Crazy pipes

When I was an undergraduate student studying art, I was stuck for a semester with a terrible professor named Jan. The main reason she was a terrible professor was because she was from the school of art education that holds that teaching technique and process is stifling and limiting to creativity, and that the student should merely be inspired to discover and experiment and create. This sounds great on paper, and has inspired many romantic stories about the creative life, a la Dead Poet's Society. In reality, I find that it mostly just allows a lot of people to get away with a lot of bullshit, and leaves others (like myself) without the tools to actualize their creative ideas. It took me a long time to build that creative tool kit, and I'm still working on it.

The other reason she was a terrible professor was because she had very strong socio-political views that she insisted on imposing on the entire class. Not only would she preach about her ideas (some of which I agreed with), but she insisted that your art be about her ideas. But . . . one of her main things was about how industrial society seeks to control nature, so she had us drawing lots of plumbing and making etching of manhole covers and stuff like that, and I actually really took to it. To this day, I really enjoy drawing complicated conglomerations of pipes and plumbing, like this HVAC system at the Wild Project, a performance space in the Lower East Side.

I have no idea what any of these pipes or gauges or doo-dads do. I don't know why this stuff is on the ground floor in the front of the building, while the actual HVAC machine is on the roof in the back of the building. And I sure don't get that red wire, wrapped all around the entire length of the thing. Is that really how they teach you to do it in HVAC school?

LES

Lower East Side buildings. View from East 3rd between Ave A and B.

Golden Bear

The TS Golden Bear, in dock at Pier 36 on the East River.

The Golden Bear is the training ship for the California Maritime Academy. It was a built as an oceanography survey ship for the U.S. Navy in the 1980s, under the name Maury, and transferred to the school in 1994. CMA's website notes that "Contrary to popular rumors, USNS MAURY did not perform spy missions or 'black' operations." Rigggghhhttt . . .

Who You Gonna Call?

I started this sketch of Hook & Ladder 8 two years ago, when I was doing a series on NY firehouses.

You may recognize this one, as exterior shots of the firehouse were used in Ghostbusters.There's a remake of that movie that opens today, which is what reminded me of this sketch and prompted me to finish it in color.

A segment of the Internet Nerd Court has already passed judgment on the new movie, even though only critics have seen it (and their consensus is that it's pretty good). Various reasons have been given as to why it's bad, why it is, in fact, ruining childhoods. But the real reason is that in the new version, all the Ghostbusters are women. I think all those women are really funny, and the movie looks pretty funny to me, so I hope to see it, if the twins allow me the time to go.

As it happens, last year I saw them filming it in Midtown. I didn't see the cast, but I saw the Ecto-Mobile, and I saw Leslie Jones' stunt double. I couldn't believe that there's an African-American stuntwoman of Leslie Jones' size! I wonder how much work she gets?

NMP Door

Door to a bar on East 3rd St. called NMP, or No Malice Palace.

As I was sketching this, a guy came up to me and said, "Hey, what are you doing? Oh, you're just drawing? I thought you were reporting on this place. Cuz every weekend they have fights here, so the community is meeting to try to get it shut down!"

Every time I've been by here, when it's been open - which isn't that often, actually - it's been pretty empty. But the internets tell me that it's a "hip-hop bar" that has crowded dance parties every Friday and Saturday night, so maybe I'm just not in the neighborhood at peak times. In fact, I know I'm not.

Fire Hose

Fire hose in a hallway at St Mark's Church. Whenever I see one of these things, I wonder if they actually work, and if they're ever tested. I'm pretty sure this hose has been untouched in the several years I've worked at this place.

The Bell at St Mark's

This bell is outside St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, which I've drawn before. The history says it dates to 1836 (though 1838 is inscribed on it). The church suffered a massive fire in 1978 which nearly destroyed it. The heat of the fire caused the bell to crack. It was salvaged and is now on display on a rather haphazard arrangement of bricks, cinder blocks, and lumber near the northeast corner of the church.