Structural Patterns

I found this response / comment to the 1717 Troutman resident vacate entry so insightful that I wanted to pull it out of the comments area and post it as an entry.

Shawn Says:
November 20th, 2007 at 4:22 pm

This is a difficult situation; I am an artist, live in the area and am familiar with the problem. I understand the “logic� of eviction from an unsafe building; no one wants to be responsible for a building full of people going up in flames with no fire escapes or sprinklers.

But, this is not a problem in any other city I have ever been in, there are warehouses full of artists in almost every other major city in this country and the cities are, on the whole, happy to have them there. It is understood that conditions may be a little sub-standard, but “rent at your own risk� seems to be the more common city stance.

Not in New York. In New York, I think, there is bitterness about rent and a vicious contempt between the “haves� and the “have-nots�. That is, those who own property (or rent significantly below the market rate) and those who are slaves to the financial-commercial monster of this city to be able to afford the absurd market rate rents. This has created (i) dumb and arrogant city agencies intent on over-managing the housing market and (ii) rapacious, unscrupulous landlords who are nonetheless feckless property owners. Anyone perceived to be “getting away with� renting on the cheap are not tolerated by either the city agencies or the landlords.
The real losers in this battle are the artists.

There is ABSOLUTELY NO awareness of the problem facing working artists in this city by the city itself or its agencies. (Disclaimer: my “day job� is at one of these city agencies). OK, landlords are scummy and will always be scummy, I accept that, but the stance of the city here, which should be protecting artists instead of always working against them is ridiculous. Many city officials who pride themselves on being representatives of a “cultural capital� still advocate policies that would turn the whole city into a luxury condo wasteland, populated by hordes of insipid, bland, Sims-like financial sector employees.

When one does find awareness of “artists� by the city, they are either expendable gentrifiers or (sorry if I offend anyone here) art-related professionals, like web designers, marketing and advertising people, company (not freelance) graphic designers, etc. These people are not studio artists. Studio artists need work space. It would also be nice to have a place to live.

Live-work space combos are not just some screw-off kids trying to get away without paying residential rents, live-work spaces are a sad necessity for most artists here, who on the whole would much rather have separate studios and apartments and who even when they are selling their work are in a constant struggle for rent, not to mention health care, basic living expenses and so on.

The problem is that no one sees the problem of artists. If the city would start viewing artists as small manufacturers (which they most certainly are), then the city could start to offer benefits to artists and to those who provide the artists with stable, affordable work space. There are a myriad of industrial benefits offered by various city agencies of which currently most artists enjoy none.

I sympathize with the unfortunate former tenants of 1717 Troutman. But for some time now, droves of artists have been leaving the myth of a New York bohemia behind and moving to other cities where they are wanted (Berlin for example) and where they can afford to live and sell their work. The writing is on the walls. In less than 10 years, if things don’t change, New York will not be the “world cultural capital� for contemporary studio-based art that it is so often advertised as in brochures for luxury condos and in incentive packages for mega-financial institutions.

I’ve added character descriptions for the characters featured in the animation “Arbol Torcido”. I’m also hoping that people wishing to do something interesting with these characters will contact me, so that I might send them the Illustrator files for these characters. I may not be able to do anything with them any time soon, so perhaps someone can use them. Although the animation features popular television super heroes, El Chapulin Colorado and Ultraman, I created other characters such as “Terrorista”.

Terrorista is a child of dark complexion carrying a head of two faces and arms without hands, walking naked with dynamite strapped to his body. The United States has been at the helm of establishing a fractured world. In the 20th Century, the United States global ascendence began with uncertain pride that transformed into self-rightousness and ended in gluttony. Terrorista is a reflection of that which we have wrought upon sectors of our globe – poverty with little recourse. Above are also “Labor” and “Man of War”.

An old friend from undergrad, Lara Miranda, has been re-creating biblical stories for film and they are crazy – violent, fanciful, and wicked – an excellent literal portrayal of the Bible.

Thus far  2 Kings 2:23 of “True Stories from the Bible” is the only passage available on YouTube from Dawn Burns Films.  I briefly spoke with Lara nearly a year ago and I remember her telling me that she was filming donkeys.  There are no donkeys in 2 Kings 2:23, so I imagine that she’s got more films in the works.

Meanwhile the literal interpretation of 2 Kings 2:23-24 (I copied the King James Version below) is a throw back of 60’s and 70’s low budget Biblical films.  It reminds me of the sort of films I would see in Catholic school as a child.  This moment in time, seems like an incredibly appropriate period to revisit this film genre, as these films portray the inherent violence of the Bible at a time of war and conflict in the “Holy Land”.

2 Kings 2:23-24 (the King James Version)

23And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.

24And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

Many residents and a solid contention of the local news showed up to the press conference this morning at 1717 Troutman, Ridgewood, NY. The press listened to our concerns, that we have been inproperly dislocated. That we were forced to leave our homes and studios with no notice and that we have been left homeless and with very limited time to remove our belongings.

The Democratic minority leader, Senator Malcolm Smith was present and promised to advocate on our behalf to grant us more time to properly vacate our buildings and perhaps to even return to our homes. The city of New York does not force residents out of commercial buildings, even when the commercially zoned building is used for private residence. Afterall, NYC has a long history of artists living in industrial buildings. They are generally the first wave of gentrification for industrial areas.

Various stories are swirling as to our position. The city has requested for our landlord to take the keys to the building, but he doesn’t wish to be responsible for securing the building. When the landlord has tried to enter the building he hasn’t been allowed to, so we the residents, do not know what will happen to our homes and belongings after Sunday, the final day that the Department of Buildings has given us to remove everything. Many of us simply can not do so. Meanwhile, we pack and move the belongings that are most important to each of us, and hope that we will be able to return for the rest of our things. Brooke and I continue to stay with friends, uncertain of whether we should be looking for an apartment or keep hope that our homes will be returned to us.

Here’s more info on the press conference from Jolie, one of our most active residents:

Senator Malcolm Smith (State Minority Leader) showed up and issued a statement to the Press expressing his support and letting them know that he came to stand beside us and support us. He stated to the media that he made a call to Mayor Bloomberg personally this morning to ask that he help the tenants that were displaced from 1717 Troutman. Congresswoman Catherine Nolan sent a representative who distributed a statement to the Press from the Congresswoman also expressing her support and petitioning the city for more time on our behalf. Chuck Delaney also showed up and spoke to us and offered us assistance. We had press from so many outlets including Daily News, New York Magazine, Channel 9 News, NY1, Univision, Ridgewood Times, Brooklyn Courier etc.

Following a stay of three weeks in Mexico City to complete a commission for a museum in the historical center and staying in a nice hotel and being treated as a respected guest, I returned to New York City to be homeless.

My residence and studio are located at 1717 Troutman in Ridgewood, a corner of Queens. The building is zoned for commercial use and I moved in nearly four years ago, since my previous building, a beautiful 19th century industrial brick building was to be demolished for the construction of condos. As a working artist and professor who needs a wood shop and studio, I have little recourse but to take a lease in a commercial building. The rents in New York City, a city that prides itself for its cultural relevance, are too too high for artists.

Fortunately, I was not here when the fire department broke down the doors of the second and third story residents to throw them out of their homes at 9pm Thursday night, October 18th. The people living and running their small businesses (largely artists paying taxes for studio spaces) at 1717 Troutman had absolutely no prior warning that they were going to be forced out of their homes. The Department of Buildings (DOB) states that our landlord was given a notice one or two weeks before October 18th (I hear different stories whether it was one or two weeks before). And apparently some notice was placed on the front of the building before hand, but it was immediately removed, most likely by the landlord.

The DOB informed the landlord, the man who has not brought the building up to code and claims that it is the responsibility of the landlord to inform the 220 tenants. This strikes me as incredibly irresponsible of the city and the DOB. On October 18th, the DOB pasted VACATE NOTICES on every door of the second and third floor. Just as easily the DOB could have slipped notices under the doors weeks in advance. Instead the DOB left us at the mercy of landlord who is seeking to make a profit on his building.

Now there are 220 tax paying individuals, residents of New York City kicked out of their homes with a 10 hour notice. One would not expect for this to happen in the United States of America. The Red Cross was informed, Animal Shelter was informed ahead of time. Residents were offered up to two nights at a Red Cross shelter. Initially the DOB gave residents one week to remove their belongings and only 4 hours a day to do so – 10am-2pm. Fortunately the hours and days have been extended. However my wife and I just got back from Mexico and we have to work and there is no way that we can get out of this building by Sunday October 28th, we have nowhere to go to or to take all our belongings. This may seem minor compared to the fires in California, but that is a natural disaster, our lives have been turned upside down, when it could have been avoided if people had been properly informed.

Meanwhile there is a business on the second floor, a company that has not been given a vacate notice. They have been granted 30 days to bring their part of the building up to code. Why are individuals being treated differently than this company?! This is the same company that blew the whistle on our landlord, a company that was in a lawsuit with our landlord. So there are 220 citizens paying the price for a conflict between our landlord and the company on the second floor. Meanwhile the city states that it is acting to protect us, because the building is dangerous, it does not have a second exit or functioning sprinklers. Problems that can easily be fixed. The city is acting to protect us by kicking us out of our homes and putting us on the streets with only a 10 hour notice on the morning of the day we were to be thrown out. Now we do not have enough time or the means to move out.

The residents of 1717 Troutman will have a press conference FRIDAY, October 26th at 10am in front of the building to state that we are homeless, we were not given prior warning and to beg for the Vacate to be lifted. Meanwhile my wife and I are staying on the couches of friends, who have graciously offered us space to sleep.

The New York Times covered this story on October 20th, but we need more press in order for elected officials to help us.

Friday, October 5th was the first day on getting started in assembling the physical component of my TRANSITIO commission for “impolis”, one of a series of curatorial components that make up TRANSITIO_MX02, the second installment of this new media festival in Mexico City.

I’m building a rickshaw that will tour people around a park in the historical center of Mexico City, Parque Alameda. As people take a ride on the rickshaw that I will pull, they will watch an animation that I’ve been creating over the last few months. Carreta Nagua is an old folk tale from Nicaragua, tale generally told to children when they refuse to go to sleep, because it’s a wagon (carreta) driven by death and pulled by two skeletal oxen, it makes a great deal of noise, as if chains were been dragged along the ground as it makes it way. When the Carreta Nagua arrives at ones home, the person is sure to die. It’s assumed that the tale, a very old tale shared amongst the indeginous people of Nicaragua, but also having many parallels throughout Latin America, is believed to have been established due to the slave carts driven by the Spaniards to take slaves to the mines. People taken by the carts would disappear, only to be seen again as corpses. The Spanish would take indeginous people to the mines to work, where they would wear away to die and be taken as corpses for burial. When indeginous people heard a cart, they would hide, the cart became a symbol of death.

The animation featured on the cart, on a panel that sits in front of the passenger is based on my parents. They left Nicaragua over 40 years ago, to work and establish a family and to give their children greater possibilities. Now they are returning to Nicaragua, but it’s an entirely different place than the one that they left. “La Carreta Nagua” is an allegory for the translocation of people, the leaving of ones culture, extended family, language – for greater means or opportunities / for economic reasons in a pancapitalist era. This is the personal or subjective or individual portion of globalization, not the corporate form of globalization, but the mass migration of populations due to highly subjective decisions by individuals.

So Friday was day one, when I was taken by Juan and Israel to “deshuesadores” – one translation might be skeleton cleaners, but really auto wreck dumps. The rickshaw needs an axle, tires, seats, a steel frame… all parts that can be found at an auto dump. I’d been concerned at how all this would come together, but it went smoother than I could have imagined. At our second stop we acquired nearly all the primary parts and at a fraction of the price that the curators had set aside for the project. One of my goals was to assemble this piece entirely from recycled parts and not to use new materials, so far so good. Here are a few shots documenting day one.

This auto wreck site revitalized an old bus as its office. To the right is the office and beyond is surplus of old and new cars and parts that can no longer function as designed.

I showed a kid working the site a few drawings, explained what we were building and asked for specific parts and he pulled out an ideal axle, a unit nearly ready to go that would be wide enough to seat two above. We bartered down the price by leaving the shocks that were on the axle. Every single piece has a value.

After we asked for seats, he showed us a few car seats, mostly bucket seats from recent cars, but they weren’t what I was looking for. I looked into the office and saw the bus seat near the backdoor and told the guys that were taking me around that that was what I was interested in and they said well, let them know. I did, they gave us a price, we haggled and we got it. Everything is for sale, event sections from the business office.

Their tire prices seemed high, so our driver suggested that we try a few tire repair places, such as the one below. Set up on a corner, one can pick up a new tire on the fly, such as the one below

After a day that started with a long and crowded metro ride and continued into several hours of driving around Mexico City in increasingly terrific traffic and haggling for car parts, I was taken by Antonio, the exhibition administrator who took car of all the public art permits to a very old taco place in the town center. Then we had a couple tequilas on his deck overlooking Mexico City’s downtown.

A view of Mexico City’s historical downtown from a 5th story deck

As an artist and professor, I try to make the rounds to the Chelsea galleries with each new round of exhibitions. However, over the years, I’ve narrowed the number of galleries that I stop through, because there are so many and for the most part I think that most of the work I see in Chelsea is really bad.

One of the galleries that I always try to stop by is David Zwirner, because the work presented there usually reflects my flavor for an ideal combination of content and execution. I generally see compelling work that is well done. And the current exhibition by Raymond Pettibon, “The Big Picture” is a great example of this.

Pettibon’s drawings are beautiful and exciting. They are the sort of drawings that make one want to draw, because they are full of energy, they tell a story, they pull the viewer in and they are topical. Through his drawings, Pettibon lays it out, this is the world that we live in and it’s fucked up.

On the other hand, Zwirner also shows bad stuff. Step out of Pettibon’s Big Picture, down the hall way to Chris Ofili and you’ll see Modernist junk. Incredibly boring work with a precious price tag.

High numbers of children with asthma? Adults afflicted with cancer? What was previously buried in the land near a small town? What pollutants flow in the tap water of a given region? Are you living near a Superfund Site? In 1980, Reagan reluctantly implemented the Superfund Act, initially written by the Carter administration due to civic demand for the government’s acknowledgment and action to clean up hazardous sites.

Today the Superfund is broke, there is little money to clean up past sites of waste and environmental disasters, but people still have a right to know and to learn about the environments we live in, however the Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t make this easy. Concerned citizens may request Superfund data from the EPA, but the data tends to be dirty – missing information or out dated information, so it’s a good thing that Brooke Singer (full disclaimer – she’s my wife) with the support of turbulence.org has launched Superfund365.

Each day from September 1st 2007 through August 2008, Singer will post a data visualization of a Superfund site. Superfund365 presents a wealth of information on the United States environmental reality. As there are thousands of Superfund sites in the United States of America, Superfund365 only paints a partial picture of the damage to this region of the world, however it is enough to get an insight into the environmental disasters heaped by industrialization and commerce. The project is an incredible exercise of environmental data visualization at a time when people are becoming increasingly conscious of the changes that we have inflicted upon our planet.

How can a hopeful presidential candidate be so insincere as to collapse immigration and terrorism? These are two entirely separate issues, after all none of the 9/11 terrorists were illegal immigrants. And I don’t think that this is an ignorant man making naive comments concerning our society. Giuliani is collapsing the separate issues of immigration and terrorism due to his political platform as mayor of New York City during the 9/11 attack. I’m making these comments after watching a video clip of Giuliani speaking to an audience in Des Moines:
http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=187111df2b7391fb354aebc303c4e69f86d4e08a

“I’m not saying that all of them are terrorists. They’re not. Most of them probably aren’t.” “MOST OF THEM PROBABLY AREN’T” I can hardly believe this sort of statement. If there are about 12 million undocumented migrants in the United States and if amongst them there is a large percentage of terrorists, this country is doomed. This is an incredibly false and insincere statement. It’s political hyperbole and the sort of statement that people are tired of and can see right through. Giuliani is actively suggesting that any Mexican or Latin American who may not speak English or does not appear to have assimilated to the U.S. culture could very well be a terrorist. Can this sort of rhetoric actually carry any civil weight? Not only is it insincere, it is racist.

“Freedom, democracy, respect for human life… you believe in these things, you’re an American.” Well then, I think it’s safe to assume that the vast majority of the approximately 12 million undocumented migrants to the U.S. believe in these three ideals and these are the reasons that these people come to this country. These are the reasons that they have been able to grow to approximately 12 million. These are the reasons that they represent an incredibly important work force to the U.S. economy. These are the reasons that major corporations, farmers, suburban and urban families and individuals hire these people, because they believe in freedom, democracy and respect for human life. So according to Giuliani the approximately 12 million immigrants are good Americans.

Toward the end of the video clip he continues into racist territory with his discussion of immigration and assimilation. In a globalized world, it is incredibly short-sited to promote a population that only speaks one language. And yet Giuliani makes a point of doing so.

If Giuliani understood what is necessary for security he would not naively or insincerely collapse the issues of immigration with terrorism. Also in outlining his solution to immigration, he is repeating the Secure Fence Act that Bush signed in 2006, but has failed to recieve funding.  So he’s not proposing anything new or a working solution.

At least the video portrays how poor of a public speaker Giuliani is as he drops sweeping phrases such as “not to have to have these killings” in reference to other countries in comparison to the U.S. He makes this statement without any context or point of reference as to what countries he’s alluding to or what killings he’s talking about. I get the sense that he’s talking about suicide bombings and killing of innocent, but this is following an extended discussion revolving around building a wall along Mexico and cracking down on undocumented Latin American immigrants. Watch the Giuliani video clip and make your own call.

The keynote speech by Exxon and National Petroleum Council (NPC) executives at GO-EXPO, Canada’s largest oil conference, introduced Vivoleum, a macabre ploy to use human dead to produce fuel.

NPC representative stated: “We’re not talking about killing anyone.  We’re talking about using them after nature has done the hard work. After all, 150,000 people already die from climate-change related effects every year. That’s only going to go up – maybe way, way up. Will it all go to waste? That would be cruel.”

The keynote focused on profiteering on the human cost due to Alberta tar sands and the use of liquid coal as forms of energy.