Filed under: garden | Tags: BK Farmyards, brooklyn, New York, urban agriculture
BK Farmyards is attempting to turn underutilized land in Brooklyn, New York into farmland. The website includes information on what legislation to watch, what they are growing, and how they would like to grow. There is a benefit for the farmyard this Saturday. Watch the video for some philosophy and hope.
Filed under: college | Tags: architecture, brooklyn, Field Work Term, FWT, Harlem, New York, Oxford comma, Park Slope, red horse cafe, skyline, tea lounge, Williamsburg
I’ve apparently moved to Brooklyn, New York. I’ll only be here for two months, I promise. Then I will return to school.
I saw a few friends today. Today (actually yesterday) I walked to my apartment, took the subway to Harlem, then Park Slope and lastly to Williamsburg (where I’m living). My friend, Mariela, made me an amazingly delicious dinner. It was really simple…rice, peppers, garlic, red onion, spices and mozzarella. and love. (Please note the absense of an Oxford comma, but know that I don’t have a position on its absense.)
I also went to the Tea Lounge and the Red Horse Cafe with three other friends and a friend of a friend.
I’m interning with an architect, and I start tomorrow (actually today). I’m going to leave my apartment by 9:30 to make sure I’m on time (I don’t start until 10:30). Hopefully we will adjust my working hours as I’d rather go in/get out earlier. I hope my first day goes well.
Filed under: art, college | Tags: 800 steps apart, Bennington College, brian rigney hubbard, brooke singer, CERCLA, EPA, New York, September 11th, superfund
Brooke Singer gave a lecture yesterday evening in Tishman Auditorium as part of the Visual Arts Lecture Series. Singer is interested in making information more accessible to the public.
One project, Superfund365, displays information related to 365 Superfund sites across the United States. Information may be sorted by responsible parties, Superfund refers to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. The act required responsible parties to pay for the cleanup. If no party was found responsible, a trust fund created by taxing the petroleum and chemical industries was used to pay for cleanup. Superfund sites are on the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities List, which includes 1550 sites.
After the events of September 11th, the Environmental Protection Agency cleared evacuated New Yorkers to return to Lower Manhattan. Brooke Singer documented the state of offices and apartments covered in dust and debris. She grew skeptical regarding the safety of Lower Manhattan. She is currently working on a piece with Brian Rigney Hubbard called 800 Steps Apart. The piece is about two properties, four blocks apart, which were given far different instructions for cleanup. One cleanup included a hazmat team, the other included a mop and lip balm.
Filed under: art, college, garden | Tags: agriculture, architecture, dance, farming, food, New York, parenting, philosophy, sukkah
This is my kind of parent. This is my kind of farmer. This is my kind of rule. This is my kind of intervention.
The architecture intro class is asked to design a Sukkah. When I designed mine two years ago, I imagined one beneath a water tower, one built of scrap wood and the last being “constructed” of eight modern dancers holding sunflowers moving to create a space that both comforts their occupants and responds to their surroundings. If only I were Jewish.
I really enjoyed reading this chapter for philosophy. You may enjoy reading it as well.
I wouldn’t say I like what he designed for a farm in Killingly, Connecticut, but I like his ideas.
Filed under: art, last green valley | Tags: architecture, art, energy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, MoMA, New Orleans, New York, New York Times, pellet, Pomfret, prefab
MoMA is opening a new exhibit soon that will feature prefabricated housing.
Mr. Sass, an architecture professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has designed prefab housing for New Orleans. He proposes shipping a laser-cutting system with the pieces, which can be assembled with a rubber mallet, so homeowners can erect their own houses. “The house could be a fascinating combination of high-tech design and low-tech assembly,” Mr. Bergdoll said.
Unrelated…my father purchased a pellet stove for our house this weekend. It will be delivered and installed in October. Pellets are compacted sawdust; a bi-product of the sawmill industry. We’re hoping that the financial and ecological costs remain in our favor, despite the decline of the housing boom and the number of people converting to alternative fuels. We still aren’t sure about how to properly circulate air around the house. More on our pellet stove once it has been installed.
Filed under: art, last green valley | Tags: art, christoph niemann, connecticut historical society, New York, New York Times, Pomfret
A chaperone on one of Arthur’s school trips told me something he overheard when all the kids were neatly lined up in rows of two. The girl holding Arthur’s hand asked him, “Have you heard of Peter Pan?” “No,” he replied, “have you heard of Metro North?”
Here is a little bit of subway humor from the opinion section of the New York Times. It is a series of illustrations and captions by Christoph Niemann.
Looking through posts that have a Pomfret Tag often result in no gain of interesting information or happenings. I did find an interesting post in a blog by the Connecticut Historical Society Library that was posted in January. Despite a few date and grammar related mistakes, it is a good read.
Filed under: art, garden, last green valley | Tags: art, garden, New York, politics, Pomfret
One, two articles from the New York Times that I enjoyed. The first is about the revival of home vegetable gardens. The second came a little late, but now I have new pea knowledge.
I started my summer maintenance job at Pomfret School on Monday. Most of what I do is move tables and chairs from the lawn of one mansion to the lawn of another. I also bunk beds. No doubt we’ll all be jacked and crispy by the end of the summer; those bunks are heavy and we spend a lot of time outside. I really like the job, even if it’s tiring.
My dislike for the paintings of Tom Menard brings to mind my dislike for the paintings of Grandma Moses brings to mind my fondness for the art of Lisa Sanditz.
Sparky, an artist from Brooklyn, will exhibit over 100 portraits of himself at the Schroeder Romero / Winkleman Gallery Project Space in Chelsea through June 28. I had the opportunity to meet Sparky when he paid a daily visit to the office I was interning in during the beginning of this year. Sparky’s work is sometimes erotic often with homosexual references. When asked by Amy Sadao if Sparky identified as a gay artist Sparky responded:
It’s nobody’s business whose butt I sniff, but I’m not ashamed of it either. I’ve had some good bitches, but I tend to fall for those Alpha Dog types. There have always been amazing dogs whose sexuality was known in the industry but kept quiet publicly. Lassie was certainly the Rock Hudson of the four-legged world. As far as labels go, I prefer Queer Canine – I’m here, I’m queer, I’m peeing on your lawn, Get use to it!
Go see the Sparky Show or view the Sparky Project online.
Filed under: college, last green valley | Tags: Bennington, maps, New York, Pomfret, Providence, running
Bennington and North Bennington, Vermont:
I’m working on a series of sloppy maps that show various routes through the four municipalities that I’ve been a resident of, Bennington, New York, Pomfret and Providence.
This first series documents my running routes. Knowing what I know about running, I know I’m addicted to running. I had no idea it could become a disorder until a year ago. Luckily, I’m not that extreme yet. In the two rural locations I steered away from subdivisions and in the two cities I…attempted…to avoid traffic. In three of the municipalities (all but Pomfret) I tended to travel in the direction I understood as North on standard runs – Bennington, true North; New York, Uptown; and Providence, towards the top of the RISD Map. In all cases this could be considered necessary – Bennington, avoiding blight; New York, escaping to Central Park; and Providence, avoiding traffic.
So which is my favorite municipality to run in? I don’t know, but a lot of the things that I appreciate while running (lack of traffic and noise for example) aren’t so appreciated when my run in finished. For example, the distance from groceries. (more…)
