The Power of One

So I was thinking today about the whole congestion pricing debate going on in New York (yes I am for it, in conjunction with citywide market rate parking and transportation improvements) and about the politicians who are opposed. Frequently the argument is that it would hurt their low and middle income constituents, which is a statement studies don't support (http://www.transalt.org/newsroom/releases/115, http://www.drummajorinstitute.org/library/report.php?ID=52).

And then I imagined talking to one of the politicians (I'll pick Anthony Weiner, because he's reasonable. So reasonable that he has been the closest to making me second guess congestion pricing), and asking, "Do you really believe that? I mean, have you actually taken the time to go around and talk to them?" and I thought about talking to Letitia James (my rep) and being able to say that I could name the people on my block who support it. And those I know who might be opposed, well I could just talk to them and maybe change their minds.And thinking about that reminded me of "the power of one" - the ability of just one person to make a difference. The idea that if we each go out and have conversations with our neighbors, if we engage one-to-one then we really can make a difference. The "power of one" is a really powerful tool that is so often overlooked by political and environmental campaigns. Sure a big rally can motivate a lot of people - but aren't the people showing up already the motivated ones?

I hope to keep working with my artistic practice, on realizing the power of one. One investigating and expanding our own particular powers to make a difference.

Image courtesy http://www.sethwhite.org/ through whom I plan to live vicariously for a little while....

I <3 community walk

When you work on projects that involve a lot of mapping, you learn to love mapping tools. There may be better ones out there, but I have grown fond of Community Walk. I just used them to do a quick map of the Highbridge project, I See You in Me (The Path of Water in NYC):

CommunityWalk Map - I See You in Me / The Path of Water in NYC

I did it mostly to get a guess of how long the project will need to be, about a mile. Sure after a more than 70-mile long project, it seems easy, but this one is a little more work intensive...

More images/information on the project.

Why (and how) we share

I've talked before about the collective power of artists and why we should share. I've been seeing it repeated on Sellout and in the comments over there recently too. (Basically it is the idea that by sharing resources and knowledge we can actually create a greater wealth of opportunities and resources). In light of that, I was trying to figure out the best way to share those resources with one another. Of course a forum seems like the obvious answer - but that can easily become unweildy and devalues quickly. (It would be hard to replicate the success of chow nee chowhound).

I will start by offering what I know here in these pages...
I will start with the basics, some good places to get reference materials-

• Fractured Atlas: Good place to learn more (professional development), get more (fiscal sponsorship, health insurance, liability insurance [for events, film production & public art], publicize (promote & learn marketing), and get some member discounts.
• Sellout: Participate in an ongoing discussion regarding artist issues.
• Chicago Artist Resource: a fantastic site with loads of information and interviews for artists everywhere (most of the content is not location specific). Check out articles and links to other resources on your practice (incl. health & safety, health insurance links, public art, community & social issue arts, magazines & journals, and a great collection of artist and art professional's stories), career (incl. strategic planning, marketing & promotion, community, organizations & unions) and business (incl. branding, financial planning, legal issues, and advocacy)
• NYFA: New York Foundation for the Arts is a great site (you have to register to use it) which provides an international listing of resources, called NYFA Source. It is a searchable database of residencies, grants, space, apprenticeships, etc). They also list classifieds - jobs & opportunities.
• International Sculpture Center: Given that the definition of 'sculpture' has expanded to include installation, video and some time-based works, these resources are for more than sculptors. They host a sculptor community forum, artist's registry, and resources.
• Artists Space: The most useful (anecdotally) non-fee based, uncurated online image registry.
• Artist Career Guide: Right now it is mostly a promo site for Jackie's upcoming book, but she is posting interviews with professionals semi-regularly (currently there are interviews with two curators), but it also lists workshops she is teaching - and she can definitely whip your under-promoted butt into shape.

Anyone know of others I should include?

Note to self, other posts should include: grant writing tips, making sticky websites, the theory of becoming an expert, online fundraising...

In trade, anyone know a financial planner who works with artists (needs to know our particular situation) based here in NYC?

Found the image on: http://www.business-improvement.org/.

What ever happened to smart art?

Don't get me wrong, there are some really smart and clever artists working out in the world, and I really like a lot of what I see.

But last night I went to see the Agnes Denes lecture at the Drawing Center and found out just how complicated her work is. She was "making the invisible visible" by using math, symbolism and structure to investigate human relationships. That all sounds really simple until you hear her explain it. I think about the other big things that artists were investigating in previous generations, and it all seems to be heavy on the the thought and, well, conceptual end. I'm not saying that climate change, or human emotions or other topics aren't big, we just don't seem to present them in the same manner.

I was thinking that maybe this is because those artists who came before us, already broke it down. They erased the barriers between art and math, science, philosophy, psychology, etc., so that basically we don't have to go to the trouble of adding all the language on top of the work. We move fluidly between lots of different circles of study because the bridges between them already exist. So what is the new frontier, what hasn't been done?

I'm most interested in creating interactions between web 2.0 and artistic practices. How can they inform one another and use one another. I know there are lots of other artists out there doing this, I'm certainly not claiming pioneership (in fact I am probably a little behind the times), but I do think it holds the most interesting exploration opportunities.

Just think what Agnes Denes (and her little man pyramids) could do with social networking.

Good quotes:
"thoughts are like crystals, one builds off of the other"
"art as an incubator of disiciplines"

I also really was touched at how she referred to the works as "my" wheat field and "my" forest. And hearing her talk about the beauty of the wheatfield was so moving.

Apologies for the more rambling and incoherent nature of this post (more than usual) - I have the "I feel woozy and incoherent" head cold going around.

who pays whom?

Disclaimer: I work for a professional development program that is offered for free to participants around the country. It is paid for by state and local arts agencies and organizations. It is incredibly affective, and is part of the change in the system, but it serves a small number of people.

I was having a conversation the other day about the art market (yeh, i have those conversations a lot). This one was about the fact that artists aren't willing to invest in their careers in order to grow. Its a common practice in pretty much every other business on the planet. Invest in new equipment or software to increase productivity and boost profits. Invest in a consultant to create a strategic plan to grow and boost profits. Invest in hiring more people to increase productivity and boost profits. You get the idea.

There is also the personal investment for growth. Loads of people every year go into massive debt to subsidize their law degree, medical degree of MBA. They do this with the belief (usually true) that with this degree their earning potential will be much higher.

We were talking about why artists don't believe in paying the high price for learning the skills to grow their careers. In particular we were discussing professional development programs. At first I agreed, thinking why don't artists pay for this kind of training? Especially if they see proven results from those who have taken it. Well, here's why they don't: the system is broken.

All those other people investing, are pretty much guaranteed a return on their investment (with work). Artists just aren't. The return on investment (ROI) is just not that high. Even if they do succeed at getting more shows and grants, and can negotiate better deals the pay still isn't that significant (unless you are the 1% of 1% who become art stars). Sure, its enough to live on and continue doing your work, but its no doctor, lawyer or CEO salary.*

Here's another problem. A lot of us already did invest. A LOT. A lot of us have our terminal degree (until this PhD in Fine Arts fad hits critical mass), we have the MFAs. And we paid dearly for them. Probably as much as some MBAs (I know my debt until I retire is enough to rent a small house in some urban areas). So we have made that investment and it probably hasn't paid off. I know my school did no such thing as professional development which actually prepared you for creating what is, essentially, a business.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed and learned a lot during my MFA, but really, it was like a really really expensive 2 year residency program. A time to focus on your art and develop your work.

And another thing - I know plenty of artists who are feeling really tapped out from giving away work for auctions, getting underpaid to put on great shows for non-profit arts organizations or state agencies. We won't pay entry fees or subsidize the gallery system. We won't pay for consulting or promoting or transport or framing or any of the other things to do with a show we may or may not sell from.

So how can we change all this. Well thats something that takes looking at the entire landscape. The system really is broken. From a misconception by the public and the government about the value of arts. To the hierarchy that exists where the artists are at the bottom instead of the top. To our own undervaluing of what we give to the world.

Where to start? Start with your own circle of friends. Start with talking about it, come up with some creative solutions and help each other grow and learn. Share your knowledge of marketing, planning, fundraising, negotiating, etc. A rising tide and all...

*I have been able to observe and attend a few professional development programs and some are really effective. I also have a pretty good background in business and when I applied that to my art - plus just took the discipline and commitment up a notch (all investment), I have reaped tangible rewards.

With a little help from my friends

(cross-posted from my new project site, seedingthecity.org):

Help me chose a summary statement

So I have written a couple of different summary statements. Which do you like better?

“Seeding the City” is a public art project that seeks to plant “seeds” of thought in the urban environment on challenges of climate change and potential for remediation. Social networking will determine the location for installation of individual green roof sample sites. Included with the installation will be educational and community building tools, and methods to trace the growth of the network. Online resources will include mapping of the project, tools for tracking local urban heat island effect and resources to recreate the project worldwide.

“Seeding the City” is an art project that utilizes social networking to site urban interventions in the form of green roof modules. It capitalizes on community building to introduce urban environmental issues and remediation tools. The modules and their accompanying flags and street level signage will track the growth of the network throughout the neighborhood. Online resources will include mapping of the project, tools for tracking local urban heat island effect and resources to recreate the project worldwide.

Let me know in the comments!

It is the title after all

Just an update on what is "in progress" around here...

1. Most of my energy right now is devoted to the new green roofs project, for which I just launched a new (very beta!) website: http://www.seedingthecity.org.
2. There is also a lot of thought going into a project I am doing at Highbridge Park, that follows the path of the Croton Aqueduct as it came into Manhattan. There is some cool facilities based architecture up there. And I am reading an interesting book called "Water for Gotham." (I love urban history - just ask me about Five Points!)
3. I want to do a soundwalk/audio tour based on water in NYC - either it will follow the Croton Aqueduct Path (from Highbridge, to Central Park and ending at NYC Public Library at Bryant Park [which used to be a resevoir]) or along the original shoreline. And through this project link history with the present and future. All this inspired by And While London Burns.
   
4. Keeping up with upcoming shows around HWL: Screening of the film by Justin Lange at "Eco-centric" @ Sonoma County Art Museum, and at "EPA: Environmental Performance Actions" @ Exit Art, and - this should be a fun one! - a showing of how the project was created as part of "Feedback" at Eyebeam. (I am hopeful that we can show the maps, tricycle and chalker as part of this exhibit).

Of course there are other things out there happening and I still have other projects I want to develop (including the water use project, the run off/bus shelter project, the disposable culture project - so many!) And there appear to be a lot of good shows (well, interesting at least) to see out in Chelsea.

I did get a chance to see a couple of notable shows in London this month. Besides partaking in the hauntingly informative and moving "And While London Burns" I also stopped in to see "Shibboleth" at the Tate. I have to just put this out there - I love the Unilever series. I really really do, big corporate infusions of cash and a truly massive space and freedom for talented artists to create something, well, great is really powerful. Doris Salcedo has done some pretty powerful works (including the Atrabiliarios) and the Shibboleth is profound for more than its technical wizardry (and the funny signs warning people not to fall in). I think viewing the crack in the floor in that space when there are just a few people in there with you would be moving (unfortunately it was packed when I was there), even with the crowds there is something interesting about watching people follow along this line - strangers walking side by side, but divided by the crack (making it okay to stand that close), or couples walking one on either side, thus divided by the crack.

I also saw Anthony McCall's show at Serpentine Gallery. Another technically compelling show that was able to reach beyond the wonder of how into a world of exploration of body and space. I enjoyed just standing in the space and letting the lightworks move across me, changing my relationship to the surrounding gallery and people. And one last stop (I love that the V&A was open until 10am) was at the "Out of the Ordinary: Spectacular Craft" show, which featured some interesting and obsessive works - highlights of which were Lu Shengzhong whose paper cutouts were astounding for their sheer magnitude and Susan Collis for her sublime almost ridiculous understated work.

But selling out to whom?

Deborah Fisher has launched a new blog, Sellout. (Thanks to AFC for the heads up). It is looking good so far. Deborah has a great way of writing and considering things and I am glad to see she is putting her critical eye on the "artists career" it is something that I tend to think about a lot both for personal and professional reasons. So far she has discussed Seth Godin (who I admit to enjoying reading too), the myths of the artist and money. A lot of what she is asking for is discussion by readers, so it should be interested to troll the comments. I may pick up and expand on some of her threads here...

For starts:

As regards to talking about money. Not only do I not have a problem talking about it, I don't have a problem blogging about it, and have even started a "working group" to come up with more business savvy ways to address funding. I also am not afraid to ask to be paid for what I do (mostly).

Artist myths? I don't believe any of them. I think they are all complete bullshit and anyone who buys into them is either a liar, doesn't really believe in themselves or their work or is so enamored with the "artist image" as to not consider much beyond that. Do you really think the top artists in the contemporary art world believe in the myth of the poor lonely deranged flaky starving artist toiling away in the studio. Neither do I.

I doubt that by reading Deborah's blog I will come to any conclusion close to "sellout" I am more likely to enjoy what she is writing about and be glad there is someone else out there talking about some ideas "whose time has come."

Image coutesy of: http://williehewescomics.blogspot.com

Considering others--

Another moment of brilliance...

Chris Doyle has done it again. I know I talk about him a lot on this blog, much to his chagrin, but he's done it again with some pretty clever thinking. This time its a self marketing idea that is simple, beautiful, brilliant and I hope (for his sake) succesful.
Chris created a limited addition set of drawings called Subscribe. They are some of his personal but not too precious drawings of suburban homes. And they are for sale. (That's not the clever part, tip is:) Each sale benefits one of a handful of non profits that he has chosen, like Creative Capital, Creative Time, Public Art Fund, Smack Mellon and Socrates Sculpture Park. Why is that so brilliant? Because each of those organizations (and their huge mailing lists) is going to promote the work too!

So everybody wins, the organization and the artist.

I will post images of the work and links soon (writing this from the phone). And if there are some left, go buy one!

The artist's role as an agent for social change

I have had the opportunity to talk to a number of different groups lately about the HighWaterLine project. Other than sharing stories about the experience and the people I met and talking about all of the logistics, I like to engage in a discussion of the role of artist as agent for social change. Here are some roles that I thought the artist should/could take on:

commentator - not merely to editorialize on contemporary issues, but to translate. it is important to go beyond the act of regurgitation and create a work that incites questions and action.

collaborator - work with science & scientists to create works that are approachable, making complex knowledge accessible, and to take this into under-served communities.

witness - to observe the communities and their reactions

storyteller - taking information to the streets and then returning stories and that which was witnessed

catalyst - for change in thought and attitude, instigator for discussion

innovator - restructuring the message and dialogue through artistic acts

community builder - by providing an object or act around which people can rally.

I will see if I can't flesh these out more in the coming weeks.

Just thinking out loud...

So, I am just thinking out loud here, but I have been thinking about the creative process and the current funding models for artists and their projects. My favorite funding model (of course) is that of Creative Capital. They award an initial grant and then can provide follow up grants during key points of the project to take advantage of new opportunities and to ensure its success. They also (I love this part) focus on developing the artists career long term by developing the artist. They provide workshops on professional development which teach fundraising, strategic planning and pr/marketing (I happen to know a lot about these workshops). They also provide extensive one on one consultations, referrals to other professionals and an extended network. They really nurture the whole artist. What this does is ensure that the artist's career is successful beyond any single project.So here's what I am thinking - and it is still a little muddy - why not create a loan program that operates in a similar way. Loan artists project monies, train them to ensure the project is successful and as their careers blossom they pay the money back (CC asks all grantees to reinvest - once they reach some level of success many of the artists give donations to CC). Maybe this loan program can be combined with the Artist Pension Trust model? Their model requires participating artists to donate artworks to a pool which is sold after a number of years in which the participating artists' value is expected to increase, then the entire pool of artists shares the proceeds.So maybe the loan program takes in artworks as payment as well. There is certainly some risk involved, and some works will end up with greater value than others, but it may indeed be worth the risk. (Predicated on having object based work or ancillary product to sell).
Anyway, like I said, just thinking out loud here...

Images, top to bottom:
Chris Doyle, "Leap," Creative Capital Grantee & Artist Pension Trust Participant
Sanford Biggers, "Kalenda" (mistitled on photo), Creative Capital Grantee & Artist Pension Trust Participant

When art becomes "something useful and or valued"

com·mod·i·ty : \kə-mä-də-tē\
Function: noun | Inflected Form(s): plural - com·mod·i·ties | Etymology: Middle English commoditee, from Anglo-French commoditee, from Latin commoditat-, commoditas, from commodus | Date: 15th century
1: an economic good: as a: a product of agriculture or mining b: an article of commerce especially when delivered for shipment <commodities futures> c: a mass-produced unspecialized product <commodity chemicals> <commodity memory chips>
2 a: something useful or valued commodity patience>; also: thing, entity b: convenience, advantage
3: obsolete: quantity, lot
4: a good or service whose wide availability typically leads to smaller profit margins and diminishes the importance of factors (as brand name) other than price
5: one that is subject to ready exchange or exploitation within a market

I was recently asked to explain how I am able to create (fund and find audience for) the kind of work that I do. This question was from someone who a) is professionally interested in managing creative careers and making money (sustainable art) and b) who is steeped in more traditional models within the visual arts world, but has some knowledge in new methods of distribution and funding in the literary, film and music industries. So let's break this down.
First, the kind of work that I do: I create (in addition to a more traditional studio based practice) temporary, performative based public artworks. Some have sculptural aspects and all have a community building and/or eco-visualization aspect. Most of these projects do not produce a single representative object which can be bought or sold. I am currently using the term "non-object based work." I use this to describe my work and the work of some friends of mine. Some other examples are, Lise Brenner, a choreographer whose most recent projects include a choreographic charting of native flora in Brooklyn which resulted in directions which could be applied to a performance as the final product (not an actual performance) and a historical investigation of a neighborhood through sound work and tours. Aaron Landsman is a performer who created a sound work that was a tour of a day in the life of a neighborhood and a performance which is produced in individual's apartments. Stephanie Skaff whose recent project was a street performance in which she set up a street vendor cart in Lower Manhattan to share stories from street vendors around NYC (it was the culmination of months of going out and meeting and speaking to many many vendors around the city). None of these artists' works result in specific objects which can be bought or sold and neither of them have set up situations which are subject to ticketing for a traditional performance.

Now it should be noted that we are not in a unique situation. There are numerous historical precedence to all that we are doing: Richard Long's Walks, William Pope L.'s performance/crawls, numerous earthworks (Smithson's Spiral Jetty, Michael Heizer's Double Negative, Walter de Maria's Lightening Field, the list goes on), a variety of conceptual artworks and even some dadaist non-object based work. So it's not like we don't have a point of reference.

Second, who is this for: The work that I and many of my contemporaries working in a "non-object based" way is done in such a way as to engage a larger audience than one might find in a traditional gallery or performance space. In a sense, we are preaching way beyond the choir. Whether it is someone passing by on the street in Canarsie as I draw the chalk line with whom I engage in a conversation about climate change or a stockbroker who never thought twice about his daily stop at the coffee cart until he met with Stephanie. So the projects are all really broad based and interested in participating in a wider social discussion.

Third, what is the current funding? Currently, most of these projects are funded through foundations and municipal or state funds. In my case, almost 50% of my project time is taken up through grant applications and writing. I am sure it is similar in other cases as well. This funding is really wonderful as it comes as a project based monetary amount, with no strings attached and - here's a nice thing you may not know - most (if not all) funders require that you include in your budget an artists fee. They want to know that they, in supporting the project, are supporting the artist. If you have been a lucky (is that the right word? its quite a lot of work for it to be luck) recipient of a grant, then you that you will be required to do periodic reporting on how the money is being spent and what is happening with the project. Other than that, don't expect a whole lot of interaction (unless you get a Creative Capital grant). The granting agency doesn't interfere with the work, nor do they, though, provide much formal support. Some might profile your project in their outreach, some might provide feedback, but mostly it is up to the recipient to make the project succeed or fail.

A portion of the funding may also come from private donations - frequently made up of "friends and family grants" and - euphemism - "self-funding." These sources may ebb and flow based on project frequency and/or outside competition for money. While it is frequently true that if you ask someone for a donation they will give it, it is also true that it is hard to repeatedly hit up the same people without any reward.
And as much as I like to believe in the abundance of funds available to artists, grants are definitely limited. And with some recent changes in the world of major funders, the money available is shrinking. So we are looking for new ways to create sustainable careers.

The commodity model: This model implies a specific object of value which can be traded in exchange for money. The traditional gallery/dance/performance system is based on trade. You give me money, I give you an object or a specified moment of time which is valued based on the opinions of others. This model is heavily dependent on a) an object or ticketed performance b) the perceived value of your creation (perceived by people other than the artist). For those of us working outside of the traditional object based practice, we can produce sale-able items (for example I have the beacons, documentary photos and maps, Stephanie has CD's of her conversations with street vendors - although I think she gave those away for free), but the goal of the practice is not the object - therefore the value of the object is often diminished.

A new funding model: I don't have an answer for this yet. It is what all this thinking is leading up to. However there are a lot of new models out there for other practices and funds:

• artistshare.com - this new model allows music fans to directly participate in the creation of new music/cd's. a patron can donate to the musician and in return receive anything from a glimpse inside the recording process, to attending a recording session to being an executive producer on the album
• artist pension trust - using artworks as investment, this trust accumulates works of many artists and distributes revenue from art sales to all artists
• self-publishing/distribution for literature, films & music - more sites are popping up making it easier to manage your own career in these media, including lulu.com, withoutabox, cdbaby...

So I am thinking about how to create a new paradigm for supporting the arts - is it modeled as a mix between artistshare, artist pension trust and creative capital grantmaking? If you have specific thoughts, or want to join in the larger conversation (I am putting together a group of interested individuals to have a larger discussion), then leave a comment.


images from top to bottom:
yves klein, "jumping into the void"
aaron landsman, image from "Gatz" performance by Elevator Repair Service
lise brenner, matrix from "The City from a Plant's Perspective: Mapping NYC as Native Flora"
michael heizer, "double negative"
richard long, "a line made by walking"
eve s. mosher, "HighWaterLine"
stephanie skaff, "Make Me One with Everything"

What do I know anyway?

That's just a throwaway title. I couldn't think of anything so I put that in there. But in a way it kind of leads into what I wanted to talk about.

First though, let me say that I haven't been posting lately because I haven't seen or done a lot. Well thats not true, its just maybe not that interesting for blogging other than sort of a social calendar or something like that. So I have been rebuilding my website (which is why I am feeling antsy with the look of this blog and keep playing with it - none the less it will all get fixed up all nice when I finish the site - it is very nearly there), and I have been writing more grant applications, which is a total time suck. Write me if you want all the gory details.

Anyway, I have been talking to a lot of people about the two projects - the green roof project and the bus shelter project. Most people are pretty into it. But once in a while (and this happened with HWL too) I get a nay-sayer. It's not that they are trying to be negative. They really just want to help or to ask questions about the project (all well and good!). But I think I would prefer someone who comes with ideas instead of just problems. I met with the native plant botanist at Brooklyn Botanic Gardens (love that place) the other day. He had some concerns about the types of plants that could grow in "nutrient poor, limited water, exposed" situations like the proposed projects. But instead of tell me how it wouldn't work, or list all of the obstacles, he suggested that I look at coastal plants as a good option - cool! - I love that idea!

Thats the kind of can do attitude that will move us all forward.

I had some other stuff I wanted to say, but I have been waking up kinda early lately, and going to bed kinda late so I can't remember much. Will try to get back in the habit of posting about the life and habits of an artist.

Things i didn't know and why i need a clone

Over the past couple of months I have discovered a whole host of words to describe different interests of mine. Plus there are groups devoted to investigating these things.
Psychogeography
Urban archaeology
Bio-remediation
Eco-visualization

On that note, I met with a cartographer today to brainstorm ideas for the Eyebeam Eco-Visualization Challenge focused on run off issues in the city. And of course there are a lot of great ideas, if only I could clone myself (I think a lot of my creative friends feel the same way). So in addition to the projects I just haven't had time to write about (the water project which attempts to grow plants based on relative per country water consumption, and visualizing waste in our water through floating accumulations - think sculptural) now we have mapping the flow of water in the city (through street intervention, dance or pathway marking), comparative runoff systems placed on top of the bus shelters (the new ones with the glass roofs, each one would represent the immediate area, half the roof would be as is and half would be with remediation), or umbrellas outfitted as walking catchments.

Maybe someone can just give me lots of money to make these happen (because then I could hire some assistants).

Anyone?

Image courtesy of davebeckerman.com

Artist vs. Activist

Would you consider yourself an artist or an activist?

I get asked this question all the time, and I cringe every time I hear it. Why do I have to label myself as either? Which one means you will take me seriously, respect me and my work and maybe consider what I have to say? Both have their negative connotations. Both have their positive connotations.

I thought I had kind of figured it out, but I don't think I have.

I was asked this question at the HighWaterLine wrap party and here is a paraphrase of an answer that I gave.
"I would have to consider myself an artist. I approached this project from an artistic point of view, I considered the aesthetics as equally as important as the message. I also come from an artistic background. I'm not really an activist, I attended my first ever rally of any kind this year, and that's mostly because I knew the people organizing it.
"I was recently on a panel that specifically discussed the role of arts in environmental issues and the challenges in visualizing the difficult information put forth (it's the Eyebeam Eco-Visualization Challenge). We were talking about art and its power to inform and incite. One of the panelists, Michael Mandiberg asked the question 'Why can't art do something?' Historically at the same time that Duchamp was removing the function from items in order to create art, Russian contemporaries were using their art to foment revolution. So why can't art do something?"

Even this answer left me feeling uneasy. It wasn't helped by my friend Ellen Driscoll coming up to "put a fly in the ointment" to say, why do you have to chose between art and activism? Why can they not coexist. I think she and I may need to sit down and hash some of this out in further conversations, because I do agree with her. I think my above answer was the easy way out.

I am equally as influenced by Wangari Maathai as Agnes Denes. Majora Carter instills in me the same inspiration as Joseph Beuys. Shirin Ebadi, Magdalena Abakonwicz, Jane Jacobs and Ernesto Neto. My circle of friends includes artists and activists. And some, who are both. How do we, both the artists and the activists bridge the gap.

Ellen and I joked about coining new phrases such as "action artist" or "active artist" - as in not dead? I asked.

What is wrong in the art world with being an activist? Would I not be taken seriously as an artist? Is there something wrong with being an artist in the activist world? Are you not given due respect for ideas?

I promise you, more to come on this.

Who let them in?

One thing I have to remind myself is that "public art" has inherently, the word "public" in it.

This has been really driven home during the installation of the beacons during the HighWaterLine project. I have placed the beacons in 5 city parks (sorry that I never got to redo Canarsie) spanning the coast of Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan. Most of the installations were fairly peaceful and a nice opportunity to talk to people about New York City and climate change.

Every one of the installations involved at least one act of "public interaction." At the very first installation in Corlear's Hook Park, a gentleman was looking at the beacon, then knelt down, pulled the beacon out of the ground (it is staked on 4 corners) and removed the flashlight in the base. I was standing about 60 feet away and called out, "would you mind putting that back?" he did so, and quietly tried to restake the beacon, all without saying a word.

When I installed in Battery Park a few people would walk up, and without even pausing to look closely at the beacon, grabbed it and roughly shook it back and forth. Much like you would a snowglobe. I have had a lot of opportunity to ponder this, and cannot for the life of me understand what is the point of this activity. To me it is the equivalent of walking up to a friend, seeing that they are wearing an interesting shirt and then grabbing it and pulling them roughly about as if to see if the shirt is going to fall apart in my hands.

This activity, let's call it snowglobing (sounds vaguely rude), has happened at least once in every installation of the beacons, but the real test was the weekend long installation that just occurred as part of the Dumbo Art Center's Art Under the Bridge Festival. This massive art festival consists of installations, performances and projections and general insanity around Dumbo. There are probably around 20-30,000 people who pass through the area over the weekend. I installed the beacons on Friday afternoon and took them out on Sunday evening. Over the weekend the beacons were more than snowglobed, they were knocked down, moved, emptied, turned over, altered and pieces stolen. I don't even want to consider what might have happened that moved one beacon (and the wet, 20 pound bags of sand) about 10 feet from its original location.

Every time I visited they were in disarray. I was sometimes shocked, but mostly amused with a hint of annoyance. I calmly went about resurrecting them, often with the assistance of some kind onlookers. I should make a point that most people are very respectful of the work and treat it carefully, enjoying it in a non-threatening way and ensuring the work is left in tact for other to also enjoy. This was not the case however when a friend and fellow public artist went to visit the work in Brooklyn Bridge Park during the festival. She was so sickened by the obnoxious treatment (including a parent who watched their child knock it about, eventually toppling it) that she had to leave immediately.

So, not to disparage what is obviously a strong and fairly common urge, but if there is anyone out there who has participated in a snowglobing type of activity, we on the art making side of the fence would love to know more about why this is done...

Being in love with the crazy

Last week was kind of a nutty week. I was part of a group show opening at Nelson Hancock Gallery in Dumbo, Topos : Brooklyn, showing images of the HighWaterLine project. All very great there were some really interesting projects/images there, including works by Tim Connor, Rebekah Farley, Michael Iacovoni, Michael Itkoff, Michael Piazza, Michael Simon, and Torrance York. Here's where th crazy comes in, for some reason I had in my head that the opening was this week. So when I talked to Nelson and found out otherwise, Ed & I switched into overdrive to get things figured out. We met Nelson on Saturday morning to see the space and work out what we were going to show. We came up with the idea of doing a 3 1/2" x 170" scroll of many images (37) from the project. I also wanted to put up maps of the upcoming weekends - there were three weekends still to happen after the opening - and then replace the maps with images after the weekend's drawings. Nelson loved both ideas, so we were sent off on our way to get it done and back to them by Wednesday morning for installation.

Saturday afternoon I had made plans with my friends Peter & Cecile to go see the Mike Nelson "A Psychic Vacuum" at the Essex Market (courtesy of Creative Time). It was a good break to take - the installation is fantastic, and really does play with your psyche - time, space emotions are all in there. And I really loved the last space. I won't spoil it, just go see it. It is open until October 28th.
So Saturday evening/Sunday morning I had to sort through all of the photos and pick out about 40 that I wanted to use. Then I met at 10am on Sunday (yeh, I have no weekends anymore) with Ed to pick out the final images and get them in order. I also was making cd's of a bunch of images that I hadn't yet gotten from Ed. Around 1pm I ran home to eat some lunch (and see g-pup, pup-pup and puppykat). Then back over to the studio to meet with our color corrector/printer, Taylor. He and I worked out the schedule to get things back to the gallery on time. The cd's I was trying to copy at the studio were also taking ages to copy. So I left them copying to come home for dinner, then went back to finish copying them. Around 9ish I came back home and sorted through the images and pulled them into photoshop to put them in strips to pass off to Taylor by Monday 9am. So I stayed up until about 1:30am getting it all in order (with the help of g-pup). Woke up the next morning nice and early to walk pup-pup to get myself into the city by 9am to pass off the disc to Taylor before heading off to the day job.

Taylor worked some serious magic on color correcting the images and was ready to review them Monday evening. So I was over in the studio again with Ed & Taylor getting the images in order and ready for the final print. We were supposed to finish the printing that night, but ran out of paper at about midnight! Tuesday Ed got more paper and was going to print the scroll on his printer that evening. Around 7ish he realized his printer wouldn't print something as long at 170" (some epson thing), Taylor was at the photo studio where he could print something that long, but didn't have the files. I ran over to the studio, burned a disc, jumped on a train and headed into the city to hand off to Taylor at about 10pm. Taylor stayed up late (again) getting two prints off for me. I came back into the studio Wednesday morning at 9am and picked up the prints (thanks to Gerard for his help too) and delivered them to the gallery. Whew.

Then Thursday I walked over 14 miles to do the chalking out on the shore parkway. Then took a shower and ran over to the opening. Friday I was up early to do the chalking in Sunset Park Industrial area, then back to the studio, where I was on the phone with the Parks Dept to get the permit in order for Sunday (they had lost the application, but thanks to Eddie & Nancy in Special Events, they got it worked out for me). I ran up to Litchfield Villa, then back home again for a shower and heading into the city for Cynthia's opening and the preview of the Canary Project images.

Again on Saturday an early morning out chalking in Gowanus - it was a gorgeous day for it after the rain moved off. Then jumping on my bike for a windy ride over to the Conflux Festival for the Eyebeam Eco-Visualization Challenge Panel. Where I had the joy of sitting on a panel with some pretty smart, clever and creative people: Amanda McDonald Crowley, Tiffany Holmes, Michael Mandiberg and Brooke Singer. From there I jumped back on my bike to head into Union Square to help my friend Steve with his project, Ronald's Crisis. Back home (great day for a bike ride over the Williamsburg Bridge) to upload images and blog about the weekend.

Sunday another early start out finishing the chalking in Gowanus, joined by my friend Margo, who biked from Washington Heights to South Brooklyn (I love you!). We chalked and then had a fab lunch at the Red Hook soccer fields. Peter and Hose came out to help and document respectively, the installation at the soccer fields. With the help of the kids in the area, I installed the beacons. Which, you should know, consists of carrying the pieces (base, beacons, spikes, flashlight) to the site, laying them out, putting them together, hammering the spikes into the ground, then filling each with 1/3 gallon of water, and cap them all. It's not at all a short task and can be physical. We spent about 2 1/2 hours installing them all (and having 3 broken in the process - no big deal I had 50% overage made, thanks to a suggestion years ago from a prepator who worked with Chihuly who regularly brings 15-25% overage for breakage during installation). After photographing them, I found out the people I thought were coming out that afternoon to help out, weren't going to make it. So I was stuck. I had more chalking to do and it was going to be about 3-4 hours to dark. In Battery Park I was okay to leave the beacons installed while I chalked, but Red Hook was a much more active area and leaving them unattended wasn't going to be a good idea. So, I de-installed them (I know, crazy). Then Hose and Peter left and I did a few more blocks of chalking in Red Hook. Then I went back to the studio to unload, then back to the house to unload the beacons (they live in the apt right now) and pick up g-pup who was going to help me re-install a handful of beacons for the night time portion of the project. So I went back out, re-installed and photographed again. Luckily there was a group of girls who were there during the day that were still there. They got to see the installation at night, and really loved it - having them huddled around the beacon totally made it worthwhile to have come back out to reinstall.Sunday night and Monday were spent uploading images and updating the blogs and websites. Monday afternoon I met Cecile again to try to go catch Stephanie Skaff's street performance, Make Me One With Everything. The performance on Monday had been canceled, so we couldn't find her. (I am going to try to catch it again this morning on my way into the city - after dropping off packets at Nelson Hancock and visiting BBPark to site the beacons).

So this is a REALLY long story to explain one thing - when the crazy is about something you love, then you even love the crazy. I was writing an email to someone this morning outlining the upcoming weekend's work and realized that there will be a couple more crazy days coming up. I paused to think about it and it got me a little excited (despite still being tired from the recent crazy). I really really love creating the projects, I love doing my art, even the crazy. If you don't love what you are doing - then why are you doing it? Do the things that make you crazy but only if you are in love with that crazy. I am in love with my crazy. (Can't wait to spend some time in studio though too!)

My water tower dream

Where I work I have a great view (if I turn around and strain a bit) of a lot of NoHo, East Village rooftops. From here I can see the buildings dotted with water towers. I love water towers.

One day when I was looking at the roofs while contemplating the Green Seeds project, I thought - whoa - wouldn't those water towers look great swathed in green? It would be so cool to turn them into vertical farms. Heck Rachel Whiteread cast one in resin, why can't I turn a few of them into community gardens?

I had developed a proposal when I was in SF called the Vertical Community Gardens, or VCG's. The idea was to create a superstructure that could be hung in place of the advertisements on the buildings of walls (in SF they are low, at eye level) and maintained and used by the communty.
This is an offshoot of that, only it would be used by the people in the building. I was reading on the Vertical Farm site about their urban farm projects. Maybe they would help build a flexible ultra lightweight water tower superstructure to use as small starter projects. There are three right on the corner of Houston and Crosby that I would love to do. And hey I can see them from my office window!


On another note, if you haven't already, go see the Mike Nelson Creative Time project, A Psychic Vacuum, in the old Essex Market building. It is really hard to explain, but the psychology of space, place and time is really played with here. Spoiler alert -- the last space is quite extraordinary, particularly after having been through the maze of other spaces.

Images (from top to bottom) courtesy of: City Noise, Vertical Farm - Design by Chris Jacobs.

When prompted-- RUN!

I had dinner last night with two really good friends. The idea was to get together and talk about project ideas, job searches, whatever each person needed help with. Of course for me, the talk was about figuring out which of the three (top of the heap) ideas to pursue. One of my friends said, "Why don't you work on all three?" Holy mackerel! What a novel idea! Part of me thought, no way that's insane, the other part of me thought, that makes perfect sense, of course I should work on them all. (And a tiny little part of me was cowering in the corner). Of course there is the problem of funding all of them, but I guess I can work on that at the same time...

So in light of that discussion, I thought I would throw out the other two ideas and see what sticks.
The first is the Coffee Cup Reduction Project (CCRP). The idea is to find out why people don't use re-usable mugs (since most cafes will both wash them and give you a few cents off your cup o' joe). I would do this through surveying people. Then I would work with a design program at one of the schools and have a design contest for the mug, giving the students the survey data to work with. Next, have the new super cup fabricated (in a lo-energy eco-friendly way!), take those cups back out to the streets and offer to give them to people for free in exchange for their coffee cup. (Pouring their coffee into the new eco-super-cup). From all of the cups and lids collected I will create some sculptures to display with the information on how many cups there are and over what period of time were they collected.
This idea also spun off the idea of the Disposable Culture - What a Waste project. Which would be a sculpture/performance/awareness piece in Union Square. First I would find out how many plastic bags are given away at Filene's and Whole Foods over the course of a week. Then find out how many coffee cups are given away at Starbucks over the course of a week. Finally, how many plastic bottles are sold by the street vendors around the park within a week. Then I would take one week each to build a beach or nature scene using the number of items above. So if there are 65,000 plastic bags per week, I would spend a week in the park building say clouds out of 65,000 used Whole Foods and Filene's bags (that I would have collected before the beginning of the building). Then the next week I would build maybe trees out of the coffee cups & lids, then finally a lake of plastic water bottles. Then it could be on display for a week.
The other project is much simpler to undertake than the Green Seeds or CCRP/Disposable Culture. It is to open a Real Cost Cafe. I would do extensive research regarding the actual life cycle cost of a cup of coffee. (So the cost of the coffee beans if there were no subsidies, if the laborers were paid a fair living wage, if the cost to the planet were factored into the cultivation, roasting and shipping of the beans, and so on with all the products involved in making a cup of coffee). I would open the cafe for just a few weeks, create some good explanatory signage and charge for everything (cup of coffee? $15, don't have your own mug? $4 for paper cup, want a lid? that's $6, sugar? $2 each, milk? another $4, etc). Here's the funny thing, I think some people would pay it. Just to say they are supporting and paying the real cost. Plus if I open it in the Wall Street area, I think those guys would go nutso over it...
Some additional notes on the Green Seeds project, one of my dinner friends liked the idea of string going from house to house because of the reference to connections like phone lines and clothes lines. Another suggestion was green flags on the front of the building, like a symbol of belonging.

So I have a lot on the plate to work on. If you have any thoughts, ideas or want to be a part of any of it - or want to help fund! Then get in touch with me!

Next up: a wikipedia of artist ideas to give away.

Coffee cup image courtesy of Rachel Cartwright/Gazette published in article on coffee cup waste at the University of Western Ontario.
Picture of plastic bottles & plastic bags courtesy of Chris Jordan - whose studies of American culture, Running the Numbers, absolutely ROCKS!

Turning waves into power

Some smart person was sitting looking at the water, watching the undulations and reflections and was smart enough to realize that if they harnessed that energy...

I'm not that smart person, but I am glad they are out there. Instead, I tend to lend my brain to creative pursuits. Albeit hopefully creative pursuits that have a goal, or actionable outcome. So lately, as the High Water Line project continues along (just finished Lower Manhattan - so its back to Brooklyn!), I have been contemplating a couple of things.

First, what to do next. I have a lot of ideas I am playing with, which I will outline below.

And second, how to capitalize on all the media attention around the High Water Line. An artist whom I admire, Chris Doyle, speaks of his first big public art project, Commutable, and he was asked, "Are you ready?" by one of his presenting organizations. When he asked what they meant, they said "Are you ready for all of the attention you will get around this, and will you be able to use that to continue to build your career?"

So I was very conscious of that going into this project, particularly as the attention continued to grow. And I have to ask myself? Am I ready? I thought I was. I have concepts for the next project, I am definitely making use of the fantastic network of people that I have met over the course of the project. But how, realistically does one turn that attention into funding or other types of support for the next project? I'm not sure that I know. So now what?

Well, what I am doing now is working on the next thing... hopefully I can take it a little slower and ensure more up front funding and get all of the ducks in a row earlier in the process. So here is the roster of projects (all with *working* titles and there fore subject to change).

Green Seeds
Background: This project builds off the history of gardening in NYC as well as the connections to food which are long established in the Lower East Side and Chinatown. It also examines the heat island effect, and the mitigation which even a small portion of something like a green roof can play on the temperature of the city. Finally it utilizes social networking to generate siting the project.
Green roof: I have been gathering information on green roofing and have found a modular and lightweight system which can be used without a lot of retrofitting or heavy construction etc. My idea is to take one or two of the modular pillows and place them on roofs. They then act as a *seed* of a green roof. They might (I'm working on this) housed in a sculptural element (the seed pod?) that could also contain instruments for measuring temperature (which could be sent back to an online map), a solar panel to power the instrumentation, provide some weight and protection for the green roof and perhaps provide some visual cues about the green roof.

Social networking: The social networking is accomplished as follows. 1. I find the first person on whose roof I place the first green seed pod. I then get the necessary approval from the landlord, and ask the resident to meet or find one or two people in a neighboring building that are also interested in having the project installed. Again I go through the necessary approvals and install the second green seed pod, asking those residents to again find the next set of interested participants. I would also like to install them in some more public spaces like schools and public rooftop areas. From these locations people could inquire and request green seed pods.

How to make it public: Here's one of the tricky parts. How to make the project *more* public. Since the roofs might be a majority privately owned, access isn't really a possibility. The mapping and temperature taking will be publicly accessible, but how else can I do it? Do I literally run string from one green seed pod to the next, showing the network as it grows? (But what does that really have to do with green roofs?) Do I create little plaques (like historical markers) that can be affixed to the front of the buildings? Do I recreate George Bliss' Purple Footprints (once used to lead to Adam Purple's community garden, and then later to protest the Bowery Bar) - but that's illegal...

Okay, I was supposed to write them all up, but now I am going to be late for work, so I will add the rest (Coffee Cup Reduction Project, Real Cost Cafe and What a Waste - Disposable Culture) later...