Weekly Recap: 9/4 - 9/10
This past week brought some new sounds and an exciting announcement. On Labor Day I took you to the border of the East Village and the Bowery for a Shepard Fairey mural on the side of the Cooper Square Hotel. On Wednesday we strolled down into the Bowery and stopped by the former Deitch wall on Houston. There we discovered JR’s photographic mural which is a part of his Inside Out Project. On Thursday, I made the exciting announcement of my trip to couple of cities in the next couple of months, the first one being Montreal! Finally on Friday, we had some fellow love as Katie featured my sounds for her Sounds of My City Project.
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks. As a native New Yorker and with the heart of this project in New York, I would like to say that this project serves as a reminder of how resilient and vibrant the city is. The sounds paint a contemporary portrait of the city I have and will always love. My prayers and thoughts are with everyone and anyone affected by this great tragedy.
As always check out the maps below to look for the finds yourselves and always remember you can become a part of the project as well! Also Montrealites (is that the right word?) send me your tips before my trip this Thursday!
Weekly Recap: 8/21 - 8/27
It’s Post-Irene Sunday here on the East Coast. I hope everyone here kept safe during the rather windy and rainy conditions. So here’s something to look forward to, the weekly recap! So this week was all about user submissions as I featured the two of the first submissions I have received. On Monday I featured Jeff’s sounds from Athens Square Park in Astoria. A rousing rendition of Cascada is always a great way to get your work week going. On Wednesday we went across the pond with Peter as he showed us the power and potential behind public art through an excerpt of the “Hopes and Fears” Project. I’ve enjoyed receiving these submissions and would like to remind all of you that you can always send me sounds, just check out the Participate page for more information! The more, the merrier. For this week, expect recordings to come a little later in the week than usual from me. I’m in Pennsylvania for the time being, and won’t be in the city until later this week. Until then enjoy the maps of Astoria and England below!
The power behind art is undeniable. When you’re in a museum there’s that specific painting that just makes you drop everything and just look. When you’re on the street there’s always that one piece of street art that makes you stop and think, even if its for 30 seconds. Art also has the power to heal and communicate a powerful story. Today’s recording is another user submission, Peter Snelling from the UK. Peter is a producer who’s mission is to give voices to those that usually go unheard. He does this through various art and creative projects, one of them being the “Hopes and Fear Project”. In the project teenagers talk about what their hopes and fears are striking some funny, powerful, and inspiring stories. At the end of the project the teenagers went on to create print art work and exhibited to their community at the Exeter Pheonix. Their stories were also told over the radio Phonic FM. The recording featured today is from a young girl Bea, who battled leukemia. Powerful story but one that should be heard. I would like to thank the users that have submitted material thus far in the project and would like to remind all of you, you can submit material as well. Just click on the Participate page to get all of the details!
Check it out! The Without Walls Project got a mention on ARTCO LLC’s blog! ARTCO is a branding/consulting company that works with contemporary artists and influential brands. Many thanks!
First off, apologies on the lack of posts last week! Close to no internet access and prep for a job interview will do such a thing, but I’m back and with a couple of sounds for you. Today I’ll take you down to the quaint neighborhood of NoLita. The neighborhood is wedged right in between SoHo, Little Italy, and the Lower East Side and has a lot of great restaurants you can dine in. I used to live in this area my junior year of college and the food choices were awesome. One of my favorite restaurants was a pizzeria called L’asso. At this pizzeria there are new creations weekly and the best part? The seasonal craft beer they have on tap. Not only are they delicious but from local breweries. On the side of restaurant there is an awesome mural by Dima, entitled “The Ace” and this is where our sound recording today will take us.
Photo Courtesy of: Laughing Squid
The restaurant in on a street where, in addition to other delicious eats, there are also a bit of industrial spaces as well. In other words, it might be a bit of a loud recording so keep the volume at low.
High Line Finds
(Click through on Tumblr Dashboard to see all the illustrations!)
Last week I decided to take a stroll on the High Line Park. Now the High Line is one of my favorites places to go to in the city. One of the reasons I’m attracted to it is the location. It borders the Hudson River which makes for a great view on nice days. Another reason is the entire idea behind the park. The High Line is built on what used to be abandoned elevated railway tracks. After years of fundraising and building the southern half of the park opened to the public in 2009. This summer another portion of the park was just opened to the public. There are also a lot of great art initiatives on and around the park. The Whitney Museum is building a downtown building just by the High Line and regularly commission public art works to build up hype for the project. The actual organization that runs the High Line, Friends of the High Line, regularly put art for public consummation on the actual park.
On my trip last week I found a couple of art works on and around the park. The first major one being a sculpture by KAWS at the foot of the Standard Hotel (West 13th St. & Washington St.).
Photo Credit: ARTCO
KAWS started out as a graffiti artist tagging images in his native Jersey City and since then has become an international sensation. His sculpture “Companion” is on view thru October. When I went to record I meant to pick a spot right by the foot of the sculpture but was eventually chased out by a team of photographers shooting some fashion editorial. Typical. So I took charge and went up to the High Line where there’s a seat area that overlooks the KAWS sculpture. That day the wind was whipping, which was a good thing since it was such a hot day! There were people taking a break from work, tourists taking a break from their day, and people just strolling by enjoy a lazy summer afternoon. Take a listen:
After I cooled off for a bit I continued to walk the park. It was a rather slow afternoon on the park, which I don’t mind. Weekends can be a bit of hassle as its filled with tourists. As I was walking up the park I came across a sculpture of oddly shaped birdhouses on wires.
Photo Credit: Sarah Sze
The installation is a work by contemporary artist Sarah Sze (Between West 20th St. & West 21st St on the High Line). The great thing about the installation was that it also acts within in nature. Birds, butterflies and more interacts with art work. Pretty cool! The majority of the park goers thought so as well as many of them decided to stop and take multiple pictures of the installation.
As I continued to walk up the park I noticed a giant black canvas on the roof of a building off of the High Line. This ended up being my favorite find of the trip, mainly because it wasn’t commissioned by the High Line.
Photo Credit: Coburn Projects
I didn’t recognize the name of the artist but I should have once I did a Google search. The work is by Jordan Betten who is the founder of Lost Art, a leather couture brand that has outfitted major artists such as Lenny Kravitz, Steven Tyler, and more. He started to create art work in 2005. His work off of the High Line is simply called “High Lines” (Between 27th St. and 28th St. on the High Line). I loved this one mainly because of the interactions between parks goers. Everyone stopped and talked about the art, you can even hear a French family talk about it in my recording! Check out the sounds for both Sarah and Jordan below:
I had to end my adventuring pretty early due to how hot it was getting and unfortunately I wasn’t able to get more sounds last week due to the blistering heat! Mother Nature sure can hand us a heavy hand to say the least. Wondering where I’ll be heading to next? Stay tuned…
Please join us and welcome our Community Fellow Eduardo Lipe and learn about how you can get involved in his Without Walls Fellowship project
http://blog.soundcloud.com/2011/07/22/community-fellowship-eduardo-lipe/
A very late but welcome hello to everyone from a sweltering New York City. Although there looks like there won’t be a shower in sight for the week it would probably be a welcome sight. It should be close to 100 degrees by the end of the week! Of course what do I do in this heat? Go out and record. Now the heat is hindering my stamina a bit but I’m powering through and making sure to hit up some of the bigger public art spots in the city. One of the first places I went to was Union Square, the temporary home for Rob Pruitt’s tribute to Andy Warhol. To say Mr. Warhol is a major influence of pop culture would be an understatement. From his early graphic design work to his infamous Campbell Soup Cans we see references to Warhol in our everyday lives.
(Photo Credit: James Ewing)
The monument Pruitt erected depicts Warhol in the manner in which many saw him and still see him. The slick and silver Warhol is clutching a Bloomingdale’s bag as he’s wearing his wayfarer glasses and is slinging around his Polaroid camera. The monument can be found on the busy intersection of 17th St. and Broadway. In a way its an ode to how much the artist loved New York and the surface value of the city. Since its Summer the city has placed numerous seats and tables on a plaza right behind the sculpture where you can sit and lunch as the majestic Warhol overlooks the city below you. The sounds around Warhol capture the essence of New York on a summer afternoon. Go ahead and take a listen. 
After I had a lunch with a friend I decided to take a stroll up to Madison Square Park, home of the scrumptious Shake Shack. The awesome thing about New York is that the city finds ways to incorporate art into everyday life. At Madison Square I found Jaume Plensa’s “Echo”.
(Photo Credit: James Ewing)
I’m not going to lie to you when I say the sculpture is kind of trippy. The young woman’s head is elongated which makes for a double take. The sounds around the sculpture are very different from those around Mr. Warhol. The city fades away as nature and people themselves become clearer.
That was the scavenging I did yesterday in the city, that is before the sun won and I had to run and take cover. Next up I’ll be posting my finds in the Meatpacking District and the always amazing High Line. Ciao!
