Super Fun

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Now it's official: the New York Times is reporting this morning that our beloved Gowanus has been designated a Superfund site. The near-term effect on the neighborhood would seem to be a development slow-down, and the long-term effect will be, at least in theory, a cleaner Gowanus. All of which is fine by me. Read the story here.

Last Exit to Brooklyn

So, yeah, we got back from New York last Thursday and I immediately came down with the worst cold I've had in years. Not the swine, but swine-ish. It's still pretty bad but Littlejeans is doing his best to take care of me while I slog through my projects (Emily, pictured above in all her chicness, is in Idaho for one last trip before diving head-on into school next week).

Anyway – this week I'm going to somewhat haphazardly post a selection of photos from our time in New York. Today's are from an afternoon we spent in Red Hook – something we always loved doing when we lived in Brooklyn. It continues to develop in interesting ways while maintaining its industrial flavor.

The Mighty Gowanus – miniature Duwamish of Brooklyn

[Click to enlarge – artwork by Swoon]

Hope & Anchor was full-up so we had lunch at this new place, Fort Defiance. Emily had a tomato, mozarella, and basil sandwich, and I had a banh mi, and both were delicious. They also have Six Point Apollo Wheat on tap and their cold-brewed iced coffee is maybe the best I've ever had...no small thing, being from Seattle.

More NY pics coming soon, and you are welcome to have a look at my Flickr sets for old ones if you like.

The Sea and the Rhythm

Since August 15th, seven handmade floating sculptures have been making their way down the Hudson, stopping at different ports along the way so their 40 passengers, led by the artist known as Swoon, can step on shore and stage a series of musical and theatrical performances.

The trip will wrap up when the boats dock at Deitch Studios in Long Island City on September 7th. Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea is a sequel to a 2006 project on the Mississippi River by Swoon and the Miss Rockaway Armada. An exhibition at Deitch of Swoon's prints and structures will follow.

I first became aware of Swoon when we lived near the Gowanus Canal and noticed her woodcut-paper paste-ups around the neighborhood. I saw her speak at an AIGA event a few years later, and after that she had a fairly mind-blowing show at Deitch projects.

Her work is very recognizable and you can see it all over, though not quite as much as before, as she is obviously very busy these days.

Click here to see some of my Flickr photos of her paste-ups.
More info on Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea at Deitch and at switchbacksea.org.

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PS - I did a graphic identity project for the Gowanus Canal when I was in school at Parsons. I did a lot of research in the archives of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and this is one of the more interesting photos I found:

The Gowanus had temporarily dried up, and this crowd was having a look from the Carroll Street bridge. A police officer on duty counted something like 38 guns in the mud below.