collective urban landscape project: Contemporary Dance Macabre

 

"I like this image because the group of people look like to be dancing, I see rhythm, remind me of a medieval dance macabre. It is a modern version of that."

Valentia Bardavid, New York City.

Tree Art: Alba G.

Alba G. Forrest Road.

collective urban landscape project: Goodbye Blue Sky

"Goodbye blue sky"

"Leaving your hometown is always a crucial decision. You disrupt a routine of small details, views, flavours, odours, sights... but on the other hand you have the chance to discover new ones in your new town or, as in my case, new country. However every time I come back to Barcelona to visit my friends and family I like to enjoy in solitude those small corners I used to visit alone when I was living there. Those skies that are now grey used to be blue when I was living there. Is the sky weeping for me? Does the sea miss me? I don't know... but what it's true is that I weep for them and I really miss them".

Alba G., Barcelona, Spain

Tree Art: Anahi Aliaga + Ignacio Pérez Pérez

"GraffiTree"
Urban intervention made with rests of graffiti
Anahi Aliaga + Ignacio Pérez Pérez
Santiago, Chile
2011

Rainbow Connection: Washington Sqaure Park, New York City.

Rainbow Connection: Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, New York.

Photograph taken by Allegra Murphy Denton (http://www.allegramdenton.com/) on Wednesday evening, 7/13 from 4th floor apartment in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, New York.

Rainbow Connection: Parking Lot, St. Vincents Hospital, Westchester, New York

This "rainbow" was from an oil Parking Lot, St. Vincents Hospital, Westchester, New York. It is a bittersweet/ironic image as it first captured my attention as something beautiful but quickly the realization that oil is so destructive and devastating to our lives (it was also taken the day before the one year anniversary of the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf) took over.

Rainbow Connection: Castillo de San Cristóbal, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Take a photograph of a rainbow. Title your photograph with information including the location where it was taken. Email photographs to adamizucker@gmail.com

Castillo de San Cristóbal, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Site and Sound: El Yunque Rainforest, Eastern Puerto Rico

El Yunque, Eastern Puerto Rico, March 26th, 2011.

Site and Sound: New York City, West 4th Street Subway Station (A B C D E F M trains)

It was truly a winter wonderland...The sounds of one cold December evening waiting for the A train uptown at the West 4th Street Station.

(Sound takes some time to load)

Sunday Selections

Sunday Selections #8 Iconograph, Red White and Blue
A meme for unpublished and abandoned photographs found on my computer harddrive started by Tasmanian Ceramic Artist Kim on her blog Frongpondsrock. If you'd like to take part in this project I urge you to do it and share it with us all. It has been a very fun and revealing process each week! If you saw this project from this page and decided to do it please leave a comment with the link to your next Sunday Selection!

This week I am uploading some old unpublished photos of images that relate to the theme of iconography. These images vary in meaning. They can be viewed as propaganda, cultural, indigenous culture, or historical/contemporary relics...I will leave that up to you to perceive their meaning (some are fairly objective).

Tree Art: Bex Wild

  
The pictures of the 'people' in the tree was around the idea of people passing through the park but no-one ever stopping and it was looking at the idea of transition. The park was also a burial ground which is why i chose the location of the tree because the tree is now living from the remains of those who once lived. The people can be symbolic of these lost people as well as for those who are still living around it. Having people that were partially see through as well gives the impression of a ghost-like presence that is invisible until the light catches upon them.

The button piece was an idea to display all the lost buttons i had collected in that park and the surrounding areas and i displayed them within the marking and grooves of the tree to display them without being too obvious and also to decorate or enhance the tree in a simple way.

The Bex Factor: http://www.wix.com/thebexfactor/the-bex-factor

Urban Decay Project

Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. With the raising cost of quality living and the desire to be in hip and trendy locations, many previous and indigenous residents are displaced in the process. The rate of this displacement in most cases outnumbers the rate of incoming wealth and luxury condos. The result is urban decay and it can be in the form of deindustrialization, depopulation or changing population, economic restructuring, abandoned buildings, high local unemployment, fragmented families, political disenfranchisement, crime, and a desolate, inhospitable city landscape. 

Look around your city, town, or neighborhood and notice the rate at which it is changing. Take photos or videos of the urban decay you see. Send your photos or videos to adamizucker@gmail.com with a description or general information (what? where? why? ect...)

To see the poignant documentation of urban decay in Williamsburg and how a once diverse neighborhood is now a very trendy and economically segregated neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY visit the webpage for The Domino Effect.

Below are some photos I have taken:  

 Barber Shop in Williamsburg. Located on Driggs Ave between North 7th & 8th Streets.

The Empire Diner in Chelsea served its last meal on 5/15/2010. This hip restaurant was featured in the Woody Allen film "Manhattan" but its owners lost their lease.  There is now a legal battle over this site: Feud Over Empire Diner

Vacant luxury condos on Kent Street and North 8th, opposite East River State Park. This area is starting to look more like Miami than Brooklyn...This form of gentrification in urban areas is the cause of urban decay.

Tree Art: Carol Hummel

“Best of Luck, Nuclear World” builds upon the Indian tradition of wrapping string around Banyan trees for good luck and to make wishes come true.  Each day for 9 days, Carol Hummel wrapped this tree in the colors of the flags of the 9 countries that possess nuclear warheads.  As the strings are wrapped, the colors weave together to form a colorful fabric, an analogy about the hope that by interweaving our cultures, we can create something of beauty instead of destruction.  

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The black (wo)man-made shadow seeping from the landscape serves as a portent of things to come by focusing attention on how human actions can drain life and vitality from the environment.  In an effort to counteract this drain, Carol collaborated with local village woman to crochet the shadow, adding vitality into the the local economy as well as enriching the lives of Carol and her new friends.

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Trees connect us all no matter where on Earth we are living. They exist in our history, folklore, beliefs, and daily culture. It is a metaphor of life.  

The artist Carol Hummel's participation in the Bodhgaya project in Orissa, India featured the two artworks: "Tree Art" pieces "Best of Luck" and "Shadow Tree." The artist is in the East Coast Indian state of Orissa organizing an art/craft exchange with an amazing tribal village (www.riace.in). During the process she stated that she was "amazed how the piece resonated with the lower and middle class people who were my constant companions during the 9-day installation; they understood the concept instantly and applauded my efforts at promoting peace instead of war and we had many interesting conversations about politics."

(http://www.carolhummel.com/) 

Sunday Selections

Sunday Selections #7 Nature Hikes
A meme for unpublished and abandoned photographs found on my computer harddrive started by Tasmanian Ceramic Artist Kim on her blog Frongpondsrock.

This week I am publishing the photographs I took during some recent nature hikes in the United States and Israel.

I am always inspired by nature's beauty and I love the challenge of a good long hike! I am also constantly hoping for a quick return of Spring and Summer during these nasty winter days in New York City...

New Paltz, New York:

Ice Caves and Sam's Point, Northern Shawangunk Mountains, New York:

 

Western Maryland in the narrow between West Virgina and Pennsylvania:

 Golan Heights, Israel:

 Negev Dessert, Israel: