Ivy and Brick

During a walk in Long Island City yesterday, I came across this group of old warehouses covered in ivy. I noticed the ivy had been deliberately planted on the sidewalk along the building. The ivy was neatly trimmed to be clear of the windows and doors, and the structures on either side were free of it, too. Turns out it's owned by a company called The Plant Specialists.

Back home, I looked up the company on the web. So I shot off an email asking how long it had taken the ivy to get to that stage. The owner wrote back immediately and said, 

"it was planted in mid 1980s as purely an aesthetic thing
this was a very depressing neighborhood back then
it looks great but really is not good for the old brick?"

That's exactly what he said.

Weird Art, Part 5

 

What would be more audibly entertaining than being in the first row of a great concert? How about if you could get on the stage and walk around listening to each and every person singing? That's what this exhibit was all about at the PS 1 MoMA Museum in my neighborhood of Long Island City.

When I entered the room, I was a little annoyed that people at the other end were talking so much that I couldn't hear what was coming out of the speakers. Then I realized that the talking was coming from the speakers. All of a sudden, things got quiet. Then the most amazing acapella singing flowed from the speakers. You could walk around the room and hear each individual singer as if you standing next to him (it was a boys' choir). I loved this exhibit for its creativity and pure listening pleasure.

Weird Art, Part 4 -- Burritos

As you enter this exhibit at the PS 1 MoMA Museum in Long Island City, it appears to be an empty room painted white. Then you notice two burritos sitting on the window sill side by side. (I'm told that some days the burritos are stacked.) The installation is titled something like "Chicken and Beef Burritos."

I want my $10 admission back.

On the other hand, it made me laugh, and I have a good story to tell. Maybe I should have paid more.

Weird Art, Part 3 -- Sit with Cats

The PS 1 MoMA Museum in Long Island City an old school house that's been converted into a space for contemporary art installations.

One exhibit was a room with a sofa and three cats. The cats were all available for adoption and were replaced with other adoptable cats if someone took one of them home. A donation of $100 was the only prerequisite to owning your own piece of art from the PS 1 MoMA Museum!

The next room housed a very large iguana in a very large cage. It was not getting as much attention as the cat. His (her?) big eyes followed me all around the cage.

Contemporary art evokes emotion. Most often, I think, it's shock. Sometimes it's anger that you spent the price of admission to see THAT. But as I reflect on this particular exhibit, I just felt sad for these little creatures.

Weird Art, Part 2--Kraftwerks

The first exhibit I went to at PS1 MoMA Museum -- just a few blocks from our Long Island City apartment -- was a multi-media installation by the German band Kraftwerks.

Apparently tens of thousands of fans tried to get tickets to see Kraftwerks perform at this museum just last month! According to a reviewer at frieze.com, they are "electonic music's equivalent of The Beatles." The problem was that the tent holds only 450 people.

It was housed inside a large white air-tent about the size of a high school gymnasium inside the museum's courtyard. As I approached the tent, I gave the museum guard an inquisitive look and he nodded his head in a manner that said, "Come. I am your gateway." This set the mysterious tone for the exhibit. Once I was in, I was surrounded by complete darkness.

Then, huge images were projected onto the walls and this strange, computer-like music burst through a multitude of speakers encircling the room -- deep bass rhythm pounding away in an ominous minor melody. The light from the projected images allowed me to see that others were watching this spectacle while lying on their backs on top of an enormous cushion in the middle of the room.

The first song I heard was so scary I almost got up to leave. It sounded a robot repeating a warning that radiation was imminent, and all were going to die a slow, painful death very soon. The subsequent songs were a little better, but I'd had enough after 15 minutes. On to the next exhibit. (Continued in next entry.)

To watch some YouTube videos of this 8-day concert series, click here.

Weird Art

 

(Photo by info.usa)

I started out yesterday just walking around Long Island City to get a feel for the place. On my way back I decided to duck into the PS1 MoMA Museum which is only a few blocks from my apartment. Before this museum became an extension of the MoMA (Modern Museum of Art), it was an independent display space for for large installations. And before that, a school.

I'm going to talk a bit about the installations I saw during my visit in these next few entries. I'll start with the topic of modern art itself.

When was the last time you went to a contemporary art museum? It's not high on your list, I'll bet. I think of modern art as something that takes you out of your comfort zone. Sometimes that is a pleasant thing, and sometimes it is very unpleasant. But either way, it changes how you see things, if only for a few minutes, an hour or perhaps the rest of your life.

Recently I overheard someone remarking how strange it is that people viewing modern art tend to read the explanation of the exhibit before experiencing the art. That is, they want to understand it before they look at it. Or perhaps the art is so weird they wonder why it was created in the first place.

(Continued next entry.)

 

New York Mothers Get Flowers

 

Walking around in Midtown today after church, it was easy to spot people with flowers probably taking them to their moms.

Colbert Signing

 

In front of the Bankstreet Bookstore on the upper west side there was this sign. 

 

It said 

STEPHEN

COLBERT

LINE FORMS

AROUND CORNER"

And here is what the line looked like:

 

Hilarious, right?

So I thought, "Hey, I've got a few minutes and since the line's that short, I'll go get his autograph." Turns out the line twisted around a stairwell and went upstairs and through another room. 

If it would have just been me, I would have waited, but I had the hubby with me, so we moved along. He made up for it by buying me two red devil cupcakes at Bloomies.

Skywriting

I spotted this skywriter yesterday as Paul and I were walking through Central Park. We wondered if the pilot was going to spell out a name. Then Paul suggested the pilot may have sold this to more than one customer. What a brilliant idea! The one being proposed to would never know it wasn't planned for him/her alone.

 

Sometimes when this tour boat goes by my apartment, I open the window and wave.

Where to Look While Riding the Subway

It's close quarters on the subway, especially when people are headed to and from work. If you are lucky and get a seat, it's difficult not to stare directly at the person across from you. Many people are checking their cell phones, but they don't work on the trains, so I'm guessing they are playing games. Then I discovered I could download a book on my iPhone and now I don't have to look at people's feet all the time.

How to Ride the Escalator

The unwritten rule of riding an escalator is Walk Left, Stand Right. Midwesterners, I have noticed, aren't in such a hurry that they do anything but ride them. But in NY, it's GET OF MY WAY. (-:

Here's a cute article on How to Ride an Escalator 101 from a blogger in Phily

How should I know where I live?

On the way home from the airport the other day, I got into the taxi and gave him my address. "Where is that?" he wanted to know.

This is not a question you ever want to hear from your New York taxi driver.

"Do you live next to the Citi building?" he continued. I don't live next to the Citi building. But I also don't live next to any remarkable landmarks other than the big Pepsi Sign along the East River in Queens. Read a good article about this icon here.

He did not know about the big Pepsi Sign along the East River.

While he's driving in heavy traffic I am trying to pull up directions on my iPhone. "This exit?" he asks as he swerves to the right almost colliding with the car behind us.

My directions finally pull up. "No, the next one!" I say.

"Okay" . . . and we're back on the highway.

Once we take the correct exit, I am able to guide him with my iPhone directions. "The next time," he says, "give driver cross street numbers, not name of tiny street. We don't know these little streets."

Southstreet Seaport

If you want some shopping mixed with historical structures, waterfront views and really big boats, go to the Southstreet Seaport, a 12-block area on New York's original port of entry.

I'm attracted to waterfronts. I love the smell of the water and long-legged birds that dip down to the water's surface looking to pluck away a little something to eat. But my goodness, the ships are awesome! Getting up close to these beautiful floating museums almost takes your breath away. They are a privately owned fleet of historic ships, the largest such fleet in the United States.

It was a cold day, and I didn't stay long, but I'll go back and explore more. I have heard there are ways to get rides on those ships.