Association, Ipili (Papua New Guinea)
Bluestocking's BookStore
172 Allen Street, NYCWednesday, April 30, 7pm
Meet the Resistance: Indigenous struggles from Australia and Papua New Guinea
ABC No Rio
156 Rivington St, NYC
for more info, go to Protest Barrick.
Call for Art: Movimiento Por Justicia Del Barrio
Posted February 27, 2007 by in Political Art
This is an open call for artists to design logos for Movimiento Por Justicia Del Barrio, an immigrant-led social justice organization based in East Harlem. The group was founded in December of 2004 to organize resistance against the devastating effects of gentrification in their community. The immigrant base and leadership of their organization has led Movimiento Por Justicia Del Barrio to also address the pressing issue of immigrant rights. In 2005, their predominantly Mexican membership decided to become adherents to Zapatista’s Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle and joined The Other Campaign, a national movement to change Mexico initiated by the Zapatistas. Since then, the group has facilitated a comprehensive Consulta Con El Barrio to invite popular community participation in developing strategy and focus for the struggle for community based justice.
Increasing attention and support from the public and the press has created a need for logos to represent their group. Movimiento Por Justicia Del Barrio is looking for two logos, one to represent the organizations local organizing efforts, including their fight against gentrification, and another to represent their transnational organizing as part of the Zapatista-initiated movement in Mexico, The Other Campaign.
If you are interested in making a submission for one or both of the logos, please email movementforjusticeinelbarrio@yahoo.com or call (212) 561-0555 for a few simple guidelines.
Responding to limited responses to their call, Movimiento Por Justicia Del Barrio is EXTENDING THEIR DEADLINE FOR SUBMITIONS.
Here is a more detailed call written by members of Movimiento Por Justicia del Barrio.
Open call to artists for the creation of the logos for our immigrant-led social justice organization!!
“BEST POWER TO THE PEOPLE MOVEMENT IN NYC”-VILLAGE VOICE ‘06
“IT IS REAL GRASS-ROOTS DEMOCRACY, AND IT IS BEING PRACTICED BY THE IMMIGRANTS WHO LIVE IN EAST HARLEM”-DAILY NEWS ‘06
Who we are:
We are the color of the earth. We are women, men, youth and children of corn. We are immigrants. We have not lived in our home countries for a long time, but home is still the air we breathe, still the pulse of our heart, it is still the thought that fills our minds. We were born in our lands and our lands were born in us.
We are Movement for Justice in El Barrio, an organization of immigrants fighting for justice in East Harlem.
As immigrants, we were forced to leave our native countries because of a savage neoliberal economic system. Here in the U.S, we are affected by neoliberalism on a daily basis. Gentrification pushes us out of our homes in El Barrio. Exploitation at the workplace forces us to work twelve hours daily for poverty wages. Racist immigration policies attempt to criminalize and dehumanize us.
In New York, we fight against neoliberalism in all its forms. We fight against racism, xenophobia, sexism, classism, and homophobia.
We fight for humanity.
Movement for Justice in El Barrio is a rapidly expanding immigrant-led social justice organization led by immigrants in El Barrio (East Harlem, NYC). Founded in December 2004 to fight a voracious trend towards gentrification, Movement for Justice in El Barrio has received passionate support and attention from the public and the press and is in need of logos to represent the group!!!
As immigrants, our organizing is necessarily both local and transnational at the same time. In 2005, our predominantly Mexican membership made the decision to become adherents to Zapatista’s Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle and joined The Other Campaign, a national movement to change Mexico initiated by the Zapatistas.
Therefore, we are looking for TWO LOGOS. One to represent our organizing around local issues here in El Barrio, including our fight against gentrification and greedy slumlords, and the city and financial institutions that facilitate the displacement of immigrant families from their homes and another to represent our transnational organizing as part of the Zapatista-initiated movement in Mexico, “The Other Campaign”.
If you are interested in making a submission for either one of the logos, or both, please email movementforjusticeinelbarrio@yahoo.com or call (212) 561-0555 for a few simple guidelines.
Who’s Walls? Who’s Art?
Posted December 3, 2006 by in Political Art
I saw an interesting story posted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the other day. It concerns a building in Downtown Milwaukee known as the Sydney Hih Building. The Sydney Hih has housed untold numbers of artists and musicians since the 1970’s within its dilapidated labyrinth of studios and practice spaces. Everyone left their mark in the form of graffiti, stickers, stencils, murals, etc… It was a legendary space, and everyone who passed through had stories to tell. The building has since been sold to developers and the colorful exterior has been painted beige. The following story concerns the marks that were left on the interior of the Sydney Hih. The story was written by Steven Potter and posted on JSOnline.
The following text and photos were taken from JSOnline. The first photo is a picture of the west side of the Sydney Hih in 2002 before they ripped down the freeway overpass and painted the building beige. The last photo is the Sydney Hih as it stands now. For more information on the development plans visit JSOnline here.
Developer Salvages Art That Was Created On The Spot:
Since being built in 1876 to house offices, a laboratory and a pharmacy, the enormous Cream City brick building known as Sydney Hih has been home to an eclectic mix of people and passions.Previous tenants have operated a Mexican restaurant, record label, craft shops and even an underground nightclub. Most recently, the space at Old World 3rd St. and W. Juneau Ave. has been a haven for musicians and artists. And those artists left their mark on the building - literally.
"We found art on doors, windows, walls and everywhere else," said Rob Ruvin, who bought the building last year and plans to develop it and adjacent land into retail and office space as well as a hotel and condos next year.
"Some of it's graffiti art, some of it's portraits, other paintings or poetry," he continued. "It seems just about everyone who came through the doors left something behind, whether it's just a note or a piece of art."
Ruvin salvaged about 100 pieces and recently showcased a few at Elsa's on the Park. "We saved it so people can have a glimpse behind the doors of Sydney Hih," he said.
The exhibit came down last week.
"Initially, (the art) seemed kind of random," Ruvin recalled. "But we've found there's a lot of thought and heart that went into the work."
One of the building's more prolific artists/tenants, a tattoo artist who identifies himself as Pooh Bear, says the art holds special meaning.
"A lot of it was political or very personal; it was like my diary," said the 28-year-old Milwaukeean. He was surprised to learn that his and others' works were being shown in the downtown restaurant.
"We were wondering and worried about what happened to it," he said, adding that he would either like the art returned or to be compensated for it. "Some of it isn't finished."
Ruvin originally planned to show the artwork in a Manhattan restaurant but has decided to contact as many artists as possible before making any decisions.
"We'll continue to gather more artifacts, compile more history, conduct interviews and then determine the next step," he said, adding that he doesn't want to "do anything against the artists' wishes."
"We've thought about a number of options, possibly even incorporating some of it back into the building," he said. "A coffee table book might be the best answer."
Here are a few other interesting before and after pictures of the Sydney Hih I found.
A House Divided
Posted July 24, 2006 by in Political Art
Milwaukee like many cities around the country has been seeing a condo boom in the past few years. Gentrification is redefining the character of long established neighborhoods, driving up housing prices, pushing up property taxes, and driving some people from neighborhoods where they have lived in their whole lives. This (very large) stencil was recently spotted on Milwaukee's east side.
Knit Washington Square Park
Posted May 21, 2006 by in Events
Massive Knit is holding a "knitting mob" dedicated to the memory of pionerring activist-writer Jane Jacobs. Bring your knitting needles to Washington Square Park at 5:30 on Tuesday, May 23, toparticipate in this excellent collective project:
We would like to provide a collective, connected, community of individuals to honor the late Jane Jacobs who passed away on April 25, 2006. Jane Jacobs was an activist, a community leader, a writer, an urban planner, and a hero to many people. One of her great feats was as the chairman of the Joint Committee to Stop the Lower Manhattan Expressway. This expressway would have run through Washington Square Park. We plan to gather in this park on the 23rd of May to memorialize her and her ideas. We want to convene as a community in a loving and subtle way, honoring the park as well as her memory. We plan to do this by knitting the park together.Knitting is a solitary art form, often resulting in gifts for others. A knitting circle allows one to be social with this solitary art. A city, likewise, is a solitary place to live. There is so much crowding and destination in daily life that one often gets lost in their own world. Parks allow people to come together and be alone peacefully in their solitary life and form temporary and permanent communities. Parks and knitting circles are both public and accessible: but private enough that one can have meaningful communication and a community within their confines.
Using individual sensibilities. We plan to create an open structure in the park. Connecting various elements of the park together such as trees, benches and other structures, we will connect a community and a memory. As people enter the park (the meeting spot is under the arch) they will be directed to a spot in the park to start knitting. People can arrive anytime starting at 5.30 p.m. and stay as long as they like. They should tie, knit, string together long thin pieces of material, and before leaving, tie the material off to a piece of the park, or another individuals yarn. By the end of the evening we should have a string of material connecting the park together. We will have connected to the park and to the other individuals as a community.
Check out their blog at massiveknit.blogspot.com for more information and good discussion of Jane Jacobs' ideas and the city's ugly proposed remodelling of Washington Square Park. I wouldn't miss this one for anything.
Artists Call, Participate in a Traveling Exhibition on the Housing Crisis in LA
Posted February 8, 2006 by in Events
The Southern California Library (SCL) is seeking artists including performers, musicians, spoken word, and multimedia artists to participate in a traveling exhibition. If you have work or if you are interested in creating work related to the "housing crisis" in Los Angeles, they are looking for you!
The mural pictured here was painted by Eva Cockcroft and hangs on the inside wall of SCL, beside the "Wall of Honor." The "Wall of Honor" commemorates family, heroes, and friends.
DEADLINE IS MARCH 1!
Submission content should relate to these themes:
- Housing: history, memory, oral history, mapping, activism
- Land: public place, (re) development, urban planning
- Homelessness
- Gentrification/ Relocation/ Displacement
- Concepts of sustainability
- Environmental & social justice, past/ present local political movements
- Zapatista/ Indigenous Movements: Global comparisons of land, space, housing, urban planning
Artists who have an interest in creative political education, including graffiti and conceptual artists, that will help tell the story of the "housing crisis" in L.A. are encouraged to apply. For more information and application, please contact Joy at (323) 687-6743 or lunakul@yahoo.com
Philadelphia Murals
Posted January 2, 2006 by in In the News
The Washington Post had a nice article a few days back on Philadelphia's extraordinary public murals:
White-haired Marian Custus peers out her door where a row of elegant townhouses once stood. The owners fled, and crack and arson crept in. All became rubble. Two years ago the artists arrived and enlisted neighborhood kids and painted two radiant murals on the sides of rowhouses, known collectively as "Holding Grandmother's Quilt.""Do you know how lucky I am?" Custus confides to a visitor. "It's like waking up every morning and having a museum painting in your neighborhood. I feel so lucky to live here."
No city in America has so much mural art, a brick wall poetry that reflects every mood in Philadelphia. There are portraits of Dr. J and Frank Sinatra and a brilliant mural of Jackie Robinson sliding home. But as touching are murals of neighborhood children and a beloved cop who died in Iraq, a "Healing Wall" that stretches 300 feet along the railway tracks and a 50-foot Brobdingnagian garden mural that dominates a now-drug blasted corner in the Mantua neighborhood.
Full article here. Many of Philadelphia's public murals were initiated and funded as an anti-graffiti program. Here's a program that actually defines quality of life positively, cultivating beauty on the city's walls. NYC's politicians could take a lesson in constructive thinking from Philly!
Photo at top from Fivefity_Tom's flickr photostream.
DIY Park
Posted December 12, 2005 by in Culture Jamming / Ads & Adbusting
Speaking of badass non-confrontational temporary street art, San Francisco art collective Rebar pulled off an incredible intervention last month by turning a parking space into a park. Armed with rolls of sod, a shade tree, a bench, and nickels for the meter, they created an oasis of greenspace in the middle of downtown. Their explanation is smart as hell and worth reading in full:
The initial PARK(ing) intervention occurred on November 16, 2005 from noon until 2 p.m., without incident or interference from any level of institutional authority. Sort of makes you wonder what else you can do in a parking space . . .
Providing temporary public open space in a privatized part of town.One of the more critical issues facing outdoor urban human habitat is the increasing paucity of space for humans to rest, relax, or just do nothing.
For example, more than 70% of San Francisco's downtown outdoor space is dedicated to the private vehicle, while only a fraction of that space is allocated to the public realm.
Feeding the meter of a parking space enables one to rent precious downtown real estate, typically on a 1/2 hour to 2 hour basis. What is the range of possible occupancy activities for this short-term lease?
Full description here. These kinds of imaginative interventions are really powerful --- we could use similar efforts here in New York!
Similar: Heavy Trash confronts gated communities & Chicago artists flip the script on Housing Authority. Found via Eyeteeth and Stay Free!, two excellent sites well worth reading every day.
Taped Message Seeks to Stop Demolition!
Posted October 7, 2005 by in Housing, Land & Development
While riding towards the Manhattan Bridge the other day I could not help but notice a very long "taped up" message on the brick wall that marks out the corner of Flushing and Navy. At first glance the words looked so uniform and unassuming that one might think a City official put them up herself. A closer look reveals a different story that calls for halting the destruction of "Admiral's Row." Built during the Civil War the houses have been vacant since the 70's falling into a beautiful state of decay and disrepair. During the summer months the houses are blanketed by foilage, barely visible from the road. But as the year goes on and the leaves fall the houses come into view once again--a quiet mystery making little sense in a Brooklyn that has been witness to such unbound and at times dysfunctional development. The city is in the process of handing over the property to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation which has promised to demolish the buildings in favor of a supermarket. The neigborhood actually does need a supermarket but is this the only possible site for one? One has to wonder about the hidden handshakes behind the proposed development of a site that has been struggling for 40 years to achieve landmark status. Although this is a thorny issue it seems that in an ideal world the site could be preserved and a supermarket could be built nearby, but as always development has an impaired vision, especially with regard to history.
The plea on the wall reads as follows--
"NOT DEATH ROW! A REPRIEVE, THEY'RE INNOCENT! COME VISIT ADMIRALS ROW NATIONAL HERITAGE SITE, THE UNITED STATES NAVY'S PRIDE 1864 until 1967. LOOK INTO THE PAST AND KNOW THEIR BEAUTY AND HISTORY. IMAGINE THESE PRISTINE, MANICURED MANSIONS WITH FAMILIES, CEREMONIES, RECEPTIONS, AND ON . . . LANDMARK ADMIRALS ROW! PRESERVE OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME. DO NOT ALLOW DEMOLITION HERE! THIS IS NOT A LOCAL ISSUE! GET LOUD!"
My only question is how can this be anything but a local issue?
(Since the day I took the pictures a few more words have gone up specifically asking Governor Pataki to landmark the site while questioning just how such development could occur during an election year?)
Buy Crack Here
Posted August 30, 2005 by in Housing, Land & Development
Reader Todd emails a fascinating story:
I'm a social worker for Children's Protective Serives here in Pittsburgh PA. I'm also a fan of street art, going through the city, often to the roughest areas, I see a lot of it, some of it very good. The attached picture is one I spotted in Pittsburgh's Hill District, formerly the place to go for jazz and good food, now one of the most blighted areas in the city. I noticed this tag a month ago. There's no real technique to it, some guy with a can of spray paint and an unsteady hand slapped this on a crumbling wall and took off. The fact that they used bright orange for their color, and chose a street that cut right through the Hill, to the downtown theater and shopping districcts put a smile on my face. Soem will see this as a joke; some will see this as serious. I see this as a middle finger to the people who have turned a blind eye to the poison that is flooding our city, and being peddled by pubescent soldiers. I've been stopped more times than I can count by children trying to sell me any type of drug you can think of. It's down today, a coat of red paint washed it away, and a couple more bricks have been knocked out of the wall inthe process. They took away the grafitti, but the kids that are trying to sell me heroin are still hard at work.
There's an update on Todd's flickr page that indicates that someone is making a campaign of identifying alleged crack houses as a way of shaming the dealers or the cops, or both. Reminds me of Dan Witz's brilliant Black Hoodies marking heroin hotspots in the Lower East Side.
Check out Todd's flickr for details and an interesting discussion, and browse around for some great pics of Pittsburgh street art. And, everyone, keep sending us tips and photos. Thanks!
UPDATE: Reader Paul writes in:
I've seen the kind of graffiti Todd mentions a few times in my neighborhood in (mostly poor, definitely minority white) North Minneapolis. It's pretty clear its intent is to shame someone, usually the owner of the house the tag is painted on. But about a month ago, leaving a N.Mpls coffeeshop where I'd been meeting with friends to plan the first annual Peace Games (cooperation and youth empowerment through art and sports), I spotted the attached graffiti. Just as crudely sprayed as Todd's, but every bit as powerful (and I like the site-specificity of it). Another shot here.
Banksy in the West Bank
Posted August 5, 2005 by in Housing, Land & Development
Banksy recently made a trip to the West Bank, where he painted massive images of escape and freedom on the 25-foot high "seperation wall" the Israeli government built to divide Israel from the Palestinian territories. The pieces themselves --- scissors cutting the wall, ladders, windows that look out at idyllic scenery, a girl floating by clutching ballons --- are astounding. They're huge in scope, many of them are mixed media, and their vision of simple, joyous human freedom and possibilty is almost heartbreakingly beautiful, especially as they have Banksy's characteristic humor. The fact that they're painted on the "apartheid wall" --- a much-condemned symbol of hopelessness and oppression --- is an act of bravery and generosity. Banksy says:
The Israeli government is building a wall surrounding occupied Palestinian territories. It stands three times the height of the Berlin wall and will eventually run for over 700km --- the distance from London to Zurich.The wall is illegal under international law and essentially turns Palestine into the world's largest open prison.
It also makes it the ultimate activity holiday destination for graffiti writers.
This is Banksy's greatest work. It shows the best that street art can offer: a clear, direct, challenge to forcibly enclosed space, and a vision of a better world. Pictures and a brief report are available on Banksy's news page. Wooster has more pictures, too. See coverage in: BBC & the Guardian.
For more background on the wall, see Electronic Intifada, StopTheWall.org, and Ha'aretz's special section. For more street art at the wall, see our interview with Arofish.
ABC No Rio Anniversary
Posted July 28, 2005 by in Events
This weekend ABC No Rio celebrates its 25th anniversary with a lineup of art, music, and performance that showcases the legendary art/activist squat's place in Lower East Side culture. The open house Friday night at 7 will feature art by Christopher Cardinale, Fly, and Seth Tobocman, and the weekend continues with a whole host of great events.
ABC No Rio was founded after a collective of artists took over an abandoned building on New Years Eve, 1979 to stage the Real Estate Show, an exhibition about housing and land use issues. The show was shut down by the police, and the city let the artists use an empty storefront at 156 Rivington as a concession. Over 25 years later, the collective that runs ABC No Rio is trying to raise about $150,000 to officially purchase and renovate the building. You can donate here, read more about their history here, and get the full details on the anniversary celebration here.
Exploring the High Line
Posted July 13, 2005 by in Housing, Land & Development
Charles at Stay Free! has posted a description and flickr photoset of a recent excursion to one of New York's worst kept secrets: the High Line, an abandoned elevated freight railway that runs through Manhattan's West Side from the Meatpacking District to Midtown:
Three weeks ago, Carrie, my brother (Steven), and I headed to Manhattan's west side to climb the High Line, an elevated rail line above 10th Avenue (mostly). The current High Line is a remnant of a much larger elevated freight rail system, and it has been out of use since 1980. The trackbed provides a glimpse of what New York would look like if it were abandoned and turned over to nature.The High Line starts at 33d Street and 12th Avenue near the MTA's Hudson Yards and runs to Gansevoort Street and Washington Avenue in the Meatpacking District. I have wanted to walk the line for years and it was exactly as much fun as I thought it would be.
You can read the full article here, but the real gems are in the captions to their photo gallery. There are tips on entry and safety, and the photos are fantastic: see especially the Cost & Revs roller, the sculpture garden, and the spider.
Altered Signs in Occupied Palestine
Posted July 11, 2005 by in Culture Jamming / Ads & Adbusting
This happened some time ago, but is totally worth mentioning.
On June 4th, 2005,Signs of Truth, a group of Israeli and international activists acting in solidarity with local Palestinians, altered signs in the West Bank. The day was the 38th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Activists changed a sign to the largest settlement in the northern West Bank, Ariel, to say "stolen land" in Hebrew, Arabic and English.
Al Jazeera reports:
"Another sign that indicates the distance to Ariel from an Israeli checkpoint 12km away reminds drivers of the ongoing occupation and of the separation wall being built around Palestinian towns. "1967: Occupation; 2005: Apartheid Wall in Salfit" read the signs."
Its really inspiring and impressive to see these tactics being used in such a clever way. Some of the signs were pulled off so well, which must have invoked such an emotional reaction with the people who saw them. Its moments like these that have some potential to jolt people out of an ordinary routine and experience, which can (hopefully) change how the occupation of Palestine is spoken about.
Philly Mosaics
Posted July 1, 2005 by in Housing, Land & Development
Your Mind Better Be Blowing and Soon has wonderful photos of Isaiah Zagar's mosaic murals in Philadelphia. I happened across Zagar's South St. murals in Philly a few years ago and was amazed --- think several blocks that look like Brooklyn's Broken Angel --- but didn't know their story until just now.
Influenced by folk art as well as Picasso and Gaudi, Isaiah Zagar has made these public mosaics his life work, with the goal of "making the city of Philadelphia PA USA into a labyrinthine mosaic museum that incorporates all my varied knowledge and skills." One mosaic covers the South Street Magic Garden, a community garden that was built out of an abandoned lot. The owner of the lot --- who first left it empty for years, then allowed it to be transformed into a beautiful public space --- now wants to sell it, and has ordered that the mural be taken down. Zagar is trying to raise $200,000 in the next two years to save the garden.
You can read more about Isaiah Zagar on his site, and see photos of over a dozen murals here. Thanks to Charles for the link and the photos.
This land's not your land
Posted June 28, 2005 by in Housing, Land & Development
Last week the Supreme Court reached a decision in Kelo v. New London concerning eminent domain (ab)use. The case involved 19 homeowners who refused to hand over their homes to the city of New London, CT for private development featuring offices, a hotel, and a "pedestrian 'riverwalk' along the Thames River." The case could have far-reaching and devasting implications for many neighborhoods and has been closely watched by many in the New York area. In her dissenting opinion, Justice O'Connor stated that:
“Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random.The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms. As for the victims, the government now has license to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more....”"Under the banner of economic development, all private property is now vulnerable to being taken and transferred to another private owner, so long as it might be upgraded."
The problem of course is just what contitutes an "upgrade." Arguably any property whatsoever is up for grabs as long as someone with money comes along and says they can do something "better" with it. The most important issue at stake --- one which the Connecticut homeowners based much of their argument on --- was the definition of "public use." Historically, emiment domain cases have usually involved the seizure of private land for public use, such as railroads and hospitals. In writing the majority opinion, Justice Stevens transformed the meaning of "use" into "purpose," which effectively allows seizure of land for private development by private corporations. This begs the question of who knows what is best for you and your neighborhood, town or city.
Closer to home, a disturbing story is playing out on East 3rd St. The owners of a 15-apartment, rent-stabilized building are attempting to evict all the tenants so they can have the entire building to themselves. The owners --- a married couple with one child --- claim they will convert the building into a 5-bedroom, 6-bathroom, 11,600 square-foot apartment.
Landlords have the right to "recover" rent-stabilized apartments for personal use, but the tenants facing eviction suspect that the building will be converted to condos or resold at market rate once everyone's out. As noted in the NY Times:
"The size of the space that somebody claims they intend to live in must pass what lawyers call the 'giggle test' --- the notion that the claim is believable and will not cause a judge to start to giggle. The idea that someone would take 15 units with 60 rooms as a primary residence is absurd."
The case is currently playing out in the courts; a ruling for the landlords would give landlords and speculators yet another tool to use against tenants. How long 'til the bubble bursts?
Image at top by Eric Drooker.
The Change You Want to See
Posted March 23, 2005 by in Housing, Land & Development
For anyone who missed it, be sure to check out the pictures from last Sunday's art-making at The Change You Want to See space.
There is another planning meeting to counter rezoning in Williamsburg this Thursday, 7-9pm at Funhouse, as well as another art-making day this Sunday at the Change You Want to See. For background info on the groups involved and the issues at stake, check out CommunityPlan.org as well as our previous post on the subject....
Arts meeting on Williamsburg rezoning
Posted March 14, 2005 by in Events
This Thursday evening, the good people at Williamsburg's The Change You Want To See gallery space are hosting an emergency arts meeting to plan creative organizing against the city's proposed rezoning of the Williamsburg & Greenpoint waterfront.
They've been working with a bunch of arts organizations, as well as community-based groups like the North Brooklyn Alliance and the Williamsburg Warriors and doing strong, door-to-door outreach to gain community support for a Community Plan that would contain the height of new buildings, create low-income housing, preserve small businesses & light industry, and otherwise respect the neighborhood and its residents.
There will also be a hands-on art-making workshop this Sunday (March 20) at the gallery from 12-5. They're working on some pretty rad visual ideas, from props for demonstrations to street stuff...
Whether you live in the neighborhood or not --- I don't --- rezoning, eminent domain, and overzealous development will affect all Brooklyn residents (and Manhattan residents --- and Port Chester residents, New London residents, etc.) in the years to come. Drop us a line at visual.resistance [at] gmail.com if you're interested in getting involved. For mor background on Williamsburg/Greenpoint rezoning, check out the North Brooklyn Alliance website.
Gated Communities?
Posted March 6, 2005 by in Housing, Land & Development
This past Thursday, March 3rd, Mayor Bloomberg announced a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the Atlantic Yards Project in Brooklyn. The memo officially accepts Forest City Ratner Companies' plan to proceed with the development at the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues in downtown Brooklyn.
About three weeks earlier Christo and Jeanne-Claude's The Gates were historically unfurled. Bloomberg marked the occasion by saying, "I can't promise, particularly since this is New York, that everyone will love 'The Gates,' but I guarantee that they will all talk about it," going on to say that “that’s really what innovative, provocative art is supposed to do.” Setting aside Bloomberg’s notions of the purposes of art, his predictions were correct. Everyone--whether they enjoyed it, didn’t get it, or stayed away from it--was at least discussing it. And, as long as you were talking about it, you couldn’t get away from the oft-repeated financial consequences of the exhibit. 21 million dollars. Irrespective of the artists’ voiced intentions, this mantra reframed the discussion.
Emphasizing the “non-commercial” and “non-corporate” agenda of the project, it was repeated again and again that it was a “gift” to the people of NYC. Undeniably the financial benefits to the city have given traction to views that “legitimate” public art must be profitable as well as spectacle-driven. Without question, this creates a divide between the public and the artist, narrowing what is exhibited while insiduiously re-defining the function of art in public spaces. This requires an artist to belong, aspire to, or be connected with a certain economic sphere; and frankly, smells of modernized "noblesse oblige"--we're rich, let's give these commoners a bit of our exquisite good taste--bracketed by "inclusive" liberal language. In one example, writers for the Project for Public Spaces emphasized the “openness and inclusiveness” of the work, describing how they “lost” themselves “in the beauty of the park in winter.”
This aspect of the project has been particularly celebrated ("bringing the city together" in countless iterations), and, directly or indirectly, seems to have helped to curb dissent about it or any other private investment for the good of the public. Consider this—Mike Bloomberg waited until Jan. 22nd to officially accept the project, with a starting date of Feb. 12th, ending on Feb. 28th. The International Olympic Committee ended their 4 1/2 day visit to NYC on Feb. 24th. With the West-Side arena (apparently, an essential component of selling the city as a viable candidate) getting so much press in recent weeks, one has to suspect that Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s gates were meant to do more than simply trace out the contours of Central Park in a warm orange glow. With the image of the “World’s Second Home” at stake, what better way to quell dischord than by finally allowing the rallying spectacle of The Gates? And the emphasis is on allowance, for despite Christo's claim that their works are "a scream of freedom," the artists overestimate their control if they deny the effects of answering to government officials and the placement of a privatized spectacle within the public discourse.*
Mayor Bloomberg chooses to cast himself as a great patron and supporter of the arts. Indeed, by his statistics, he is the greatest proponent of public art in mayoral history. He makes much of his "everyman-billionaire" reputation, and supposedly takes the subway on a regular basis. He expresses reverence for New York's cultural institutions and has overseen numerous art installations displayed on public land. In speeches, he applauds New York City's public spaces, famously re-opening City Hall Park and is, of course, after 25 years, the mayor who said "yes" to the mounting of The Gates in Central Park.
He is also the mayor that denied use of this same park to half a million New Yorkers this past summer who wished to rally there; the same mayor who has recently cracked down on unsolicited public art; and notoriously, the same mayor who is developing New York City at an unprecedented rate with little or no regard for the concerns raised by those most affected. Courtesy of Bloomberg and members of his administration, we are constantly hearing about the benefits of private investment for the good of the public. Specifically, the arena proposals in Manhattan and Brooklyn (don't forget the Frank Gehry cache!), the real estate development in Williamsburg, and countless other projects. How is it that all these investments for the public good receive little or no input from the public themselves? When and if they do enter the public debate, an inevitable outcome has already been secured and what follows only mimics a democratic process.
To find out how to get involved in some of the communities affected visit the following webpages:
Develop Don't Destory Brooklyn
Hell's Kitchen/Hudson Yards Alliance
Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks and Planning
[*It is worth noting that there is a long history of government influence in the allocation of so-called “benevolent” programs, “gifts” to the public, creation of popular movements and the development of land for public use. A great example of this is how the Abstract Expressionist movement in the US was co-opted for its apparent anti-communist sentiment. It is now well-known that the Congress for Cultural Freedom was funded by the CIA and, in conjunction with a Rockefeller-owned MOMA, an artistic movement was branded.]
Cell phone image by Mike of Satan's Laundromat. Original available at http://www.satanslaundromat.com/sl/archives/000481.html
Artists Against Williamsburg/Greenpoint Rezoning Plan
Posted February 26, 2005 by in Artwork Needed
The Change You Want to See Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn would like to invite you to huddle up this Sunday at 3pm. We're drafting a dream team of creative folk to take on Dr. Doctoroff and the city's insidious Williamsburg/Greenpoint Rezoning Plan. This is one of the most aggressive rezonings in NYC history. Don't get me wrong... brownfields are eyesores and a waste of space. And they make your hair fall out if you live too close to them. Development can be a great thing. It can revitalize the local economy, give businesses a boost. But there's good development and there's bad development.Come plug in at this planning meeting so's we can raise a ruckus and paint a picture of the world that we want to see.
WHERE: The Change You Want to See Gallery, 84 Havemeyer St @
Metropolitan Ave (across from Black Betty's)
WHEN: 3pm, Sunday, February 27
WHAT: planning powwow to save our city
RSVP: beka [at] notanalternative.net
The city's plan will create as many as 22 new 40-story luxury condos along the East River, will privatize and limit access to the waterfront, it provides no minimum requirement on low-income housing, will kick out the light industries in W'burg (metal shops, furniture shops, etc), won't add parks or green space, won't re-open the firehouse, won't increase L or G train service, but will bring 40,000 new higher-income residents to the hood. Instant Soho-fication on steroids. You, me, local industry and businesses, and long-time residents...PRICED OUT.
We have to move fast...there are just a few months to affect the process. A number of bad apples with dollar signs in their eyes and designs on development have partnered with the Mayor. They seek to push the diversity and creative energy that defines the Big Apple toward the fate that has destroyed the core of so many small towns across the country. There's been a lot of resistance to their rotten plan, from religious institutions, community groups, schools, and local residents. But the creative community needs to step up to the plate to support this work. We can fight back to stop the homogenization and borification of our neighborhoods. To preserve the diverse cultural landscape of our mixed-use, mixed income communities.
Invitees Include Reps From: Art Hijack, Art is Permitted Everywhere, Autonomedia,
AWAG (Anti-War Action Group), Axis of Eve, Black Label Bike Club, Blacked Out Media, Block Magazine, Bowery Poetry Club, Breaking in Style, Cinders, Circus Amok, Complacent.org, Flavorpill, Glassbead Video Collective, Greene Dragon, HOWL Festival, Hungry March Band, Independent Media Center, L Magazine, Madagascar Institute, Music for America, NoRNC Bike Project, North Brooklyn Alliance, Not an Alternative/The Change You Want to See, Oh De Twirlette, Ohms Video Collective, Repo History, Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, Ring Out, Rubulad, THAW (Theaters Against the War), The City Reliquary, The Eh Team, The Lucky Cat, The Roundtable, The Williamsburg Warriors, Toyshop Collective, Visual Resistance, Vomitorium
About us: The Change You Want to See Gallery and Convergence Stage is a project of Not an Alternative, a Brooklyn-based arts collective. In support of creative resistance to the Republican National Convention last summer, Not an Alternative offered resources to artists and groups in the form of a space, arts materials, production crews, and organizing support. Not an Alternative also produced and curated larger-scale events including Majority Whipped at WhiteBox in Chelsea, and the NEO-CONey Island Block Party and Fashion Show.
