I just spent some time trying to find some happenings for y’all, but it seems like another relatively quiet weekend around the hood…with the exception of a lot of music to be heard. Silent Barn, Death by Audio and Vanishing Point are open for biz.
And now for something completely bonkers: Pass Kontrol’s somewhat dada short film where Bushwick (and some Maspeth) is spliced into footage of Paris and is referred to as that city’s 21st arrondissement. Also, “sexy ladies” and “sexy musique.”
Happy Holidays, Bushwick! I’m phoning these in from the heartland this week and from I can glean from the slow internet connection at this cozy farmhouse, it seems like the neighborhood is taking a holiday break. I’ve done a (wee bit lazy) check of all of the usual suspects and come up a little short. So, home team: you tell me. What’s cooking in the Wick this weekend?
Brothers. The above photo was shot by Taylor Siluwe at the José Sucuzhañay tribute held last Sunday. More of Taylor’s evocative photos here. If anyone else took photographs or video, please link to them in the comments section.
Brothers. Gallery owner/artist and Bushwick native Robert Weiss discovered works by his recently deceased brother which he thought had been lost long ago. These, as well as his own works mostly of scenes of Bushwick/Ridgewood, are on display at his gallery in Park Slope through January. For more on their story, see the New York Times article.
How is it already holiday time?! 2008 flew by, Bushwick. We have a few more days to get shopping, crafting, cards (or in my case nothing) done. Make the most of the rest of the year and get out and support your neighbors this weekend before you head out or hunker down for a break.
On Sunday, I stopped by 3rd Ward for some Urban Video Art at their (free) Moviehouse screenings. When I got there it was a pretty chill atmosphere with people milling about before the films while VJ Clay Franklin did his thing.
The opening film was Unfinished Business: Wash Away by Manuela Viera-Gallo, a short film which shows the filmmaker pouring bleach on different photos of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and its after affects as the dictator’s face is washed away in a beautiful swirl of color. Viera-Gallo described the film as a personal revenge on Pinochet, saying that, “With the making of this film, I washed his image from my history.”
The Bushwick Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. — Photo by Anna D’Agrosa
I headed to the Montrose stop for my first (shame on me) trip to the Bushwick Branch of the Public Library on Saturday to attend the first in a new monthly reading series. I was directed to the basement of the library (which, as poet Patrick Rosal later noted, brought back some junior high memories) and found a room full of literary fans, homemade cookies and stacks of writer-recommended books available for checkout.
Very DIY at the New York Eye and Ear Festival. — Photo by Lucas Cometto
The dingy warehouse air was thick with cigarette smoke, the $5 vegan chili was locally-grown and the “music” — depending on your definition of the word — was inescapably hypnotic at the New York Eye and Ear Festival this weekend.
The two-day DIY music festival and record fair showcased 36 New York City bands and 39 record labels of a variety of genres (free-music, minimal synth, noise, no wave, and neofolk to name a few), all of which were brought together by Todd Brooks, who is also known as Todd Pendu.
Andrea Mersits of Lady Magma. — Photo by Phoebe Waterson
Bushwick-based band Lady Magma played to a packed crowd at K&M Bar Friday night as part of a benefit for the AIDS Resource Foundation For Children. The band, made up of singer Andrea Mersits, Brian Derdiarian and Teresa McMahon on guitar, bassist Chelsea Vigue, and drummer Max Dunlop, rocked out with an energy so contagious that it led to a crazy dance party afterwards!
Nanook is feeling it. So am I. This new Pass Kontrol flyer, newly posted to their blog and Nanook of New York, makes me feel all Weimar. (While clicking through the PK blog, you should also check out Ronda Carpaccio’s open letter to Axl Rose.
Speaking of Berlin, Dan Brunet is back in Bushwick. You may remember his impressive series of signs and businesses old and new in the East Williamsburg Industrial Park. His latest series, “Tour de Berlin,” features “beautiful bloated bicycle bodies blighting Berlin bouelvards…” Simply gorgeous and haunting.
Bushwick Beasts. I found this picture in the Gowanus Lounge, but there is an entire series on flickr of the two be-tentacled beasts, apparently discovered on a walk home from Third Ward.
Aside from the fact that she thought she was in Greenpoint, this was a pretty good summation of the DIY Craft Fair experience at Third Ward last Sunday. I bought a feather headband and an unbelievably cool clear pyrex kettle.
Fred Gutzeit at Pocket Utopia. Some beautiful pictures were just posted to Jameswagner.com of the installation, “Love To Fred From Lee Lozano” at Pocket Utopia. Find Kevin Regan and you win a pony!
Cafe Orwell Opens on Varet Spacious, homey, eclectic Cafe Orwell has opened on Varet between Bogart and White near the Morgan L stop, with good coffee the likes to give the Archive a run for its money. By Joel Myers
Bushwick Gets Robotic Parking Whether one thinks the new automated garage on Wyckoff Avenue is a work or art or an eyesore, the technology that allows 67 cars to fit on a tiny lot is rather futuristic. By Jeremy Sapienza
Guard Your Electric Bill from IDT Bushwickers are being harassed by badge-wielding employees of energy reseller IDT: armed with misleading figures, these foul-mouthed thugs trick locals to switch their electric service. By John Ruscher
