New York City is a mecca for public art. Recently, while driving on Park Avenue, I was stunned by a visually outstanding display of sculpture. The works, along Park Avenue from 52nd to 60th Street, have been installed in memory of the late renowned artist Niki de Saint Phalle. The sculptor, painter, and film maker was born in born in 1930 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, near Paris, France. Her public work can be found worldwide. From NY1:

The installation is presented by the Parks Department, the Fund for Park Avenue and Nohra Haime Gallery which represents de Saint Phalle’s work. The display marks 10 years since the French-American artist passed away, but her work remains very much a celebration of life.

“She celebrates African American heroes such as Michael Jordan, Miles Davis, and Louie Armstrong. And Niki made a lot of sculptures about women — the successful, independent, powerful woman, the New York woman,” said Nohra Haime Gallery Director Ana Maria de la Ossa.

The sculpture will be on display through mid-November. If you are in the area, it’s a great opportunity to go no further than the streets of Manhattan to see the work of Niki de Saint Phalle…

See my complete photo gallery here.

I recently paid a business visit to Pulse Plastics in the Bronx. The dismal look of their windowless building along with that of Streamline Plastics prompted me to do a story on April 16, 2010, We Don’t Do Windows, after my first visit there. So I was particularly stunned upon my recent arrival to see that one entire wall of the one-story building had been completely transformed by “graffiti.”

I say “graffiti” because this type of painting, historically very controversial, has been going through a transition. I have written several stories on the phenomenon. From Unconditional Love on October 8, 2010:

Most see the problem as vandalism, pure and simple… What complicates the matter, however, is that like anything else, there is a spectrum of quality – some of the work is extraordinary. Some of the buildings are in industrial neighborhoods, have stood unoccupied for decades, and are dreadful looking – drab architecture, no exterior maintenance and a dismal setting. And often they are vastly improved by aerosol paint. But, nonetheless, these buildings are not “public” property.
However, many building owners permit the work to be done. This seems to be a growing trend. And, in Long Island City, 5Pointz Aerosol Art Center, Inc., “The Institute of Higher Burnin’,” is an outdoor art exhibit space which is considered to be the world’s premiere “graffiti Mecca,” where aerosol artists from around the globe paint colorful pieces on the walls of a 200,000-square-foot factory building. The founder says, however, that “Graffiti is a label for writers who vandalize. Aerosol art takes hours and days. It’s a form of calligraphy.”

Certainly cooperation is best for all, allowing more time for better work and even working with the owners for things like incorporation of company signage elements.

The major epicenter of this type of sanctioned aerosol art is the block-long, 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m2) factory building complex in Long Island City, Queens, known as 5 Pointz (includes a link to the photo gallery).

The mural done at Pulse Plastics shown in today’s photo was the work of Tats Cru. The artists who form the group and their work are impressive. Some have been commissioned by major international corporations. You can read more about Tats Cru and see their work here.

The owner of Pulse Plastics, Alan Backleman, sanctioned the work on his building and is pleased with the result. He agreed with me that the building-long mural is an improvement and welcome facelift for the previously drab structure. Already, Alan told me that the building has been used as a backdrop for film and commercial work.

It is questionable, of course, whether covering every neglected structure in the five boroughs of New York City with aerosol art would be desirable. Without some sort of cooperation and coordination, the urban landscape could end up looking like a cacophony of circus posters. But we are a long way from that concern.

The Bronx’s image has been troubled, however, the borough was not as blighted as it appears today. The period from 1920-1950 was documented in The Beautiful Bronx by historian Lloyd Ultan. The book came out in 1979 two years after President Carter visited the South Bronx, a visit that did much to project a negative image of the borough across the nation.

At one time, the borough used a wastebasket and the slogan “Don’t Dump on the Bronx” for their anti-littering campaign. In 2001, the Bronx replaced the image with one of a Day Lily and the slogan “The Beautiful Bronx,” inspired by Ultan’s book title, as part of a beautification program and effort to improve the Bronx’s image.

Unwanted graffiti was a large part of the visual blight that dominated most vistas in the borough. As everyone knows, however, tools can be used for good or bad, and when seen in this light, it is perhaps not so ironic that the aerosol spray demonstrates quite clearly that in times of need, your worst enemy can become Your Best Friend

More graffiti and aerosol art: Rattus rattus, Skame, Columbo, Monk and CSI, TMNK, Unguent, Unkindest Etch of All, Scrap Yard, 11 Spring Street, Dumbo Arts Festival, Mars Bar, Totem

I once had a long discussion with a woman making the case for creative writing being so much more difficult than writing commercial copy. I had been slaving over writing catalog copy for our product line, and it was excruciating to say what I wanted in the space allotted. I disagreed with her viewpoint and countered that the constraints and parameters of writing advertising can be extremely challenging, more so than writing fiction. She said it could not compare to writing a novel, where you start with a blank slate.

True, but there is no law that says that the results of a blank slate which has been filled by a fine artist is more creative than a piece of advertising meeting a host of requirements. Artistic brilliance or lack thereof can be found in fine arts or commercial art.

New York City is a mecca for artists and art schools. Anyone here long enough will be exposed to art at various levels – galleries, art students, and working artists in every genre: writing, painting, illustration, sculpture, film, TV, video, architecture, dance, and music. We are blessed with numerous well-regarded schools – Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes, Parsons, SVA, and NYU Film, as well as world-renowned venues, such as Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.

However, everyone has got to earn a buck, and whether born of necessity or by choice, much of the world’s artistic talent finds work outside fine arts, either in commercial art or in jobs unrelated to art altogether. It is the rare artist that is able to support him or herself through fine art alone. Very serious talent is funneled into the commercial arts and media, and I am never one to disparage genres such as TV. Writers for comedy and TV often hail from some of the finest schools, and networks such as HBO are showcases for artistic talent that compares creatively to fine film.

Here, on Greenwich Avenue in the Village, is a spectacular window display at the Rizza Hair Salon. Behind this work, there is likely an artist applying his or her talents and expressing him/herself given the constraints of the shop owner’s needs. It’s creative and well done, even though he/she likely started with more than a blank slate

More on art and artists: Leave It to the Critics, Mark Birnbaum (Part 1 and Part 2), Creative Expert, So Where’s David?, Finger Painting, Fusion Arts Museum

One of my first art “discussions” was regarding a piece of work I saw on the streets in SoHo in the early 1970s. I recall it was a flat surface with an array of bolts – essentially looking like a bed of nails.

Having done carpentry work, I felt that I did know something about bolts and that someone driving them into a board at different heights did not constitute art.

However, an artist friend at the time, in a futile attempt to educate my boorish manner, informed me that what made it art was conceptual, not reducing it to its material elements. Like the defense once made by Marcel Duchamps, whom I did not know at the time – it was art because he said so. I was, nonetheless, not impressed – to me, bolts were just bolts.

This type of installation art is controversial, even amongst those who are schooled and knowledgeable about fine arts. To put it bluntly, coming from someone who was originally a science guy, my question is whether there is any objective criteria for art and, if so, where does artisanship end and art begin?

Recently, I have noticed a number of lamp posts around Astor Place/ Cooper Union bedecked with colorful plastic cable ties. This, like the bed of nails, also challenges my beliefs of what constitutes art, since cable ties are another area of great familiarity to me – we use them regularly in my business.

During my first exposures, it appeared to be whimsical, but after taking a number of photos, it occurred to me that there might be more to it. Sure enough, this is part of an art installation called Flaming Cactus. The Animus Arts Collective utilized 32,000 fluorescent colored wire ties around approximately 15 lamp and sign posts in Cooper Square. The project was done with cooperation from the Department of Transportation. It is permitted to remain in place until June of 2012.

One person commented:

The same art just went up on Spring St and in the Urban Plaza by Trump on Spring. It actually looks very nice in solid colors on the Trump lamp poles.

However, another said:

To me it’s cheap looking. It’s simplistic and inane, exactly the sum of its parts–zip ties on a light pole. It would look gaudy in a suburban shopping plaza. If bits of brightly colored cheap plastic brightens up your day then more power to you.

Bolts, plastic cable ties, art, or craft – I leave it to the critics…

Related Posts: I’m Really Good at Paper Mache, Surfaces and Surfing, Finger Painting, Acquired Taste, Real? Fake? Why?

I was given the choice of making the pump lamp or a flying horse. I asked about making other things but was told those were the choices. I really didn’t want to make a pump lamp that much, but it was better than a flying horse wall plaque. I understand the need for discipline, training, and honing skills. This was shop class in 8th grade, where no independent thinking or creative expression is allowed. But it’s a shame, because I liked making things and would have gotten more involved in class. Eventually I would become a manufacturer.
So, yesterday, I was very pleased to get the following email invitation for The Calling, a theater of fire and song:

You are being called to a relatively secret place for a meeting of believers – a ritual for the arising. Out in gritty Gowanus in Brooklyn is an industrial complex down by the canal where much of the sculpted art you see in swanky galleries actually gets created. It’s a vast place, owned by ex-squatters and descended from the renegade forges and welding spaces of the LES of the 90s, and it opens it’s doors to Flambeaux Fire, Kai Altair and to you this coming Thursday. You will see it become a WONDERLAND.
A landscape of flames, machines, and beautiful women as spiritual guides, set to the live music of Kai Altair, written & directed by Flambeaux and Kai.

The email invite went on to say:

Flambeaux presents The Calling, a Fire-and-Song Ritual with siren Kai Altair.
A Journey into Seduction, Spirit and Transformation with ritual shows by Lady C, Serafina, Fayzah Fire, Ali Luminescent, Flambeaux, Tribal Bellydance by Angelys and Serena. Featuring the sculpture art of Adrian Landon and Doumbek byt Natalia Perlaza.

What really intrigued me, was the location and venue, The Gowanus Ballroom. Gowanus is a very industrial neighborhood, and it certainly is not the type of place where one would expect to find ballrooms, chandeliers, and formal attire. The invitation also specified Serett Metalworks, so perhaps it would be a ballroom of a different sort. And it was.

The space was difficult to find, as might be expected. There was no ballroom or 55 9th Street. I saw two women on the street and asked if they knew of this place – they did and directed me. The space was down, around, and behind.

I never read the email closely enough or thought about it, so I was surprised to find that the ballroom was actually an industrial space along the Gowanus Canal. I was greeted with an open factory space and an open cauldron of fire burning outdoors beneath a sign for Serett Metalworks. I knew we had arrived at the right place when I found Gowanus Ballroom written on a chalkboard.

Inside was every manner of metalworking machinery along with a variety of metal sculptures, as promised in the email. There was an enormous loft space which afforded viewing from above and a wooden structure reminiscent of the Tower of Toys.

Chris Flambeaux was busy milling about, making preparations for the show he had written. Performers and attendees began to filter in, dominated by the edgy artistic with the requisite piercings, metal, fanciful dress, dreaded hair, and skin art.

The show started in a ritualistic, nearly occult manner, setting the tone for the entire night’s performances. Some of the acts I had seen at the QAS. This show, however, had a much more industrial flavor – fork lift trucks were used to deliver acts and even performed on them. One act featured villainous characters aboard a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, driven around the space. See my photo gallery here.

Space being so precious a commodity in New York, this in not the type of event one would expect in the city. For years I had heard of these types of happenings – somewhat impromptu and unadvertised. I was always desirous to be in the loop and attend. There was drama, fire, seductive sirens, metal, and machinery. These guys should open a real ballroom or run a Shop Class

Related Post: Not Of Them