I get the NYFA Current newsletter, and they usually have some very good articles. This month they feature the installation artist Gelah Penn and basically use her artist statement for their article. Granted it's a bit longer than your average artist statement, but I was very impressed. It is accessible, clear, straightforward, but at the same time analytical and intelligent. A good mixture of the personal (which art should be) and the more "academic" (which too many artist statements try to be). In the article they also use photographs of the installation and the influencial images from Noir Cinema in comparison. It really helps the viewer understand the artists intentions. A link to the article is below.
Criss Cross by Gelah Penn

"I love my kids. Dead man was not my fault. Love, Dad," 
Two cars, same road, same turn, same spot where they go off the road, end up in same ravine, but the catch is, not at the same time. Almost a week apart. Lavau was the last to go over the edge of the ravine and survived for six days. The other man had been killed and was found decomposing in his wrecked car. The odds of this occurrence are almost incomprehensible, even taking into account how dangerous that stretch of road is. 
It's so improbable, it sounds made up. And eerily it is reminiscent of J.G. Ballards book from 1973 called Concrete Island. Here is a link to Ballardian's website about the book. 
Concrete Island.
The story is of a man who crashes his car off of elevated high-way into a concrete island below and becomes trapped. Despite the fact that his is surrounded by humanity, cars, and man-made structures, he can not find any escape back to civilization.
Below is the story from the AP on the California crash... fact is almost always stranger then fiction.

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (AP) — Two separate missing persons cases. Two families wracked with worry for days. Two wrecked cars, nearly on top of each other. One man alive, the other dead.
The fates of 68-year-old David Lavau and a man believed to be 88-year-old Melvin Gelfand met at the bottom of the same rugged ravine, 200 feet below a curvy stretch of mountain road where both men had lost control of their vehicles and crashed, authorities said Friday.
It appeared to be sheer coincidence that led the men to end up in exactly the same spot of the Angeles National Forest some 50 miles north of Los Angeles.
Lavau lived in the ravine for six days, eating bugs, leaves and drinking creek water to survive, with Gelfand's badly decomposed body in another car only a few feet away.
Lavau was rescued Thursday by his three adult children, who searched a highway between their father's home in northern Los Angeles County and Ventura County, where a detective told themLavau's bank and cellphone records had placed him, sheriff's spokesman Capt. Mike Parker said.
They drove slowly along the mountain road, stopping to peer over the treacherous drop-offs and call out for their father.
Near him they found a body in a Toyota Camry that belonged to Gelfand, who had been reported missing on Sept. 14, more than a week before Lavau's disappearance, said Los Angeles police Detective Marla Ciuffetelli of the missing persons unit.
"I love my kids. Dead man was not my fault. Love, Dad," read a note Lavau scrawled on his dusty trunk, his family told the Los Angeles Times.
Lavau was at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital with three rib fractures, a dislocated shoulder, a broken arm and fractures in his back, said emergency room physician Dr. Garrett Sutter. He was expected to be released in three to four days after surgery on his shoulder and to make a full recovery.
"He was very desirous of a lobster taco," Sutter said.
Dr. Ranbir Singh, the hospital's trauma director, said Lavau told him he was driving to his home when he was temporarily blinded by the headlights of an oncoming car. He braked, but failed to gain traction. The car flipped and plunged down the embankment.
The body found in the other car could not be visually identified due to decomposition, but Gelfand's son-in-law Will Matlack said the family had been contacted by the coroner's office, which was trying to match fingerprints or dental records to make a positive identification.
"The coroner said it's 99 percent a sure thing," Matlack said.
At the bottom of the ravine, Lavau could hear cars and see their lights on the road above and was hopeful he'd be discovered, but as time passed, he grew more uncertain.
Lavau's children had reported him missing last Friday, though they were not certain when exactly he had disappeared.
"Each family member and friend thought that he was with someone else,'" Parker said.
Parker said by the next day the sheriff's detective assigned to the case turned up bank records showing Lavau had made a purchase in Oxnard in Ventura County, and mobile phone records showed he had been in the area.
The children then organized themselves into a search party.
"We stopped at every ravine and looked over every hill, and then my brother got out of the car, and we kept screaming, and the next thing we heard Dad saying, 'Help, help,' and there he was," Lisa Lavau told NBC's "Today" show.
Sean Lavau slid down the embankment to reach his father, who was airlifted to the hospital while firefighters helped his children get back up the ravine.
Parker said it was "remarkable" the family was able to make the find in the sparsely populated area about 50 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.
"We admire this family for doing what they did. You've got to love them." the sheriff's spokesman said. "I think there was a higher power involved."
Parker said the fact that the family found their father was no reflection on the work of the Sheriff's Department, which followed all the proper procedures for a missing persons case that had no evidence of foul play.
"What else could we possibly do?" said Parker, pointing out the speed with which detectives turned up records showing Lavau's activity. "I was surprised we did as much as we did. I'm glad we did it."
The California Highway Patrol was investigating the accidents.
Gelfand
Daughter Joan Matlack said he was supposed to be heading the other direction toward a casino off Interstate 5 south of Los Angeles.
"We don't know what happened, but it seemed like he was either lost or disoriented," Matlack told KCAL-TV, "Because he was in the complete opposite direction. He went north instead of south."

Replace Sea with Woods, and this is a good representation of my mind right now...
from Moby Dick:

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago--never mind how long precisely--having
little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on
shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of
the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating
the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth;
whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find
myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up
the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get
such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to
prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically
knocking people's hats off--then, I account it high time to get to sea
as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a
philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly
take to the ship.

A story of living rent-free... to the extreme. I am sure more details will emerge on this story.
Perhaps they tried a wikiup...

BERLIN (AP) — Berlin police are investigating the story of an English-speaking teenager who appeared in the German capital last week saying he had lived the previous five years in the woods with his father, a spokesman said Friday.
Michael Maass said the approximately 17-year-old boy appeared Sept. 5 at Berlin's city hall and was then taken in by a youth emergency center.
The boy told authorities that after his mother had died in a car accident about five years ago, his father had taken him to live in the forest, Maass said. The two lived in a tent, and in earthen dugouts according to his story.
"He said that he had lived for the last five years wandering around with his father," Maass said. "We don't know where."
The boy — who says he doesn't remember where the family came from — claims he followed his compass north after his father recently died following a fall in the woods, hitting Berlin after walking two weeks, Maass said.
The boy told authorities he only remembered the name his father called him by — Ray, according to media reports — and not his last name, Maass said. He speaks fluent English and only a few words of German, Maass said. He did not have any information about what accent the boy has.
The boy appears to be in good health and police have issued a Europe-wide appeal to try and determine his identity. However, police said they were not immediately releasing any photos of the boy.
"The missing persons bureau is investigating," Maass said, noting that at the moment, they only had the boy's story to go on.

I love that the national park service uses the term "backcountry camping" It's a phrase I may adapt more and more. On Fire Island you are able to camp out in the dunes (not between March and early Sept when it is Piping Plover breeding season) or the beach. Except for the cost of the ferry to Watch Hill, it is free. There are only 24 slots available though, so on busy weekends in summer they fill up fast. No pre-registering, it is first come first serve only. A link to the Fire Island National Seashore is below.
Fire Island
While we only hiked out about a mile or so, we were forced to carry 5 liters of water, since no potable water was on site. But hind site perhaps you set up camp and then hike back out the one or two miles and retrieve the water separate. Carrying around 35 pounds even for a little while was the most grueling part of the adventure.
Since there are four separate ecosystems in a very narrow space, the abundance of wildlife is amazing and easy to see. For the first time I think I saw almost every creature featured on the Fire Island brochure we were given. There is the salt water marshes on the bay side of  the island. There I saw a Great Egret, Mute Swans, an American Bittern, Cormorants, and I believe American Black Duck. Deer were everywhere, while walking to Davis Park on the boardwalk they ran out in front of use like squirrels. In the dunes area I spied a little fox on three occasions, twice running along the shoreline looking through clumps of seaweed searching for food. In the morning I saw a Harrier (or it could have been a Merlin, not sure) harassing and chasing a murder of crows. Eventually once the brave one had cleared the area of his enemy he took to hunting smaller birds near the marshes. Well off in the distance, there was a very large raptor with white underneath and black above, but I only saw him for a second. I think it was an Osprey. Of the smaller birds, I spent part of my time chattering with a Grey Catbird who was hanging out near some Mockingbirds and I got a bit confused if one species was mimicking the other at times. I brought out my Iphone app Audubon's Field Guide to the Mid-Atlantic and found several Catbird calls which I played. I believe I freaked out my little friend who kept coming closer to check out who was making these weird calls. Also in attendance was a very fancy Rose Breasted Grosbeak, a Northern Flicker and a yellow streaked variety of Warbler, which I really can't identify. On the beach their was a party of gulls, mechanical little Sanderlings and dive-bombing Terns. It was quite the spectacle of nature and am eager to come again when the only creature I wasn't eager to meet has finally left, the mosquito.
Here are some bird calls from the species I saw. Cornell University website has some really comprehensive information on Ornithology.
Northern Flicker
American Bittern
Rose Breasted Grosbeak

More images from backcountry camping trip Fire Island National Park....

Camping Site in the Dunes

 My Big Agnes Flycreek 2, home away from home ...

Sunset on Dunes

 A great future campsite

 Tree washed up on beach, perhaps from othe side of pond...

Fire Island Backpack Sept 10-11th at Fire Island National Park

Cormorants 

Entering Watch Hill Marina

Dunes affected by Hurricane Irene

Bent Trees 

Saltwater Marshes

Fawn in Reeds

Saltwater Marshes

The Legend of Boggy Creek depicts Bigfoot as a lonely, sad, sexually frustrated and eventually criminal trespassing creature tormenting the women of Arkansas. The one theme explored in the film is the social isolation that the Foukes monster must feel being the only one of his kind, and how periodically he is drawn to civilization like a moth to a flame... Since I was a child I have been terrified / fascinating with the concept of a Bigfoot. It's a weird hybrid of man and wild animal.. huge and strongly built. The prospect of meeting one alone in the woods, despite very few stories of direct attacks, sends a primal shiver through the nerves. Whether you believe the myth or not, it feeds into this sense of chaos of nature, that we could be prey instead of predator, and that there are "creatures" out there who live according to different more feral laws than our rather civilized ones. We have a hard enough time coping with other humans in our world, stepping into another realm where we are more less foreign gives us quite the disadvantage. In a recent documentary on the Learning Channel, one suggestion of what the Bigfoot could be relates to the shamanistic traditions of certain first nation peoples of the Pacific Northeast. According to the commentator, the process of becoming a shaman meant going out into the wilderness and leaving your tribe for years, and learning the ways of nature on it's term. Some went feral and tribe members who stumbled upon them in the woods started to think of them as wild people or human animal hybrids. I put a link to the video clip below. I have not been able to find out much information via the web on this practice, but it is intriguing. But back to Boggy Creek, which is the only song I know of that seems sympathetic to the plight of Bigfoot. But beware to women who step into Boggy Creek for he is looking for love. Enjoy this song to Swamp Stalker

Learning Channel video

Woke up this morning to a wonderful autumn day ! Cloudy, a little rain, a sharp cold breeze and pleasant 60 degree temps. My mind is wandering toward upcoming camping trips... so what better way to get in the mood then watch movies on BigFoot, the ultimate backwoods man. I was watching "The Legend of Boggy Creek".. and if you have watched this movie before you know the great soundtrack. Here is a segment on canoe camping... cheesy lyrics, a guy making dinner, and some great images of vintage camping. What this has to do with Big Foot or the Swamp Stalker I don't know. But enjoy.

I finished 3 new panels a few weeks ago, and beginning another two.. This new technique and style harkens back to 3 panels I did for a the Erph Gallery show in 2009. But I wanted to push the style even further, incorporating more found objects, including twigs, leaves, flowers, roots, insects, and other organic and inorganic material from nature. The photographs are from the series Bodies of Dirt..
I also posted them on my website. Still have to write a better statement.
Bodies of Dirt Phase 2

Last week on Friday, before Hurricane Irene came to my little town of Brooklyn, I called on my friend who was in a park nearby his apartment in Washington Heights. He suddenly exclaimed " What the hell there is a snail crawling on me ! Holy shit I am covered in snails ! They are everywhere !" I thought he was  evoking his rather gross sense of humor, but by his insistence, I realized he wasn't exaggerating. According to him, the ground was covered with snails, like some bad horror film. A few days later on Sunday afternoon, I was out in Red Hook and looked down on the ground to see what looked like a worm massacre. I wondered if God's smallest creatures had a special sensitivity that could feel the storm coming on. Was their reaction to escape from places they felt would flood? Seek higher ground somehow and escape the wrath? Or was it just mass confusion leading to suicide. Something to look up.

While the rain aspect of the storm was over, there was still lingering high wind gusts into Sunday morning. The one aspect of the storm I got to revel in... except for the quality of the air. I don't think NYC ever smelled or felt that "fresh". A hurricane is like nature's version of a power wash to the atmosphere. Pollen, pollution, that weird garbagy smell that always lingers in the city was scrubbed clean. For a while.

The storm came and went early this morning, and for very complicated reasons, depsite my enthusiam for mother nature's spectacle, I fell asleep. But I did manage to get up and go out on Sunday and get some video and pictures. Here are some mediative videos of the remaining wind near Red Hook.

Images taken on my Iphone during the AMC Plattekill Clove Slosh July 31st. Definately a place I would love to return to with a better camera.

.Plattekill Clove's many waterfalls

Taking the plunge from the ledge on the right 

Tranquil pool of green 

Beautiful gorge formed by running water

One of twenty or so waterfalls in the Clove

Rainbow Falls and weird ghost light

Hell's Hole to Devil's Kitchen, the way out 

A few weeks ago I went backwoods camping, or backpacking (I am trending toward backwoods camping even though it takes longer to say, it sounds more nostalgic and more rustic, less sporty). We climbed up Overlook mountain, went down to Echo Lake, stayed the night at Devil's Kitchen Lean-To and then we did the last leg on Devil's Path. It was a wonderful trip and got to meet other backpackers, which ended in a bit of a debate. Why do you backpack? Its heavy, grueling, fraught with potential mechanical injuries, not to mention potential heat stroke, heart attack, or major constipation. What was surprising to me is the number of people who said they do it for the challenge, like a sport. When I asked what about the chance to experience nature, see the wilderness, take in the landscape, explore, experience the thrill of being out in the woods at night etc.. I got quizzical looks. Most were interested in talking about equipment choices. Not everyone was in the at camp.. but since there are so many other sports which can give you a physical challenge such as triathlons etc.. where at the end of the event you can go home, shower and sleep in your temper-pedic bed there must be something else going on.. unconscious, on some cellular level that haven't understood yet.  That we go to the woods to go back home... shake off civilization for a little bit, revel in fear and awe and come out alive. Anyway, here are some pictures I took from my new Iphone, and yes I want to get a Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 2, because I am a equipment whore too..

In a new group show in Greenpoint this month... As part of Ugly Room art exhibition called "Cutters"
Here is the blog website with images....
http://uglyartroom.blogspot.com/

How about sleeping outdoors in NYC.. only you are not homeless and you do so with all the enthusiasm of a great adventure... According to the National Park Service, NYC may have the first large scale campground in an large urban environment... at Floyd Bennet Field. Right now there are only five scary campsites, where I have seen some sketchy non-camping types loitering near. But the park service which runs Floyd Bennet says they plan to expand to 90 campsites and eventually 600. Sounds a little overcrowded to me, but hey this in NYC. Bring the deet and pepper spray.  Here is the article:

NEW YORK – Many visitors to New York plan their trips to include shopping, a Broadway show and a hotel with fresh, clean sheets.

Sleeping bags under the stars? Not so much.

But Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Monday that the National Park Service will develop the nation's largest urban campground at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, a former airport used by Amelia Earhart and Howard Hughes.

"We want to make New York the leading example of what we can do around the country with urban parks," Salazar said.

Floyd Bennett Field was the city's first municipal airport but is essentially unused for aviation, except for police helicopters. It has been managed by the park service since 1972 as part of the Gateway National Recreation Area.

Salazar visited the former airfield and said the campground there will expand from five campsites to 90 over the next two years and may ultimately grow to 600 campsites. "You don't even realize you're in the middle of the city," he marveled.

The development of the Floyd Bennett Field campground is one of several initiatives aimed at improving access to the outdoors in the New York region under President Barack Obama's America's Great Outdoors campaign.

Salazar said the park service will work with local agencies in New York and New Jersey to link existing waterfront parks through a New York Harbor trail and greenway network.

The park service operates more than 26,000 acres of natural and historic properties, including the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, in the New York region.

Salazar said the park service is beefing up its use of social media to reach younger audiences with stories of the region. For example, historic sites overseen by the park service will be featured in smartphone applications and video podcasts available on iTunes.

I have in the last year become a fan of Mythbusters...a show in the past I dismissed as "nerdy" till I realized there is some science behind the show and they crash and blow things up. Not to many other shows have rocket sleds splitting cars in half.  It is pure creation even in destruction. The "scary -go round" from this weeks episode is case in point. But bloody avatars for military. Makes any artist envious.
Mythbusters

A rare, ancient lead codex from early christianity was recently uncovered... some photos below show how beautiful the work is... even if it is a hoax...
Article: Codex

So much for Super Moon... I went out yesterday to Red Hook to photograph the super moon, but I only got a few mundane shots. The wind was whipping up at 30 miles an hour and the tripod was not stable under those conditions, so I got mostly motion blur. But she was a beautiful moon. She was that lovely orange red color, but I must admit she didn't visually appear that much larger. As a super moon she would be %18 closer to the earth, but I guess that would effect gravitational pull.
I did see more crazy stuff on the street over the past few days, including a screaming woman knocking over peoples garbage, pounding on car windows and yelling that "Jesus is a son of a bitch". I guess super moon's effects are to be felt not seen.
Above is one sort of decent shot I took, and of course some shots from the web. Including this cheesy video from NASA explaining the phenomena.
http://www.space.com/11176-supermoon-science-scoop-biggest-full-moon.html