Monday, October 19, 2009

14 Actions Day 2!

The second day of 14 Actions For 14th Street was cold and rainy, but we managed to get a lot done. Our first action of the day was near 14th and 7th, where we set up a small gallery and tried to sell a work of art. It may have been the cold weather, or our sales technique, but the work didn't move.



After that, we moved up the block to 14th and 8th, for a surprise inspection on a building. We looked it over, and made our report on the status of the facility, its overall safety, and our followup plans.



Later in the day, near 14th and 6th, we found a great backdrop to campaign for George McClellan in his bid for the Presidency. We read a campaign poem extolling the virtues of Little Mac and taking Lincoln to task for his terrible handling of the war. We also gave out campaign pins to passersby.



We ended the day near 14th and 5th with a tailgate party. As Harvey Loves Harvey, we often hear people question our masculinity, so we used this busy location to prove otherwise. There were Xtreme drinks, junk food and a football game. We cheered the Bills/Jets game and talked with passersby about machismo. Below is a lovely woman who told us "ABY: Anybody but the Yankees. I usually cheer for the Red Sox."

So I hugged her.





We'll be on the street again next weekend, with 7 more actions to go. See you there.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

14 Actions Day 1!

Just finished Day 1 Actions for 14th Street for AiOP
Monitored for Radiation:


Listened to an unwound show from 1998:



Held a Eulogy for Henry Hudson:

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Rain Gear

Headed to B&H to get some raingear for this weekend. Hopefully we won't have to use it? Right?

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Radiation monitoring



Here's our warning if needed after we collect results of radiation monitoring for 10th and 14th.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Weather


We'll need to plan for rain and foul weather. I am working out a way to attach an umbrella to the monopod, so we can keep the camera dry. We should also have some plastic bags ready to wrap the camera in as well if need be. Hopefully it won't be too bad, but we should wear rain slickers under our jumpsuits and have knit caps on under the helmets if it gets cold. Personally, I get cold easily and will wear long johns and wool socks.

Baseball


Got the baseball to leave behind after we fail to find each other on 2nd ave and 14th Street.
I'm working on that script by the way...or something of a script....can we record the audio somehow?
Is there an Iphone app to record a phone call?

Monday, October 12, 2009

Harvey Building-Safety Certificate


Here's the pass/fail cert for the building inspection at 14th and 8th Ave.
I have a 8 page safety checklist for us to fill out....that reminds me, I need to go put betteries in those walkie talkies.
And...do you want me to put anything on the construction helmets? Like an HLH or H...maybe we just use gaffers tape?

Sunday, October 11, 2009

MTA artwork


I just got an email from Matt Laskowski, the illustrator I hired for the artwork on the MTA fliers we will hand out. I asked him for a semi-futuristic look at NYC, with a gondola skylift over 14th street to supplement the subway system. This will be the picture along with text about how stimulus dollars are being spent to realize a turn-of-the-20th-century idea of NYC transit.

Man, this drawing looks awesome! Great work Matt L.

Postcards arrived

Matt,
I got the postcards, they look great, I've been giving them out to people, they love them. Nice work.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

I voted for Best Album stickers

Made the stickers to give out for people that vote for best album.
I'd like to get a still photo of these on peoples shirts also.
I was going to put the website address on the stickers themselves but I thought we could hand out the postcards to people that vote to see the results.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Henry Hudson Memorial Stickers


Made some backup stickers just in case the ones I orddered don't make it, just enough for like 10 candles or so.
I need to make some 'I voted' stickers for the What would Lester Bangs do best album poll...last weekend before the project...can't wait.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Easel built

Just finished building this thing for about 3$, pretty sweet, can't wait to sell this picture!

Sunday 1:30PM!

It's yours...We'll even throw in the easel!

Damn.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Easel plans


Went to home depot to pick up wood for the protest signs and easel for 'the Intersection of Art and Commerce' so we can leave the art, (after it doesn't sell) on the easel on the street for some pics.
Drew up some plans, I'm going to build it tomorrow.
Yay.
I need to go get a baseball somewhere.
I keep meaning to ask you about the tailgate party piece, are we going to drive your car over to 5th and you leave from there?

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Eulogy for Henry Hudson



Like many great explorers in the past and future, Henry Hudson possessed the rare spirit to go where no one had gone before him. Not only driven by trade routes and economics, it was his responsibility to all of humanity, particularly in man’s ongoing quest for information about the world around him. He was the kind of individual that will always live on in our collective fantasy... someone willing to forge into the unknown, no matter the risk, making the ultimate sacrifice.

There can be debate as to the word ‘discovery’, in this case, it’s true men already lived in Manhattan, and there may have even been voyages that landed haphazardly, or passed by these shores, but I hold that he discovered Manhattan in making it known to the world.
He writes in the Half Moon’s log on Sept 11, 1609, ‘they found a good entrance, between two headlands and thus entered into as fine a river as can be found with good anchoring on both sides...He learned later upon further exploring the Hudson river that ‘It is on that side of the river that is called Manna-hata’...and thus what we know now as Manhattan island was born to maps.
Not much is known of Hudson’s life, where he was born and died still remains a mystery. All recorded history of the great explorer marks only 4 short years in which he explored the arctic circle through Siberia, Greenland and finally what we are standing on today.

I don’t think we can really grasp what it was like to navigate by the stars across the Atlantic, endure weeks or near starvation and attacks by native people only to have your own crew turn on you. Henry met his end 700 miles north of this spot, when his crew, having spent the winter, iced in what is now known as Hudson bay, mutinied and set him, his son and loyal crew adrift in a small wooden rowboat.

It is this pursuit of discovery and ultimately information that we want to celebrate, his spirit of exploration into the unknown; the personal unknown as much as the geographic unknown.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Jumpsuits

Got the jumpsuits all set this weekend.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

The MTA Improvement flyers


The drawings for the MTA Improvement flyers are amazing! So glad you hired these out...they are going to look amazing and should fool anyone.
just a couple of things...
Do we have any idea about the text? Do you have a design going for the flyer? Can you make copies of it for when you come down?
Can't wait to see the color version with the gondola.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Unwound Tape cover


Matt,
Great tape cover for this project. I really can't wait to sit on the sidewalk and listen to Unwound. I can't stop relating them to growing up, they are a stand in for music during high school and college. How all music affected me, relationships, everything.
It's our own personal mythology, a stand in for any band anyone likes that no one else really heard of...that local band, your friends band that you just always had the best time at, that can't ever be recreated. I know it's futile, I know you are ridiculous holding on to the past. Maybe that's what Unwound represents for us essentially.

Saturday Oct 17th, 5P. Unwound RIP.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Fun promo on Facebook

I posted some fun pictures of me with the Ross McElwee cutout on Facebook as promo for the 14 Actions. I'll repost them below...





A Bunch of things for 14th St

I had some time this morning to get into the studio, so I finished up a bunch of the items to be left behind during 14 Actions for 14th Street. I took some shots of them so you can check them out.


These are the booklets of Allen Ginsberg's poem "America" to be left behind. They have a description of the action inside, along with the poem.


Strike signs for our STRIKE!



The back and front of the LP cover for "Trader Joe's Calling" -- made to look like the "London Calling" cover.


The front and back of the George McClellan campaign song and poster, to be left behind.


"Re-living New Years Eve 1998" tape covers, complete with grungy old tape cases for that authentic look.


And finally Henry Hudson standups for the shrine to him at the center of our candle light vigil.

AiOP is on!


Just caught the City Meditations Crew in the street around 6th Ave. Also just across the intersection was Tim Thyzel's portable fountain project made out of traffic cones...nice. I have to be honest I forgot today was the first and the whole sebang was starting.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

MAPS


Picked up the maps today from AiOP, can't wait to show you. Do you want me to send some along?
Let me know.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The art for sale



Here's a special sneak preview of the art we'll be selling on 7th and 14th, Sunday Oct 18th. Come out and make an offer! Make sure to read over the contract, there are a few restrictions, but nothing we can't work out.
just look at that photo! It's from Monet's garden! Priceless!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Nametags


Nametags just came in today! I think they're exactly what we wanted. I'll figure out where exactly to put them on the jumpsuits and sew em up. With your approval of course.

Monday, September 28, 2009

A vote against McClellan is a vote against the war - still photo

The sketch for the still photo of the McClellan speech. Ir we can find some steps that would be great, I'll have to see what building is now where Tamminy hall used to be. I think there's a Salvation Army or union building around there that has great steps...or a church. I'll have to scout it, or check street view of gmaps.
Or maybe just on a corner would be great too.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

The Intersection of Art and Commerce - Still photo sketch

This is what I was thinking for the still photo of our selling the monet painting, which I realize I have to make sure I have a good frame for and get an easel. I think I'm going to just build one...a couple of sticks bolted together with something to hold up the 'painting', that way we can just leave it there, no problem.
I like the photo of it just sitting there after we're done with it, maybe even catch someone taking it, that would be great.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

A Surprise Inspection - 14th and 8th


For Surprise Inspection at 14th and 8th ave I think the still photo of the leave behind should be a close up of a certificate saying the site 'passes' or 'fails'. I'm checking out templates and certificates to find a good version. I'll post whatever I come up with.


I think this will end up on the lamppost right on the corner where the building will be we're monitoring...or if we see some construction plywood up, then we could staple it there. (see below)

Friday, September 25, 2009

Sketch for still photo 'A candlelight vigil for Henry Hudson'


So for the Henry Hudson vigil I'm picturing this kind of still, straight on medium shot of the portrait with candles. I'm assuming we leave everything? Does the portrait have a frame?
You're printing this out? I'll leave the rest of the stickers, after we kind of put them up on the lightpoles etc.
There are these car barrier things that are about 2 feet high which would be perfect to put everything on for the length of the project, there's a bunch of them, so we can have our pick thinking about the sun setting on the west side.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Quiet: We LIve In Public



I had totally forgotten about this project by Josh Harris until it reemerged on ArtsEditor. But this was the stuff going on when were were transforming Harvey, back in 1999-2001 -- the kind of "the Internet will save us all, or kill us all" mentality that we were exploring. I don't think we're doing it so much anymore, social networking has made a lot of that stuff normal or easy or obvious, but it's important to remember that there was this period of insane experimentation with what the internet could be. I'm not sure I like the project (I remember thinking how facile and ego-maniacal it was back then) but I'm also happy I know about it, and remember how it fit into the context of crazy pro-internet hype (and lies) of that era.

9th Ave sketch for still photo - Unwound



Here's the sketch of the still of the Unwound reenactment on 9th and 14th. 'Re-living new years eve 1998'
I was picturing a close up shot of the cassette on the sidewalk askew, and maybe there's some street debris near it or something, just so we know it's on the ground and we left it behind.
Maybe we could use a semi wide shot if it also with someone walking by. Just so you get the idea that we left it there for the public.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Audience Hero

I was thinking about how guitar hero is the easy way to fake guitar, to get a small taste of what that experience might be like...and how people are getting all up in arms, 'You should just learn guitar.' Sure, of course, if it were that easy. It's a gateway experience. If you like that, or get inspired by music or the songs then take it to the next level.
I think that guitar hero functions in the way the Unwound Live 9-11 show does and the 'Re-Living new years eve' does. We want to reenact these experiences...what would it be like to be there, to play guitar...we are playing audience hero. What would it be like to be in the audience for a rock show. We get as close to the original location and listen to as close as possible live show from that time. What's our score?
How do you play this?

I kind of wish that was the name of the piece.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Sketch #1 for Still photos


Here's the first in the series of sketches for Rob, so he gets an idea of what we're thinking to have as the final documentation of the 'leave behind' shot. In this case it's for the first action we are doing Saturday the 17th at 4P. I think we'll come up with an official looking certificate or warning etc., results from the test that will have our stamp and some data and a signature, something about radiation testing successful failed etc.
We will tape this to a lightpole or construction site plywood wall for Rob to photograph. Close up shot of just the flyer.
Something like that pic from 'Wanted'.