DIORAMA REAL PIC

Here's the real pic we're going to use for the publicity for the installation/record. I'm making dioramas this weekend that will magically be sunk into our bellies by Photoshop.

Corey Hayes took this photo. He's a mensch, as well as a great photographer. He had a lot of good ideas, including building me a campfire:
I have to say that that morning, while it doesn't look it, was COLD. I can't remember ever being so cold. I couldn't feel my feet for two hours after we finally came inside. If only our Central Park photo permit allowed us open fires, we would have lit that thing, i'm telling you.

Which brings me to rope jumping, a warm reindeer game that i am apparently sad to be left out of:

Dioramas posted tomorrow!

DIORAMA PICS

I went out on Thursday with Corey Hayes who is going to take our pics for the record/tour/promo/etc. We had a lovely walk around Central Park, scouting locations, chatting, and watching a hawk attack a squirrel. The squirrel didn't get eaten, but it was real close.

We came up with this location--103 and 8th Ave...I think this is the winner. Of course, only I'm in the test shot. I the real thing they'll be four of us. We'll take the pic as is and then I'll sink cardboard dioramas into our bellys. The diaramas will have very bright colors.

The idea is that the color comes from the sky and the grass (which I will colorize), we'll wear grayish colors and the dioramas in our bellies will also be bright. I'm going to try to suggest the shape of CP with the box too--as though we're all maps of Manhattan and the park is inside us--get it?

YARN CONES EVERYWHERE

Because of a newly imposed deadline for at least one of the bigger pieces (we need something to take pictures of, no?) I've stepped up my production of yarn cones. They now cover nearly every surface of my home, and I have a couple hundred more to go!

I've sent my mom some yarn to help. I hope she can do a handful too. If anyone wants to help I have easy instructions and will ship yarn.

TEABAG WRAPPER BIRDS/STAR HOLDERS

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Here's a bird I made of teabag wrappers, teabag tabs, printer paper and staples. I'm figuring that 100 or so will be attached to the ceiling and each will hold a single led "star" from it's undercarriage. That way when night "falls" the stars will turn on--you won't be able to see the birds anymore, just the stars.

Here's another pic of a few of his friends in my window:

CARDBOARD PARK BENCHES

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In trying to solve the problem of making park benches that are both in keeping with the re-appropriated materials idea and the portable idea, I became interested in making furniture out of cardboard for the installation. I found a few things on the internet which lead me to believe cardboard can be engineered to support human weight. I actually think it will be pretty easy. The park bench above is one I made to see what it would look like--I'm liking the foldy-ness of it, and also that it looks pretty beefy yet cast-off. This is an idea I'd like to carry throughout the whole project-- a kind of large, heavy presence in dimension, but light to pick up. I also want to continue with the idea making castoff things into solid, usable objects--the idea that your imagination uses available materials to construct a Utopian world.

Right now this Tyvek bear is taking advantage of the so-far miniatureness of the Utopian world. He has quite a habitat there on the windowsill.

Can't wait to be out of bed long enough to make a life-sized prototype!

A

PATH/CROWS

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Here's just a cursory sketch of the foot path. The gist of it is that a stationary bike will control wooden (or maybe cardboard) crows that fly overhead when someone pedals. This is Austin's challenge to figure out how this'll work. He's smart. I didn't draw an an important element to this whole thing--mirrors will be at crow level so that it looks like a lot more of them. That was Tully's great idea.

The stepping stones on the path will be Rice Krispies epoxied hard. Some experimentation must occur with this...

SUBWAY STATION

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Okay here's drawing #1 (probably of many) having to do with the subway station. This is what I'm thinking: at the entrance a cardboard or canvas (or maybe Tyvek) "wall" begins angling up. Meanwhile, the floor has a drawing of stairs on it--not sure how to make this both light and durable, but maybe Tyvek is the solution again. This is so that participants appear to be going underground. When the wall reaches its height, it levels off and becomes the doorway of a subway car.


Here's what I know about the subway car:

1. You can walk into it (like it's a wee room to go inside)
2. You can look out the windows into the underground
3. The pictures in the windows will "go by", meaning that they will cycle through on a scroll of some sort, and this scroll will be operated somehow by participants.

Here's what needs figuring out:

1. Does t he car have seats, or is it more like a popup book--like different levels of things in relief?
2. Should the car "move" when the scroll is turned? How can that be accomplished? It would be real nice if there was some sort of rumbling happening.
3. Should the windows be operated from outside or inside the train car? One Idea is that the crank exists on the other side of the car wall, facing another part of the park. I'm thinking the wall will face the North Woods. It'd be great to think of a creative way to incorporate the crank into the woods so that people crank it not knowing what they're doing, and the people in the subway car just happen to get a ride when this happens.

I'll draw close ups of the windows later on.