Photo of the Week: Snow Day in Brooklyn

More photos here.

And now for a shameless plug... Black Friday edition

You can think of this as akin to an NPR fundraising drive, without the serving-the-greater-good component... unless by that you mean "making holiday shopping for a LOST aficionado (geek) really easy."

Anyway, I was recently notified that my LOST shop on Cafe Press was upgraded (!) to a premium shop.  What that means is that you can now purchase all of my designs (previously blogged here) on every item offered at Cafe Press.  If you were wondering, the upgrade occurred largely thanks to the astronomical success of the Drive Shaft World Tour t-shirts, which of course were Maura's idea:

Drive Shaft World Tour

Shop for this and other designs at Another Pearl.  The show may be over, but the love remains.  Happy Black Friday!

Photos of the Week: What Hath Dog Wrought

For two weeks after the Daylight Savings switch, our dog (Blue) decided to protest its legitimacy by waking us up three hours earlier than normal.  The only tactic that appeased her was taking her for 2-hour walks.  Eventually, this grew tiresome--even to Blue.  Before the honeymoon ended, though, I was (we were) able to experience Brooklyn in a completely new way: alone. 

One version of the morning routine sent us to the Promenade, Fulton Landing and Brooklyn Bridge Park.  Over the course of an hour, we never encountered another soul. The misanthrope in me now knows the perfect time to visit these places.  Very serene.  Half an hour later, I collapsed.  The next day, we returned to the Promenade:

Brooklyn Promenade: 11/17, approx. 5:30am

Brooklyn Promenade: 11/17, approx. 5:30am

Promenade pavers

A sidenote: this fantastic blog post pretty much sums up our two weeks after DST.

The Bridge Is Over

Carroll Street Bridge.  Aerial photo via Google Maps.

In our old neighborhood, crossing the Gowanus Canal, stands the oldest retractile bridge in the United States.  Built in 1889 and restored a hundred years later, the Carroll Street Bridge stands out for its unique operating mechanism (a sliding bridge?!) and its trapezoidal shape.  I'm no historian, but if I had to guess, it seems clear why they designed such a bridge here in the 1880s: at the design presentation to the Community Board, the residents of the luxury waterfront condos objected to their views being obstructed by a drawbridge.  Actually, while it takes up a great deal of space in plan--it requires a docking platform at least the size of the bridge--it allows vertically unobstructed passage for the entire width of the clear space.

On another note, not once in the half an hour I spent on the bridge last weekend did I catch so much as a glimpse of a six-legged dog or a fish with three eyes.  Progress on the Gowanus cleanup front!

View across bridge to West

Detail of steel tension rod connection

CP-POW: Muriel Guépin Gallery

Installation at the Muriel Guépin Gallery, on Bergen Street just west of Smith, in Brooklyn.  Artist Unknown (to me).

Photo of the Week: NYC Marathon

Sunday, Mile 7: Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Marathon Debris

Photo of the Week: New York Dock Co.

New York Dock Co.

Red Hook, Brooklyn: 160 Imlay Street.  A former New York Dock Company warehouse is undergoing an extensive renovation.  It seems as though a few years ago, it was slated to become a humongous condo development.  Now, it is rumored to maintain its life as a warehouse.  The twin building to its North, 62 Imlay, has supposedly been resurrected as a maximum-security storage space for Christie's auction house.

Topography: Evolution of Lower Manhattan

Site Model examining the evolution of Lower Manhattan: an artifact created during the site analysis stage of a project for Celia Liu's High Line studio at UWM (2003).  The layers of the model explore the superimposition of the rigid Manhattan street grid (represented by the white plastic eggcrate) over the topography of the island, pre-European settlement (white museum board).  Above the grid, I created another layer representing the subway system.  While still confined to the strictures of the grid, as most subway access points obviously correspond to heavily trafficked intersections, the subway lines reinstate more fluid and organic paths of movement over (or under, as it were) the rationalized grid.

Site Model: Overview

Site Model: Detail

Site Model: Details

Materials: Foam core and museum board base, plastic eggcrate louver, strap-ties, nuts, bolts, washers and reclaimed wires.

With a little more time, I might look into how other systems fit into the model (underground aquifers, sewage, etc.).  In the meantime, check out The Welikia Project (an extension of the Mannahatta Project) and a diagram of Manhattan's changing shoreline over the course of the past 400 years.

UPDATE: this map from 1880 is quite interesting.  It shows the street grid at the time with the original topography overlaid.

UPDATE: Fluid Adagio finalists announced

Last Tuesday, I posted my entry that came up short for Salt Lake City's Fluid Adagio competition.  The finalists have been announced, and one image from each of the five entries selected as finalists can be seen here.

CP-POW: Track Geometry

Track geometry car passing through the 34th Street subway station, 10/18/2010. 

Track Geometry Car

Photo of the Week: Daruma

A Daruma doll, collected by Maura on her trip to Japan a few years ago.  One eye is drawn when a wish is made, with the other left unfinished until the wish is fulfilled.

Daruma doll

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

On Friday, I received word that I was not, in fact, selected as a finalist for the Salt Lake City Fluid Adagio competition.  Alas...

Regardless, below is the entry I submitted in collaboration with artist--and fellow Brooklynite--Jong Il Ma.  The winning project will occupy the future site of the SLC Ballet West dance company, to be built next spring with a budget of $46,000 for design, materials and labor.

View from Southwest

Rubato: Rhythmic flexibility within a phrase or measure; a relaxation of strict time.

This light, whimsical structure will embody and encourage a dynamic action and interaction with its inhabitants. Rubato might be employed by the ballet company—or other artists—for outdoor performances open to the public, either as a backdrop or as an integral participant in the performance.

A series of ribs created from segments of poplar lumber dance across the site, intertwined with an array of crisscrossing nylon ropes (a potential supporting structure for a canopy of snow in winter). Inspired by Salt Lake City’s mountainous surrounds and the grace of the ballet, the basic profile of the arch repeats itself throughout. The scale of the arches is modulated between three sizes. Each arch is a mirror image of the previous component and offset to varying degrees. Combined with the variation in height, this lends the overall composition a richness and complexity that belies its economical and repetitive elements. While visitors might experience a continuous winding procession through the arches, the structure pulls apart at alternating intervals to allow lateral passage. The composition and movement of the structure create large pockets of space ideal for performances, temporary merchant stands or simply relaxation and enjoyment.

Composed of readily available materials, the installation will tread lightly on the ground, directing its energy—and our attention—skyward. Taking cues from the rich landscape of the region, red gravel will be employed to blanket the site with a monochromatic stage from which the structure will spring. The ground plane of the site will be minimally disturbed with a series of concrete footings to support the poplar arches, mediated with steel plate and bolt connections. Light and ephemeral, when its temporary occupation of the site has run its course, the project may be dismantled just as swiftly as it arrives.

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

CP-POW: Dance of the Pants

Columbia Waterfront District, Wednesday night.

CP-POW: Watching the Wheels

SKC Laundromat, Brooklyn.

CP-POW (Cell Phone Photo of the Week)

Part 1 in a new series!  Hold on to your hats...

Outside a glass studio on the Gowanus Canal... hanging it out to dry.