@YaleLux in Review

Lux at Yale.

You know, the most impressive feature about Lux at Yale at the Beinecke Library in Hewitt Quadrangle (Wall St. and High St. approximately) is just how dialed in the displays actually are quantized to the surface.

Many of the videos were highly aligned with the actual shape of the library. It is quite possibly one of the best outdoor art displays in New Haven to date, and we at Nhv.Org certainly hope that there will be future occasions in which this happens again.

You have one more night to enjoy it. Tonight's the last night, for this year; hopefully it will happen again in years to come. For now, Sunday's your last chance to enjoy this excellent opportunity.

Tweets by @YaleLux

Under91Project Complete.

The Under91Project was a major step towards making public art more accessible and available in New Haven. The event was open to the public yesterday, and people who came to the event simply to view public art were all handed paint brushes and asked to participate in the process. Artist and Craftsman, a new shop on Chapel Street, donated much of the paint.

Efforts of the Organizers
Organizers worked countless hours providing the community with a democratic process of electing the artwork that they wanted to see on the wall. They spent time canvassing the community, knocking on doors often speaking to residents in español, " ¿qué quieres en la pared?" (What do you want on the wall?" Other questions were on the survey such as, "¿Eres un artista?" (are you an artist?) and "what do you think of the view of the underpasses now?" were expressed to neighbors on both the East Rock and Fair Haven sides of the Humphrey and State underpass.


Questions as simple as "Do you want art at the underpass?" were asked, so not to make assumptions about what the neighborhood felt that they actually needed. These survey forms were translated into an .Xls sheet, and guided the project's leaders in making decisions along the way.

Under91Project in Development

Mysterious unknown artists paint on highway underpasses last night. Photo By NHVMusic

The Interstate 91 Underpass at Humphrey Street has never been more inviting. We hope you like giant monarch butterflies. See the time lapse for a better take on that.

If you'd like to see the groups paint, grab yourself a lawn chair or two and a pizza from Da Legna on State Street, which is nearby and make yourself at home. Or maybe a coffee from the Coffee Pedaler, also nearby.

The Under91Project, which has been in development since February this year is finally getting painted. The artists began priming the wall with an industrial-strength sprayer. That took place on Saturday.

The rest of the work last night involved using a large projector, by displaying the art on the wall and using the imagery in the plan submitted for the public vote, which RCMurals won over the summer. You can also watch the Instagram Hyperlapse.

Happening All Day + This Week
Painting of the Under91Project at Humphrey and State St.

View Larger Map - Here is how the area formerly appeared, as seen on Google Street View. 

Slow Dancing Exhibit Tonight thru Saturday 8pm - 11pm

If you've ever wanted to see dancing on giant screens at night on Cross Campus, now is your chance. Temperatures in the evening throughout the exhibit will hover around 60°F, which is pants and a light jacket weather.

David Michalek is a filmmaker whose work has been displayed numerous times in New Haven. His exhibit, "Slow Dancing" has been seen around the world.

On this occasion, there will also be a panel discussion with the artist and Yale faculty on Friday, September 12th from 3-5pm at the YUAG Auditorium at 1111 Chapel Street.

The exhibit will run throughout the week from 8-11pm on Cross Campus, from September 10 until September 16th.

Panoramic of tonight's #SlowDancing exhibit (8pm-11pm). Panel discussion today at 3pm @YaleArtGallery auditorium #nhv pic.twitter.com/pDJwYGtYvN
— New Haven CT (@NhvOrg) September 12, 2014

Maya Angelou Mural in New Haven

Maya Angelou, a legendary author and poet, passed away recently. So graffiti artists in the city of New Haven, namely Tank and Dooley-O, decided to commemorate her existence with a mural on the corner of Henry and Orchard. You can ride your bicycle, walk, or drive there if you would like to (see map location below).

Dooley-O Jackson, legendary street artist (Deejay, producer, graffiti writer and mentor to New Haven's youth) helped put the project together with another writer, Tank. Previously in the same location there existed a different mural, also including a Angelou quote.
Street art remains alive and vibrant in New Haven.


View Larger Map

The previous mural incorporated a Maya Angelou quote.

Johanna from Ice The Beef was also there, engaging the youth in a discussion about who she was and what she accomplished. Icing the beef is not just a great way to preserve delicious food; it stands to mitigate some of the circumstances which result in the eruption of violence, particularly among inner city youth.

A Word About Fountains

The Women's Table, constructed in 1989 by sculptor Maya Lin (BA 1981, M.Arch 1986), commemorates the inclusion of women at Yale College, which began twenty years earlier, in 1969. The years and corresponding numbers indicate the number of women admitted into Yale each year. The fountain also one of the only water features New Haven has to offer.

A recent conversation with a worker has revealed that there are some long-term issues surrounding the fountain. There is a water line that has a leak, underneath, in a maintenance corridor within Bass Library. That has also attributed to the increase of dirt and debris which requires the fountain to be turned off and cleaned on a more regular basis. The other significant issue is that it has become slightly off balance. This could have been due to the presence of a crane a few years back, said the worker, who remains unnamed.  In order to correct the imbalance, the fountain would need to be lifted. A vein that runs along the marble could in fact fracture under its own weight.  The only way to properly repair that would be to wind a way to lift the structure underneath the circular surface; to lift it somehow at the base, to correct the balance. This would allow for the water to continue to run smoothly and evenly across every side again.

Public Questions

Recent graduates revel in women's liberation.

Can you name other water features in New Haven? What sort of challenges do seasonal changes create when dealing with public water decoration (fountains)?  And if freezing is an issue, how are the fountains in Montreal, for example, so abundantly numerous? Perhaps it requires work, to be beautiful. Maybe it requires effort to be well-maintained.

More Facts About Womens Table
Designer: Maya Lin
Year Built: 1989

Maya Lin also designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. when she was still an undergraduate. She was also the subject of an award-winning documentary.

Vote For Public Art

The Under 91 Project has been a huge success. It has involved community members in deciding five finalists for an art project to be undertaken this summer, and you have a chance to help decide which art project gets to be the winner with your vote, this weekend.



The location of the project is at the underpass at the corner of Humphrey Street and State Street, nearby the park known as Jocyln Square. It has been an effort to consider the best way to beautify the concrete surroundings with color, and the selection process has been fair and democratic.



To read more about the 5 finalists, click here.

To vote online, you can click on this link.



If you are in the lucrative position where you're capable of financially contributing, there's this.



And if you would like to come to the Kickoff and see the site itself and vote in person, there is an event on Sunday May 18th from 4-6 pm at Humphrey and State Street.



Your opinion matters in New Haven. You get to have a say in what you see, and that's what living in a progressive democratic society is all about. So either vote online or come to the in-person vote (Facebook Event Page) this Sunday and see why New Haven is the greatest small city in America.





View Larger Map



You Are Invited

Sunday, May 18th

Jocyln Square Park

Under 91 KickOff Vote

4-6pm

Site Projects Public Art | Whispering Galleries, an interactive digital artwork

Whispering Galleries comes alive with each new visitor.  

MEET THE ARTISTS! Saturday, April 26, 3-5pm @ NHFPL, 133 Elm St.

Based on the diaries of an anonymous New Haven county shopkeeper from the 1850s, this viewer-activated digital artwork is accessed on a computer screen through a gestural interface – the LEAP motion controller – and experienced in augmented reality.  

Presented in honor of New Haven’s anniversary, and part of Connecticut at Work, a year-long conversation about the past, present and future of work life in Connecticut created by Connecticut Humanities, the artwork will shed light on the history of work environments in New Haven.  

The artists explain: “the voice of the diary sends whispers to the present through a series of erasure poems” and describe “the keeper of the diary” as someone who “worked with his hands: as a woodworker making handles for tools, sawing lumber, and sweeping out the shop; as a violinist making music at intimate gatherings and church occasions; and as a composer, writing pieces for performance at the local school. In daily entries, the author's week is measured out by hand-work.” 

Whispering Galleries will be on view in the branches of the New Haven Free Public Libraries, opening April 26^th, 2014, 3-5pm, at Ives Main, 133 Elm Street, New Haven, CT.

Amaranth Borsuk Ph.D. is a scholar and published poet, whose work focuses on textual materiality -- from the surface of the page to the surface of language.  Brad Bouse is a developer interested in the creative applications of code (www.bradbouse.com).   Together, the artist team created,Between Page and Screen (Siglio Press, 2012), a digital pop-up book in augmented reality which has been exhibited nationally and internationally.

Site Projects Inc. has been presenting world-class award-winning artworks in New Haven’s public spaces since 2004.  Our exhibitions are free, open and physically accessible to all.  Recent artworks include: Night Rainbow, by Yvette Mattern (2013) & Square with four circles, by Felice Varini (2010).  This is Site Projects second collaboration with the New Haven Free Public Library.  For more information, visit: www.siteprojects.org.

Connecticut at Work is traveling across the state through December 2014 and features the Smithsonian Institution’s The Way We Worked exhibition, with stops in seven communities, which add local focus with community history exhibits, book and film discussions, author talks, performances and more.  Connecticut at Work is an initiative of Connecticut Humanities, a non-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.  In the New Haven region, Connecticut at Work is a partnership with New Haven Free Public Library and the Arts Council of Greater New Haven.  The Connecticut tour of the The Way We Worked is made possible by Connecticut Humanities and Historic New England.  For a calendar of events and more information, visitcthumanities.org/ctatwork.

Setting Up The Night Rainbow

Security is tight up here but sit tight and await to behold the rainbow night light.

SiteProjects flips the switch at 7pm on April 24th. Please regard the change in venue for the kickoff party is not the garage rooftop. For more info about this art installation view Night Rainbow Site

ian ó# via mobile

Public Art Response #1

Photo: Townie Blog

Original Article:  [here]

Video:  http://vimeo.com/59150319

Audio:  https://soundcloud.com/booslick

Recently noticed something said "Supa-Thug" on a wall the other day.  So I asked some of the crew from the Boo Slick Show what the definition of a "Super Thug" really is.  Maybe you will want to talk to Darius James.  As a young man in the 1970's, he applied to be in the Black Panther Party, but was denied on account that they had frozen the registration (watch the interview).  He winds a story from "Thug Life" as a tattoo to Tupac's mother Afeni's connection with the Panthers, and then connects it into New Haven in a way that very few storytellers really could.  He also explains the root of it is from the name of a tribe in India. 
More Information about Darius James
Darius, AKA Dr. Snakeskin is a documentary film-maker and an author.  Watch or listen to learn more about his projects.  His most recent project in the works will be about VooDoo in America and it will be available on Netflix in the upcoming months.

The interview with Darius, referred to in this article, is available on Vimeo and Soundcloud.

What's Happening Downtown Today?

That new brick crosswalk on York and Chapel is not actually brick, but a special treatment to the regular pavement, where it's essentially cut and painted to look like brick.

The effect is the same, though:  clear cut walkways intended for pedestrians, which assists people walking as well as drivers, in terms of knowing where to expect someone to be trying to cross the street.

In this photograph, you can see the machine used to make those changes to the pavement.

Also on Chapel Street, they're adding a piece of public art in front of "Street Hall," across from Starbucks and the British Arts Museum.

Repair to the stone around Woolsey Hall is nearing completion, as well, with the scaffolding slowly being removed.  The dome is covered in lead, making it especially difficult to restore.  This year, that work was avoided; however the stone including the columns looks brand new again.

Different Slices of Orange St.

Video Notes:  Space Cowboy took it a little too far this time... 



outdoors/environmental
Corner of Orange St. and Cold Spring St. 
The Rock To Rock bike ride event this Saturday went great, with perfect weather and amazing attendance. The Environmental community came together for the event, with tables encouraging people to volunteer for CitySeed.  The Regional Water Authority was there to promote, well, water.  The restaurant crowd was there, as well, including Jason from Caseus, Bun from Miyas, and other restaurants around the area.

art scene
Corner of Orange St. and Chapel St. 
Elsewhere on the same street (on the same day), local artists were celebrating Springtime with a festival of music and vintage cars.  Local sculptor Silas Finch displayed his recently award-winning sculpture, made out of 99% bicycle parts.  Rocko Gallipoli  was there, too, showing off his refurbished VW collection and discussing his next art show at the tattoo shop and gallery in Westville, Keys on Kites, where on May 12th he will be displaying some of his latest stencil art, which is top notch, in my opinion.

Total Shout-Outs:  8

Nhv.Org is a connection of local past, present, and future events, all archived into a neat, consumable package that is acceptable for all ages.  The past is captured in videos, released as close to the present as possible.  The future is listed in the calendar system.  Enjoy!  It's supposed to help you be more familiar with your community as a whole, and I hope it's working.

The Fountain is ON

It's a sure sign of springtime!  This video uses some footage out of context but the message is clear.  They are turning n the fountain this week.  And by "they" I mean Yale.  The fountain discussed here is actually the Women's Table, by Maya Lin, and it's there for a reason.

The reason that the fountain is there?  It's because Yale began admitting women in 1969, and every year the number of women enrolled at Yale has changed throughout the years.  Every year is accounted for, and the count ends in 1993, the year the fountain was installed.

As a point of interest, when the fountain is on, kids can't actually run around and play on it.  It's discouraged to use as a slip and slide.  But it does have an interesting effect:  when the water flows over the edge of the marble, it actually holds on to the wall, even though it's curved inward.  So the water has this defiance of gravity feature to it, which I suppose is part of the genius of Maya Lin, for incorporating that feature into the fountain.  It obviously symbollzes the gravity-defying resilience of women who have attended the University, in hopes that maybe they might make the world slightly better.  Let's hope!

Photo Credit:  Michael Morand

If you can find the fountain, good for you.  It's around here somewhere!  Enjoy the springtime weather, and just remember that whenever you walk by, you can drag your fingers through it.  Perhaps you can wash your hands in women's suffrage.

Michael Morand recently took the above photo, and announced "Sure sign of spring.  Fountain On," which is possibly the most concise way of putting it.

Here is the commemorative song, "Turn On The Fountain."  Enjoy!

Removal of Three Circles from NHFPL Main Branch

The removal of the expensively original 3D/2D art piece has begun already at the New Haven Library.

Sad to see it go.  Workers were told to take it down, on account that
the NHFPL only agreed to make it a "temporary" work of art, regardless
that it was an expensive addition to New Haven's artistic landscape,
and made going to the library an even more interesting experience (for a while). 

Here is an image of the artwork being installed, courtesy SiteProjects.Org

ian ò#
Tandy TRS-80

To see the artwork in its fully functional state, you'll have to go visit the Siteprojects website.  In order to do that, click the "80" in the Tandy with my signature tag.  

Temple Plaza AM

On my way to volunteer time at coop high school, I saw this. what could the red lines mean?








ian ò#
Tandy TRS-80

Great response from the community:

Yes!  The red paint actually means something.  I know it appears random from different angles, but the picture comes into focus when you stand in exactly the right place...

img courtesy of SiteProjects

Sound Hall

On November 15, I was invited to yet another free and amazing New Haven happening, Sound Hall. In the words of its organizers, “The SOUND HALL series gathers diverse audiences together in various public spaces throughout New Haven, with the aim of creating meaningful spaces for collective listening.” That night, the event happened to take place in Beinecke library which is pretty much the perfect hosting ground for anything.

The topic of the night was Johnny Otis- a musician, educator, advocate, disc-jockey, and one of the most influential people in the development of R&B and Rock and Roll, among about a hundred other things. A very engaging speaker, Mr. George Lipsitz, shared intimate and familiar stories of Johnny Otis’ life. What was even more engaging was that he discussed the parallels and intersections of music and social justice movements. In particular, he discussed Mr. Otis, his music, and the Civil Rights Movement. He highlighted that both social justice and music movements necessitate practice, accompaniment, and improvisation. It was beyond refreshing to see someone so passionate about their work evidenced by his dedication as well as his head swaying and foot tapping to the music. But also, that Mr. Lipsitz, offered at least some sort of framework for a solution to the social and class issues of today; practice, accompaniment, and improvisation.

It makes me truly happy to be able to attend such events in the Town of New Haven. Feel free to add comments if you attended this event as well. It’s hard to do Johnny Otis and George Lipsitz justice, but hey, it’s a start.

Check out Sound Hall, I will most definitely be back! http://www.facebook.com/soundhall

Temple Plaza: Square With 4 Circles 1 Year Later

Still looks like new.