9.26.10-The Gowanus Canal Conservancy

Volunteering with The Gowanus Canal Conservancy.

It's astounding to spend the day pulling antique crap from the muddy banks of a Brooklyn canal. Truly time well spent! My job was turning the compost bins. The bugs had a great work ethic and produced a sizable mound of new soil. Next time I really hope to help plant trees. 

9.19.10-The Bronx: Deconstructed

[1520 Sedgwick Ave. The birthplace of Hip Hop]

The Bronx: Deconstructed: 

Presented by the Robert Moses Walk Project

This particular walk was an exploration of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge and the community that surrounds it. Overall it was a really insightful and painful walk. Painful because this "convenient" expressway bisects and consequently destroys a neighborhood's coherence. Urban Planning is extraordinary because it reflects a society's priorities at a specific moment in history. The loud and perpetually busy neighborhood wore me down after only two hours but I walked away knowing a little more about the history the Bronx. If you are interested in Urban Planning/Decay, check out the highly recommended The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs

blakeuntitledwalkproject.org

What I Love: Wish Tree by Yoko Ono at the MoMA.

*Photos from the lovely Sparked Blog.

Yoko Ono's Wish Tree commemorating 9/11 at MoMA. I've already loved this idea. I still remember doing a similar project at an international camp. I bought and planted a weeping willow on camp grounds, installed a box with writing supplies and invited everyone to write down their wish and attach it to the tree's flowing branches. Physically beautiful but I think it also acknowledges the possible presence of a higher power, whether religious or natural.