Listening to Dutch Kills – Chance Ecologies sound walk

I am excited about this project in my neighborhood of Long Island City and to be a participating artist, animating the presence of oysters in Dutch Kills and in the estuary at large. Listening to Dutch Kills is a new public art project created by Chance Ecologies. This project is an immersive audio walk that guides participants around the waters of the Dutch Kills tributary of Newtown Creek. The walk was commissioned by the SWIM Coalition, and curated by Catherine GrauSarah Nelson Wright and Nathan Kensinger, and includes new audio works by Nate DorrEdrex FontanillaRachel Stevens, and Moira Williams. Please join us at the launch event on Saturday, June 29th!

More details on the walk and the SWIM Coalition can be seen here: https://www.swimmablenyc.org/dutch-kills-public-art-project/

And please RSVP for the launch event here, which includes an artists talk and picnic:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/getting-to-zero-cso-in-dutch-k…

Here is the view you will be facing during the oyster segment.

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Works on Water – Collect Pond walk!

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Some would propose “water art” as a new movement along the lines of “land art.” This show in NYC, Works on Water, has so many great projects that would lead you to conclude just that! Check out my walking tour of Collect Pond.

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Join interdisciplinary artist Rachel Stevens on a walking tour, discussion and augmented reality visualization of Collect Pond, tracing the edges of this lost body of water and unpacking histories and futures tying water to finance and speculation, from Collect Pond to Hurricane Sandy and beyond.

Since Europeans arrived in Lower Manhattan, water has been a contentious commodity and continues to be a flashpoint for struggles between private enterprise and human rights. Collect Pond, a 48-acre, 60- foot deep freshwater pond, used to occupy the land from the court houses to the edge of Chinatown in Lower Manhattan until it became polluted and then filled in. Chase Company, founded by Aaron Burr, was a private water distribution company that hoarded profits meant to provide clean water from tributaries feeding Collect Pond and used those funds to start Chase Bank.

dreaming of the west, #artistsareintents

Still dreaming, literally, of the fantastic trip through the Klamath River Basin in southern Oregon and northern California with Signal Fire during the Unwalking the West residency. Last night I dreamt I was swimming again in Medicine Lake, high up in the Modoc National Forest. Spending 7 days straight with 11 other artists non-stop in a van or camping in close quarters could be a disaster, or it could be a gateway drug for more encounters with natural landscapes, spending time off the grid with others and devising creative ways to participate in environmental advocacy. So many years in New York City have made me thirsty for an experience like this, which included leaving the land at least as wild as when you arrived, deep dives into Klamath and Modoc mythology and history, thoughts on decolonization, tracing environmental conflicts, learning how to poop in the woods. We visited quite a few sites important to the history of the Klamath tribe and various environmental struggles. We hardly mentioned John C. Fremont, the namesake explorer for this particular trip, at all.

Meanwhile, my amazing fellow residency people have been sending back great images, like this drawing of Medicine Lake by Mika Aono, from her sketchbook chronicling the whole trip.

medicine lake by Mika

This photo of us swimming in Medicine Lake by Ryan Pierce.

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This photo of Captain Jack’s Stronghold by Joe Hedges. We are taking turns reading the explanatory texts about this dark moment in Klamath history, and divising ways of hacking or correcting the official version.

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This drawing of the Beautiful Warner Mountains during our long, uphill backpacking trek by Mika Aono.

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This photo by Ryan Pierce of Jessie Landau and me, looking ahead on Summit Trail, wondering how much further to our campsite.

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Joe Hedges’ photo of the campsite we finally arrived at, which was shy of the lake we aimed for since snow blocked the train.

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[The panorama of Patterson Lake at the end of the trail shared by Jessie Landau. I can’t seem to share it from Facebook, which is fitting since only three of us – not me – made it there.]

And Mika Aono’s reminder of how to poop in the woods, as told and performed by Ryan Pierce.

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And so many more images and memories.

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A very special thanks to our two hardworking, talented, generous and inspiring guides, Tarp (aka Ryan Pierce) and Kai’ila Farrell-Smith.

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And thank you to the two visiting presenters, artist Natalie Ball and environmental Lawyer Dave Becker, who generously shared their intimate knowledge of and expertise on local sites with us.

Natalie Ball sharing a special Klamath site, Singing Rock.

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Dave Becker at the head of Hanan Trail, a site he advocates for through his legal work.

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Here’s the Rachel’s-eye view of the whole trip (minus most of the backpacking trip, when my camera was heavy enough to leave behind).

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Signal Fire residency: Unwalking the West

smithriverpanoI am truly excited to participate in a residency this June with Signal Fire (not to be confused with the “media project of the Maoist Communist Group” nor the reimagined venture capital firm, two entities with the same name) called Unwalking John C. Frémont. It is part of their Unwalking the West theme this year. We (ten artists and two artist-guides) will be hiking, camping and backpacking in the Upper Klamath Basin region of southern Oregon while taking a deep dive into environmental, social and political issues that affect the area. Such a terrific opportunity to research and connect with a landscape in the far west for this native of Northern California who has been living the NYC life for maybe too long.

Description from their site:

What Western U.S. city doesn’t have a street named after “The Pathfinder,” John C. Frémont? This trip revisits portions of the route of Frémont’s calamitous Second Expedition (1843-4), a foray into empire-building conducted under the guise of exploration. Frémont’s journey provides an entry point to learning about an exceptional and very contested place: the Upper Klamath Basin.

We will begin our trip in the ancestral land of the Modocini, Mak’Lak and Yahooskin tribes (comprising The Klamath Tribes). Our contextual materials will include an introduction to Klamath’s ecological “knot” as well as focus on Indigenous Survivance and sovereignty, from the Modoc War to the contemporary fight for Indigenous water and fishing rights. We will introduce content about the current political landscape of a place that sees very different communities working together to solve conflicts over vital natural resources.

Both local and visitors’ voices will contribute to our understanding of the forces that have shaped the Basin: dams, grazing, and land theft, as well as problem solving through patient and resourceful strategies. We’ll spend the first half of the trip in the former Klamath reservation at Chiloquin, Modoc Point and traveling along the Sprague River, visiting important cultural sites and meeting with visiting presenters. Then we’ll head into the Lava Beds National Monument to visit the strongholds of the Modicini where Kintpuash (Captain Jack) and a band of Modocs successfully fought off the U.S. Government troops for 5 months in the late 1800’s. The second half of our trip will include a short backpacking adventure in the mountains surrounding the Klamath Basin—wildlands whose waters feed this oasis.

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Three walks for the Pier 42 City of Water Day Summer Celebration

ub_collectpondjuly18_990x660On July 18th we animated some waterways in Lower Manhattan with some performative, experiential walks at Collect Pond, tracing the path of Old Wreck Brook to the East River through some interstitial and public/private urban spaces and then on to the ‘CSO theater’ at Corlear’s Hook.
Here’s the schedule:

Paths to Pier 42: Summer Waterfront Celebration and City of Water Day

Saturday, July 18, 2-6pm
Pier 42

The 2015 iLAB Residency groups, Water & Im/migration and The Urban Backstage, invite you to Pier 42 on Saturday, July 18th, to join in the Paths to Pier 42: Summer Waterfront Celebration and City of Water Day. As part of the Waterfront Alliance’s larger City of Water Day celebration, Paths to Pier 42 will host an afternoon of family-friendly activities including the iLAND events listed below.

2PM  The Urban Backstage: Collect Pond Park performance 
Location: The performance begins at the southern end of Collect Pond Park
The first of three linked walking and talking performances about the city and its relationship to water. Visit the place where Collect Pond used to be, and imagine the city when it was the primary source of fresh drinking water and a place of leisure and escape.

2:45PM   The Urban Backstage: Wreck Brook / East River walk 
Location: The walk begins at Foley Square and ends at Pier 42
The second of three linked walking and talking performances: walk the trail of the former Old Wreck Brook from Foley Square to the East River exploring the links between natural and engineered water systems.

4PM    Water & Im/migration: Shore of Hope – Part II
Location: Pier 42
Enjoy arts activities for all ages, including a calligraphy workshop, a choral performance by members of the Open Door Senior Citizen Center, and movement sharing to explore the themes of Water and Immigration (for ages 7 and older).

4:30PM  The Urban Backstage: CSO Theater
Location: Starts at the Pier 42 welcome tent
The last of three walking and talking performances: travel from Pier 42 to the East River Amphitheater where ideas about what’s hidden–under our city, and in ourselves–take to the stage.