El Fin

I feel like this experience is coming to an end, at least in the immediate future. I still have plans to pursue additional projects in New Orleans and possibly assist Takashi with his book. But for now, I will put this project to bed and begin a new blog about my final 1.5 years left as a graduate student at UTSA. Special thanks to my dear friend Takashi Horisaki for including me in his latex adventures!!

Here are a few pieces that I just completed for my beloved New Orleans...

Back in SA...for awhile anyway (teehee)

Chinita Town

Just returned from New York. Ad Hoc Art in Brooklyn had a few pieces of mine in a show called Second Line. I saw a few of the people I met from my first trip this summer. It was great seeing them and a great way to end the summer. The weather was perfect. It rained a couple of times. Once so hard that it trapped me in a little restaurant called Peridot. I went to Harlem with my friend Audry and it was the best place. I didn't take any photos because what I remember the most were the smells: oils and insence from the vendores, roasted nuts on street corner...it was amazing. By far the best smelling place in NY. Here are a few pics from the city...

Ad Hoc Art Gallery, Brooklyn NY

The F/G stop on Smith and 9th.
Pic taken from rooftop of apt. building.

Crazy Indian place in East Village with David

The little studio in Brooklyn.

Reminds me of Mi Tierra in SA, but Indian
and with samosa.

Back to the Borough

On the last day I was in New York I met Laura. Originally she approached me because I was taking photographs at the opening for Social Dress at Socrates Sculpture Park. Laura's been the NY contact for the Times Picayune in NOLA. She's from Louisiana and has been following Takashi's work throughout the summer. A reporter from the Times Picayune, who was also following Takashi's work, wanted an update on the final piece for the paper and she needed photos too. The deadline was 4pm that day! Laura, her boyfriend and I drove to my place and downloaded the images I'd taken. We barely met the deadline. The photos made it in the paper a few days later.



The folks at the newspaper asked me if the images could be picked up by the AP along with the article. I said, um...let me think about it. Actually, it was more like, HELL YEAH! Not sure if they ran nationally, but its kinda cool to think they might end up in a small town newspaper like the one I grew up reading - right behind photos of the Fair and Rodeo queen contestants and the FFA blue ribbon hog.



Anyway, so Laura was super cool. She saw alot of the photos I took in New Orleans and invited me to be in her show. The turn around time was short, but I was excited. The show is currently open until September 17 and I'm showing a suite of photographs entitled Somewhere Between Piety and Desire. Also I did a site specific window installation. I'm going to the closing reception and I hope to see the NY krewe there.



My friend Audry will be in NY the same time and I'm looking forward to seeing his work in a gallery. He's a performance artist who'll be in an exhibit in NY Sept. 9 at http://www.thrustprojects.com/.

Also in NY, but this week only, is Fresh Face Leslie Raymond. She and Jason will be doing nightly performances at The Lab at The Roger Smith Hotelat 47th and Lexington from 6 to 10pm (Sept 3 - 7th)

Oh, you have to check Butch Merigoni's performance in NOLA, too.
You Tube Movie

Ad Hoc Art: Second Line closing reception, September 14.

And I'm Spent...

The opening for the exhibit was last Sunday. More people came out than expected because of the rain. Jazz bands played and we ate some red beans and rice. The whole time it was raining! The experience came full circle.

The night before we stayed up late hanging the installation. An artist, Amy Yo, gave us juice, chips, salsa and other snacks to keep us going. Other New Yorkers came by to help however they could including a music teacher, Dominican fishermen, interns from Pratt, friends of Takashi's, a clothing designer and many more. It was the same way in New Olreans. People saw us working and just wanted to help. Takashi has a good spirit. People see that. The work is important and it's keeping the dialogue going about what still needs to get done in the areas affected by the hurricane.

In the news in New York, I saw reports of major flooding in Long Island. Cars were stuck in traffic for hours, some were stalled in rising waters. Then I heard the someone say, "If a hurricane hit imagine how much worse it would be..." And then it hit me. It could have been here, it could have been Florida, it could have been the Carolina's. The damage that was felt in New Orleans and Mississippi could have been on any coast. It was chance. Maybe people see how vulnerable our places are to the forces of nature. We see how the government reacted in New Olreans and we wonder if that could happen to us. Will we be forgotten, left without resources. This event went beyond socio-economic status. Rich, poor, educated, illiterate, white, black...everyone was affected in these regions.

I heard many people in New Orleans talk about the wetlands and how the dissapearance of them directly affected the intensity of the damage from the storm. I want to read more about this because I think it's important to know. I've learned many things about nature and human nature, about the ability for people to persevere no matter if it means picking up and moving to a new city or staying and starting over again. To be able to face the unknown without a footprint to guide you - to me that is brave and noble. It isn't always a graceful struggle, but I've seen what people are able to endure and overcome. This summer...I was inspired.

Two More Production Days...

It's been one week since we started working at the Sculpture park. It rained pretty much all day, for two days. It felt just like New Orleans...except the temperature dropped to 60 degrees. I was unprepaired so I was cold. We went to Takashi's studio earlier this week and made room for some production there - just in case it started raining again. You can smell the bread from the bakery downstairs, too. Besides that, Takashi and I worked to get the site set-up for installation. Gradually we've had volunteers show up. The best day so far was Tuesday when we had 7 volunteers, mostly sculptors/artists/musicians. Right now a few students from Pratt are helping us, Chris and Katie. Deborah from the Socrates Sculpture Park has been very helpful with logistics, materials and welding!

Today we finished patching the pieces with latex and cheesecloth and started grommetting the pieces . Instead of pvc pipes, the framework for the house will be steel pipes. I'm using all kinds of equipment and picking up ideas for future projects. It's good to get my hands on new tools...I can't wait to get started on my own work in San Antonio.

Tuyen, Tuyet, Becca and James all showed up this week. The old Krewe from New Orleans. It was great to be reunited with them. We all know this house well. We know the process and I think we all feel vested in the project and want to see it sucessfully completed. James mentioned how weird it was to see everyone from nola in nyc, working on the same house. It is kinda strange. The house no longer exists on Caffin Street or on any other street for that matter. It was demolished. So really, what is left is a memory of the place and, in a way, we're all a bit displaced.

Photos: A few images of rain at the park and my buds at the falafel cart-$4 can't beat it!

Media: The local NPR station interviewed Takashi (and me briefly). The interview should air around the 3rd or 4th of August.

I LOVE NYC

The past week I did the following...

1. Visited the Bronx Zoo

This gorilla puked in front of everyone and then he ate it. It was delightful.

2. Checked out Little Italy in the Bronx
You want cannoli? I got your cannoli.

3. PS1 Summer Concert (no photo)
Met up with David and Elrey and listened to a French dj on Bastille Day.

4. Greek food in Astoria (no photo)
Greek fries - just add feta.

5. Beer at the only beer garden left in NYC (no photo)
This place felt like Austin and looked like it too.

6. Walked around L.I.C. - Vernon Blvd. and Piers
Very laid back Sunday. Coffee shop, funky art gallery and some amazing views of the city.

7. Central Park - NY Philharmonic with Judy
Too cool. We laid our mats down and listened to music all night.

8. A Day in Chelsea
Before the concert in the Park, I spent the day exploring some of the galleries in Chelsea and had lunch with David. The Chelsea Market was very nice, too.

Who got a big ol' booty?

Street art in Chelsea.

Day 4 in NYC

Wow. This place is amazing. I don't know where to begin. I guess...Monday. I arrived around 11:30am after getting up at 4:15am central time to catch my plane in Austin. JetBlue was a great airline for this trip. It's only 3 - 3.5 hours, which makes it super easy to come back. (And I'm already planning on it.) JFK is not a cute airport...

My place is in Long Island City which is only a 10 minute train ride to Manhattan on the #7. The station is a few steps from the front door. Which also means that I hear the train all the time. Not a big deal. It's quieter than the trains that go by my place in SA! I have two roommates, Isaak and Erik, and a one-eyed cat named Kittie. Erik works for the Bronx Zoo and he's invited a few friends to go visit on Friday. Isaak is working on his Phd. Both have taken me to places in the neighborhood and the city.

Tuesday was my first day in the City. I ate Ethopian food for lunch in the Village and then went to Cafe Habana in NOLITA for dinner. Somewhere in between I had a chocolate canoli from a really old bakery called Vesuvius. Tre bien! So that was just the food. I saw so much that day and walked off all of that food, too! NYU, Soho, Greenwich Village, Washington Square Park...about 6 hours of walking around and that was just between Grand Central and Soho!

Wednesday I ventured out on my own to Times Square to visit La Judy. She workes off 49th and Broadway, so I just walked there from the subway station - which I took on my own for the first time. (People here complain about having to wait for the next train - a whole 3 minutes - geez! They would hate public transit in Austin or SA....) Time Square was madness! It was so busy, horns honking, the traffic, people walking around in a hurry - I loved it. The billboards were HUGE. Judy says to me, "If the P.Diddy billboard is behind you then you're walking in the right direction." Being in New York feels like you have your finger on the pulse of the world. So many different languages, faces, clothes, foods. If you get bored in this city, something is wrong with you. I finally met Judy on the corner of 49th and Broadway which was really surreal. It was just a few months ago we were dancing cumbias at her nieces quinceniera in Alice, Texas. She took me to her work on the 33rd floor. I met the CEO of the company and then we left for Judy's place on the Upper West Side. We had plans to see the NY Philharmonic in Central Park but it rained. So we stayed in her room most of the afternoon. I was helping her with some graphics that she was updating in her portfolio. It was great seeing a familiar face.

Today my plan was to visit the Museum of Modern Art. Now that I had some experience tranferring on the subway I felt comfortable enough to actually go to some specific places. I did manage to get confused/disoriented once I got off the train. I think that'll get better. But fortunatly I ened up at the NY Public Library. I love libraries and this one was amazing. I kept thinking how much my mom would love it. I wish she was with me today. It would have been fun. One day! They had a photography exhibit that I checked out. Then I went to the third floor and it was awesome. I saw a handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Gutenberg Bible, too.

After that I walked down 5th Avenue to 53rd. It was around 10 blocks, 14 actually because I walked too far. I spent a few hours at the Museum, had lunch and kept looking... the Cy Twombly's at the Menil are better...(teehee) but everything else...I mean who can complain! I saw alot of the collection when it was in Houston for the Amazing Century exhibition. I think that's what it was called. They had everything except Dali's Persistance of Memory-which is super tiny! The works were inspiring. What caught my attention most was a print exhibition, Picasso, Rendon, Kara Walker, Willie Cole and a few others I'm blanking on. It was great. I want to try printmaking again. I have some ideas... Another exhibition I saw was What is Painting....great!

Tomorrow, PS1 and possibly Chelsea galleries, Bronx Zoo. Maybe galleries on Saturday! Too many things to do and not enough time...I guess I'll have to come back. My work with Takashi begins on Monday, so I am exploring as much now because we will be super busy once he arrives.