Yesterday I did another very long line out on the shore parkway. This time I was on the more pristine north side of the Verazzano Bridge, heading up to Owl’s Head point (a pier, park and sewage treatment plant). It was a crisp brightly sunny day with a nice breeze blowing off the water. As I was chalking along, a mother and daughter rode up to me on their bikes, the mother asked what I was doing and I explained the project. Then she asked how long the line was going to be there and I told her that it would only be a day or two depending on the weather. “Oh,” she said, sounding relieved, “because it’s ugly.” I have to admit I was quite taken aback. I had yet to hear this kind of comment on the project, I was also very tired.* Usually I would respond very nicely and say that I was sorry that she felt that way and that it is indeed very temporary, but it is an important way to get people thinking about climate change. Instead I blurted out (while laughing) “You think the line is ugly, you should see the devastation that climate change will bring!” The mother looked at me sweetly and said something along the lines of understanding climate change but she was still glad it would be gone soon. Hmmmm.
I did have a number of other great conversations. One gentleman was able to share with me his first hand experience of the devastation wrought by the tornado that touched down in his neighborhood of Bay Ridge. I had two different guys who said that they just couldn’t stand it any longer they were so curious they just had to know what was going on on - YAY! I also made friends with a lovely woman named Eileen who was interested in the project and even took the time to read through the packet (I hope she went home and told some friends and neighbors about it). Another interesting comment was “We don’t get much of this kind of thing around here.” “What kind of thing?” I asked. “Art.” Oh.
In the evening I went to a lovely opening at Nelson Hancock Gallery in Dumbo. He put together a group photo show called Topos : Brooklyn. It featured: Tim Connor, Rebekah Farley, Michael Iacovoni, Michael Itkoff, Michael Piazza, Michael Simon, and Torrance York. Michael Iacovone had a piece which investigate the “edge of Brooklyn” in which he photographed the border of Brooklyn. He and I had a great time talking about all of the odd things along the coast (since we have seen some of the same neighborhoods - some which few people who don’t live there ever see). The show was a really interesting group of people interested in looking at Brooklyn and investigating it to find the pieces or parts that appealed to them. It will be open until mid-October, so make sure you stop by to check it out. I am showing a long strip (3″x170″) of images and will add images as the project continues to progress. A huge thanks to all of my photographers, Ed Morris, Susannah Sayler, Megan Baker and Curtis Hamilton (all from Canary Project) and of course Hose Cedeno.
*I’m tired since I forgot that the opening was this week (in my head it was next week) so I spent the week leaping hurdles to get the long print made for the opening. Which I absolutely would not have been able to do without the unbelievable assistance of Taylor, and of course the infamous Ed. Plus I am ultra tired now, I will add in links later!
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