The Arts in New York City
When I visited the High Line, I saw all these people gathered on the corner dressed as Pirates and it reminded me of our Happening Idea.
Artist Judith G. Klausner has created a series of cameos created from Oreo cookies. You can see other examples on her website, in addition to photographs of other works. The cameos were presented in the September 2011 Harper’s Magazine.
The premise of Dear Photograph is simple: take a picture now which includes a picture of the same location taken at an earlier time. Dear Photograph was started earlier this year, and has received a lot of press since then – see, for example, this blog post from The New Yorker. The New Yorker piece also mentions the “Back to the Future” project by photographer Irina Werning, another example of photographs being used in a remarkable way to contrast the past to the present.
Camera Lucida was very interested in the relationship between photographs and memory, and the idea that the essential fact of each photograph is proof of the actual existence of people and things. I wonder what Barthes would have made of Dear Photograph?
The tribulation and sadness experienced as a result of the loss of loved ones are difficult to overcome. At some point in life, there is an acknowledgement of this fact that one can no longer suppress these over-bearing feelings and because of this, the pent-up emotions can be poured onto paper in the form of words, aesthetically and structurally crafted to convey messages that any other person can relate. The “First-Year Common Reading Author Visit” event at Whitman Auditorium enabled Brooklyn College faculty and students to gain insight into the mindset of Edwidge Danticat through the discussion of her memoir, Brother, I’m Dying. Even though her main intention in writing it was to converse with her deceased father and uncle, the memoir’s popularity and powerful themes including the terrible consequences of political intrusion on families make it somewhat of an essential, mandatory reading when used as a didactic tool. By sharing it with previous and future generations, she hopes that they won’t be absorbed into or be ignorant of their pasts, but rather, confront and embrace them.
Haitian proverbs are brought into the discussion to elaborate on the underlying themes and intentions in her autobiography. One notable proverb, “When you see an old bone on the road, remember it once had flesh,” delineates how one should not look down on people, for one would lose a sense of humanity, since the “bone” was once a person. She wanted to put the flesh back on the bones of her uncle and father because they were diligent and vested their hopes in their children. She pays tribute to her family and acknowledges and never forgets the sacrifices made by older generations. Immediately proceeding after is a reading of two excerpts from her memoir: the first one, “Transition,” talks about the moment when she gives birth to her daughter and names her after her father; and the other one, a folktale, describes how a daughter had a difficult time coping with her father’s death. Both excerpts accentuate the theme of the continuous cycle of life and death.
Transitioning from the discussion phase to the question phase, noticeable moments included someone mistakenly classifying her book as a novel and her joking about how her memoir should be assigned as mandatory reading to all immigration workers (Homeland Security personnel) in the near future. When asked who or what she thinks was responsible for her uncle’s death, she explains that the immigration system is broken and medical assistance was not provided when required. When asked if she was able to find closure in writing the book, she states that she wanted to write it before she forgot her memories since they were very vivid in her mind at the time. Although she wasn’t able to find closure, it served to be very therapeutic and cathartic to her. She addressed numerous issues that were not made clear in her memoir, and so, the event helped to alleviate the curiosity caused by the many unanswered questions in classroom discussions.
View from High Line, of Hudson River
New York City: a bustling metropolis dominated by steel structures, speeding cabs, and agitated commuters. It’s a multifaceted metropolis, serving as the financial capital of the world or even a melting pot of culture and art, and its entirety defined by an imposing and ominous skyline. For its residents, New York City can be an artificial, urban prison for which natural, recreational escapes are required. Coney Island and High Line Park allow its denizens to escape from a purely artificial city to an artificially crafted “natural” resort.
Alleyway in Coney Island with various carnival games
Coney Island was one of the first natural escapes from the city ever since railroad tracks to the island were built in 1865. Rem Koolhaas in Delirious New York suggestively, yet accurately, describes the island as a “clitoral appendage at the mouth of New York Harbor” (31). Coney Island enticed commuters from the city with its untouched, natural beaches, providing an escape from the growing metropolis. Although Coney Island was originally intended to provide “Nature to the citizens of the Artificial” (Koolhaas 33) it soon had to adapt to suit public’s evolving preferences, and did so by intensifying the “naturalness” of the island with “Super-Natural” attractions. Luna Park, Steeplechase Park, and Dreamland tried to channel the “Super-Natural” by offering fantastic aesthetics and unique attractions. In no time, Coney Island was transformed into a “Worlds Fair” of technology and entertainment, using cutting edge technology to provide top-notch pleasure.
Unfortunately, Coney Island did not stand the test of time. All that remains today is a destitute amusement park, overshadowed by the ghost of its former self. Scattered along the boardwalk are hints of Coney Island’s illustrious past: a rickety, old wooden roller coaster; a rusty relic of an attraction too dangerous for our modern world; a worn sign alluding to Steeplechase Park; and a conspicuous alleyway of closed game stands. In a sense, Coney Island has returned to its roots, now offering visitors the simple pleasure of walking along a beach instead of the fantastic amusement parks it once had.
View from the High Line amphitheater
High Line Park was created fairly recently and does not have as colorful a history as Coney Island has had. The High Line was essentially salvaged from a derelict railroad line spanning the West Side of Manhattan. Although the entire park was built atop an abandoned railroad, aesthetically, it provides a stark contrast from the decrepit neighborhoods it runs through. The High Line is full of life, its walkways filled with people of various ages and a diverse array of foliage. It frames the city around it, at one location even showcasing a view down an avenue in an amphitheater. From the vantage points atop the High Line, one is as likely to see a sunset on the Hudson River, powerful street art or a seedy alleyway.
Coney Island and High Line Park ironically attempt to create an escape from an artificial, urban environment by artificially manufacturing what feels to be a “natural” world. While Coney Island’s parks were immensely successful commercially, their architects failed in creating a fantasy world that transcends the natural world. Ultimately, it was the natural world (the beach) and not the artificially created theme parks, which appealed to the public. High Line Park is a pastoral park that transcends the busy world around it; its deciduous fauna allowing its visitors to step away from the delirious sidewalks that pass underneath. High Line Park has become the modern Coney Island.
Walking along the boardwalk
There are phrases such as
Please keep our beach clean
Friends
Please don’t litter
Trash here
Mamma loves Sanna
Welcome to Coney Island
Family
Grandma
New York Rules
Alabama
Empire State College
Brooklyn New York 2011
Written on those rusty chipped metal garbage cans
Each vividly decorated in
Red, blue, purple, orange, green or yellow paint
With images of the sea, sun, fish, clouds and more
How did they get there?
Why bother painting on them?
Is it so that we can throw out garbage in style?
As I was pondering these thoughts
I received strange looks
From those passing by
Walking along the boardwalk
Past the garbage cans
Are the mural paintings
Filled with pictures of
Fish, sharks, turtles, jellyfish, sea stars, coral reefs
Even human shadows
And the big bold words of
New York Aquarium
It just makes you wonder
Are these paintings
Coney Island’s way to
Raise environmental awareness?
Express New York Pride?
Or even familial love?
This Flux Box is a work that comments on the nature of Coney Island in its heyday. In Delirious New York, Rem Koolhaas suggests that “technology + cardboard (or any other flimsy material) = reality”. Coney Island’s various theme parks followed this basic formula, creating elaborate parks with the latest technology and flashy aesthetics to immerse visitors in a fantasy world full of pleasure. Snazzy aesthetics, shoddy building material, and outdated technology make the contents of this Flux Box the perfect building materials for the Coney Island of Delirious New York.
The Coney Island Flux Kit
Coney Island Flux Kit Contents
New York City is the home to many of the most architectural and innovative spectacles in the world, which includes Coney Island and the High Line. These places have much to offer both tourists and locals in terms of leisure and pleasure. Coney Island, a historical mainstay in Brooklyn, is arguably the pinnacle of diversity. Along Brighton Beach Avenue alone, one can find Asian nail salons to Russian café’s to Subways (the American sub franchise) and so much more. While it has rapidly developed, with the addition of fields, stages, parks, and residences; it hasn’t actually changed. A former freight train track, the High Line is a relatively new, up-and-coming recreational project that has physically endured the demolition efforts of corporate overhauls, thanks to the Friends of the High Line. The modern environment, accentuated by the elevated “forest”, lulls all who visit into a state of sweet serenity.
As the epitomy of Brooklyn, Coney Island does not have to fit into the surrounding area, it is the neighborhood. Rem Koolhaas noted in his book, “The strategies and mechanisms that later shape Manhattan are tested in the laboratory of Coney Island before they finally leap toward the larger island. Coney Island is a fetal Manhattan.” (Koolhaas, 1994, page30) But is it? I can acknowledge that there may be some truth to Koolhaas’s statement. The array of varying feats that inhabit Coney Island may be the groundwork of proof that it was at some point a testing area. However, I have yet to see such an impressive region on the “parental island.”
Coney Island is all about the boardwalk, the beach, the shopping, the aquarium, the baseball, the concerts. It’s all about everything! There are few places in the America that can even remotely rival the accessibility and significance of it. The only reason why people can have an effect on it is because it has an effect on the people. No matter where you go, the beginnings of great ideas are being born. Strolling down the boardwalk, you can almost literally see artists putting newfound ideas onto their easels. It is actually quite interesting to watch.
I hate Manhattan. I really do. The hustle and bustle of too many things in too little space forces me to cringe before I even exit the subway. However, I was rather surprised by the High Line. Walking down 23rd street towards 10th avenue, the neighborhood boasts a rapid-paced vibe and a rude demeanor. There is nothing about it that would even hint at an approach to a recreational piece of art (highline), especially the big Texas BBQ chain and the multiple liquor stores. As I reached 8th avenue though, I began to see creativity-oriented venues, including the SVA theatre and art classes. The construction site directly below the tracks provides somewhat of the perfect contrast of concrete city to artificial paradise, in the sense that the 45 feet (approximately) of elevation transcends you into a completely contradictory surrounding and feeling.
With respect to the immediate area surrounding the High Line, there are reminders of a desolate past and foreshadows of a prosperous future. The graffiti that lines many of the brick buildings parallel to it serve as a symbol of what it would be today if it hadn’t been saved, which is an abandoned waste of space. On the contrary, the recently constructed modernistic buildings that appear along the path enable us to envision the promise it has for the area in the near future. In a nutshell, I can’t say that it truly fits in with the scenery of the neighborhood as a whole, but it is something that is needed, and will serve as a guide for the beautification, both aesthetically and culturally, of the area.
Personally, I have already seen it affect the people of Manhattan. Just on my walk to the High Line, I observed four people litter. After all, that’s a stereotypical action of the busy New Yorker. The High Line, though, must be considered a sacred ground in Manhattan because there is not one spot of gum or article of garbage anywhere along the path. The sheer respect and appreciation that Manhattan society has for the novelty of the High Line is actually quite inspiring.
The High Line is more of a test ground that Coney Island is. Furthermore, they are similar in the sense that everything transportation falls to the background so that their other features can shine.
They differ in the magnitude of what they offer. While the path of the High Line offers a place for people to enjoy quiet and fresh air, Coney Island’s boardwalk also offers the option to be loud and obnoxious without the ridicule. Also, Coney has the capability to satisfy pretty much any mood while the High Line’s tone is purely tranquil.
Koolhaas, Rem. Delirious New York. New York: Monacelli Press, 1994. Print.
This weekend I visited Coney Island and the High Line. I have been to Coney Island about four times in my life, mostly when I was little, so there isn’t much I remember.I had never even heard of the High Line until this September. So it can be said that this post is written from the perspective of a first-timer.
Here are some things I learned and noticed on my visits to these sites.
The High Line and Coney Island attract tremendous amounts of people including tourists, couples, and families. The High Line is a park converted from an abandoned railroad track. The neighborhood that it’s housed in still reflects its history with graffiti on buildings, litter on the sidewalks, parking lots, and junkyards in the area.
The High line has become an escape and a place for relaxation for the neighborhood. It provides a break from the tight streets and fast-paced life of Manhattan while still allowing people to be close to home. While on the High Line one is “connected to street life and far away from it” (Goldberger). Walking on the High Line was a very strange feeling. I felt like I was floating in the middle of buildings, suspended in midair. I had a feeling of looking down from a window of a skyscraper but still being surrounded by plants. As I walked around, the most obvious thing to me was the great number of tourists present. It was harder to hear English than any other language, enhancing the feeling of eccentricity that the High Line gives off.
The High Line combines the modern with the natural to create a unique experience. As you walk along the High Line, the old tracks are visible under the various plants, reminding you of the High Line’s past. There are some areas that make it apparent that the plants were physically planted there and some other places where plants are allowed to grow high and in every direction. This gives the feel of the abandoned railroad that the High Line originally was.
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Some parts of the High Line are styled like the modern architecture that is visible in the skyline. The benches grow out of the ground, the elevators have clear walls, and the fountains recite famous quotes.
This architectural genius attracts thousands of people every day to the High Line.
Coney Island houses Luna Park and an aquarium besides the ocean. Both of these attract families and tourists because they are cheap and are able to provide instant entertainment. As Koolhaas explains in his book, Coney Island is technology combined with cardboard to make reality (42). Even though there is trash on the floor, the paint is peeling, and some places look like they will fall apart anytime (Cyclone), people keep coming. It has been designed to look like “ a magic city” (Koolhaas 42). The thrill of the experience is too good to lose.
One of the ways stores in Coney Island attract people is with the use of color. Everywhere you walk, there are bright colors on advertisements, signs, and rides. By using bright colors, weird pictures, and lights in their advertisements, stores draw people’s attention. On a side note, sometimes the mismatch of bright colors may bring a headache to the onlooker, but then again as a New Yorker multiple things squeezed into one place is a common sight.
When I got off the train stop for Coney Island, the first thing that attracted my attention was the number of colorful murals that lined the walls . They depicted things like sea creatures, clowns, and the ocean.
As I walked along the boardwalk, one thing I noticed were the various colorful flags and lights on top of all the restaurants and rides, a common characteristic of the neighborhood. People were riding their bicycles, flying kites, and fishing. What I found interesting were the colorful cans that line the boardwalk. They depicted scenes that had to do with the ocean and the amusement park. The cans and the murals are one of the ways of expression for the residents of the community, whose lives revolve around Coney Island.
Both Coney Island and the High Line have their individual characteristics that set them apart from other places of recreation in New York City. The High Line, because it’s a park above ground and Coney Island because it’s probably the only amusement park in the city next to the ocean. These places exhibit the essence of New York as seen through their backgrounds and artistic expressions. Places like these can never be found or duplicated anywhere else except New York.
Works Cited:
Goldberger, Paul. “Miracle Above Manhattan.” National Geographic April 2011: 122-137. Print.
Koolhaas, Rem. Delirious New York. New York: Monacelli Press, 1994. Print.
Welcome to the High Line Portal.
What is your destination today?
Would you like to see the floral?
Or enjoy a gourmet parfait? 
Take a seat on the sundeck
The weather is nice and bright.
Relax and rest your neck
But we must get going, alright?
Look down and watch the streets,
Or is it a motion picture screen?
Sit down, there’s plenty of seats,
And enjoy the busy city scene!
Let’s go! It’s a long way to go.
Down the path, pass the grassland,
Follow the people, that’s the flow.
Don’t get lost. Grab my hand!
Here we are. Our beautiful lawn.
Would you like to read a book?
Or take a nap until dawn?
Wait, over there! Take a look!
No more grasses, but trees,
All grown over the tracks.
There’s nothing more to see,
Would you like to buy a snack?
At the end of the line,
It’s time to say goodbye.
Hope you enjoyed the design,
A park floating in the sky.
