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.

NYC

I leave for NYC on Monday morning. The place that I'm renting is in Long Island City, very near PS1. Two friends of mine are already in the city, Judy and David. Judy is working on her advertising internship for 10 weeks. David moved to the city in April and is working at a non-profit. I met both in Austin while working at the Children's Museum.

Luckily, I'll have the first week to explore the city. Takashi doesn't arrive unti the 16th. But, once he arrives we have two weeks to install at the site. According to my map, I live really close to the Sculpture Park.

It's taken some time to soak in everything that I experienced in New Orleans. I don't know that I'm done! I'd like to finish this project and then see what ideas remain. I'm thinking a video piece, photography, drawings and a performance/installation piece... Seems like a lot, but I think I can do it.

Last Week in NOLA

I'm back in SA. The last week in New Orleans was a blur. We worked very hard to get a lot accomplished in a short time. I did manage to find time to explore more of the city. Oh, and I went to the church festival on Sunday, June 3rd. They were celebrating Father Jerome's 50 years of service. He's vegan, too! It was a great event - puro New Orleans...

Second line

Treme Jazz Band

The shore along Lake Ponchartrain is so fertile and black.

Exploring the Lower Ninth Ward

Fried Pickels!!

So now I'll be in SA for 3 weeks working in the studio and helping install exhibitions at the gallery. Then I'm off to New York to complete the final part of this project. Whew!

I hope I get to see everyone I met in New Orleans again. If I don't, I have great memories that I'll keep forever - unless my mind goes with old age...jajaja! (Takashi, thanks for sharing your knowledge and humor. I look forward to seeing you and Nina in NYC! James thanks for the gelato and contemplative conversations/silence. Remember that Samuri's can't fight on an empty stomach. Becca it was great laughing with you about Takashi. Tuyene, Tuete, Stephanie, Louis and his crew at the studio...I enjoyed getting to know all of you. Steve Quick, it's so weird that you know Patricia Olynyk, remember to ask her about Chicken George! Audry, my friend, thanks for exploring that crazy city with me. )

On Site

It rained hard again this week. The side of the house was flooded about a foot. The house, of course, is not a shelter from the weather. Most of the ceiling is missing and the parts that are still there are falling. It's muddy. The good thing about the rain is that it's been keeping the temperatures mild - 80's, very odd for New Orleans.

James, Takashi and myself take lunch breaks together. We can't leave the site alone because of our supplies so one of us usually goes out and brings food. Popeyes, poorboys and burgers are the usual fare. It's been a challange finding vegetarian food here. It's a good thing I still eat fish. A catfish poorboy (dressed) sounds good right now... On a side note, I was recently informed by a local that the catfish here always comes from Mississippi. Apparently Louisiana and Mississippi made a deal: Louisiana won't raise catfish if Mississippi doesn't raise crawfish. Who knew??

Photos above: left to right (Takashi, me and James) Friday lunch break. It was a long week. Below: The Krewe in front of the house. Takashi being very Japanese.

People stop by everyday. It's great to see so many people and volunteers working in the area. Interestingly enough, many are from New York volunteering or working to help rebuild New Orleans. I read in the paper today that a representative from Austin Engery is coming to New Orleans to consult on green energy.

The last exhibit I worked on at the Austin Children's Museum was called Air Fair and it was sponsored by Austin Engery. I really enjoyed working with them professionally and personally. My old house in Austin had solar panels installed and the electricity bill was usually under $30/month. Whatever extra energy the house didn't use was fed back into the city grid. The cool thing about it, the City subsidized about 75% of our costs. It would be great if NOLA could become a green city. These are the opportunities that the city has now and I'm glad that officials are being proactive and seeking sustainable living options.

That's my new friend Shorty. He lives in the neighborhood and visits us. On this day he was struggling to ride his bike. Oh, and he notices things that are purple. Good ol' Shorty!

More pics from the site..

Between Piety and Desire...

Everyday when I drive to the site I cross two streets: first it's Piety and the next is Desire. Guess which is the busier street.

Speaking of the project, it's going well except for some stressful moments regarding the demolition of the house. It seems that the house is listed under Section 1 on the list for demolition. The city and the corp are willing to put us on the bottom of the list, but the house is going to be destroyed sometime in the near future.

So we're ramping up production and working longer hours to get sections of the job done before our deadline. Many people stop by the site wondering what we're doing or have heard about the project and just wanted to check it out. A pretty famous international artist living in NYC came by last Saturday. He is also working on a project for the 9th Ward.

Cheese cloth, latex, brushes, scissors: these are my tools for casting the house. Takashi says that these techniques we're using are very similar to those in lacquer arts. He trained with a lacquer arts master in Tokyo and is often reminded of that experience while we're working. Both lacquer and latex are tree saps.

I helped pull the porch section of the casting on Monday. It's pretty incredible the detail that is copied on the latex mold, the cracks in the cement, the ring where someone left a can sitting on the porch, the rings in the wood beams. The cast is like a documentation of all these things, a memory of textures, choices and processes from a life that once existed here.

St. Bernard parish is right down the street from us. It was also hit hard by the hurricane. I went to the local grocery, Breaux Mart to find some lunch there. I saw large jars of pickeled pig lips, to-go containers of bread pudding and boxes of grits. On my way back to the site I saw an abandoned restaurant, Chicken Box: Just Like Ya Mamas.

People are slowly rebuilding. Everyone worries and hopes that the soul of this place doesn't become just a memory.

Super Sunday - By Any Means Necessary

Yesterday was Super Sunday here in New Orleans. (Thanks to Don Marshall for stopping by the site and telling us about it!! Don put on Jazz Fest 8 months after Hurricane Katrina. Makes organizing the Austin Children's Museum Luncheon seem like a walk in the park!!) A few blocks from my place in Treme the parade passed by on the corner of N. Claiborne and Esplanade. Super Sundays happen 3 times a year in different parts of the city. I was lucky to catch the first downtown Super Sunday since Hurricane Katrina. The theme for the parade was "By Any Means Necessary". Some of the tribal members are still displaced from the hurricane, so the remaining Indians decided to keep the tradition going in honor of those missing or who passed away. From what I understand about the Super Sunday tradition, Mardi Gras Indians pay respect to the history between slaves and Indians by parading their elaborate costumes, music and dance. The chiefs of each tribe, which are divided among the different sections of town, compete in a friendly rivalry seeing which chief's costume is bigger and better. Each 3D costume is handmade, beaded and feathered by the tribes - usually taking a year to complete. The themes of each costume vary. A story about this tradition was featured in the paper this morning.

A jazz band played at the front of the parade and hundreds of people second lined behind them. Only a few tourists were there to see it. Probably because the event started whenever the chiefs decided. ( I waited almost two hours to get these shots AND I was late! It was so worth it.) What keeps playing through my mind is the determination of the people of this city. Half of the city is still devastated. People are still living in FEMA trailers - even on Esplanade. The lower ninth ward, where we've been working, looks like a ghost town. Tour buses cruise the area in what some of the locals call the Misery Tour. But they're glad people want to see the other side of New Orleans because it means they care. Some locals I've talked to have mixed emotions about rebuilding in areas like the lower 9th. Services to these areas are scarce. Occasionally you'll see military police patrolling the site, but mostly you're on your own. Leave before dark they tell us - and we do. (Don't worry Mom...)

I get to see both sides everyday. The New Orleans that everyone knows about: French Quarter, parades, Cafe Du Monde, St. Charles Avenue, Magazine Street. To see just this side of New Orleans is to only see half of what this city is experiencing. And then I see the businesses that are still shut down, the X's on every house, the rows and rows of FEMA trailers where people live. Everyone I meet tells me their story; the addictions they picked up since the hurricane, what city they were taken to during the evacuation, missing neighbors who never came back. Time is split in two, "before Katrina" and "after Katrina".

People I meet keep telling me they are glad we're here. After the parade I was walking home and a friendly "camera man" asked me if if got some good shots. I noticed him during the parade. He was the only guy I saw with a professional looking camera - although it was old. His eyes were foggy and I wondered how well he could see. Apparently he sees just fine since he's the local "go to" guy in town for all the jazz funerals and parades. His name is Sylvester Francis (check out the Spike Lee documentary, When the Levee's Broke...) and he's Executive Director of the Backstreet Cultural Museum which just so happens to be around the corner from my place on St. Claude. He is also the "camera man" and historian for the Mardi Gras Indians. His museum houses some of the best costumes from years past. (!) When he opened the door to his collection I was stunned. It was a treasure chest of New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian history. He offered me a cold drink and we sat on the front porch waiting for the FiYiYi chief to drop off his costume.

While we were waiting I met some of my new neighbors. I forgot their names, but they were all very sweet and welcomed me to the neighborhood. I want to talk with them more and just listen to their history. When the lady in pink found out I was from San Antonio, she got excited because that's where she was evacuated. She told me they took her to the Air Force base, then Montgomery Ward. Everyone was friendly she said. Sylvester invited me back to the Museum and when I asked for his phone number, he laughed and said, "you don't need to call, just walk around the corner ". With all the technology I use to stay connected (cell phone, instant messaging, email, blogging) it's nice to know I can just walk around the corner and have a cold drink on a new friend's front porch. Super Sunday, indeed.

PS: I went to mass at St. Augustine's on Sunday. It's the oldest African American Catholic church in the country. Sylvester and a few friends were planning the route (second line route) for a big celebration the church is having next Sunday. The priest invited me to attend. I can't wait!

This morning

We're meeting a little later at the site so I took advantage of some down time and ventured out to the French Quarter this morning for some tea. The colors in this place are amazing. Another similarity to San Antonio.

Another thing...Catholic churches everywhere. Those silly Spaniards. I can't get over the rich history of this city. Maybe I'll go to mass on Sunday.

Speaking of my place, here it is. I'm staying in the little house. The owner, Penny, lives next door. Right now I'm the only one in the house but I think someone is coming on Friday.

Yesterday a storm caused an electrical outage for most of the day. So I sat outside on the porch right before dark and talked with my dear friend Nathan (he's in Austin). A garden in front of the porch is blooming. The scent after the rain was unforgettable.

My bedroom.