NEW YORK RAMBLES (page 50)
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SOctober 2024
A walk on Governors Island
Governors Island is no country oasis, yet it does not take long for me to forget I am still in the city. What is this? There are certainly plenty of buildings scattered about to avoid confusion with a rural landscape. Occasion glimpses of s tower peeking over the tree line is never the expected steeple of some small town church but the glass and steel of the World Trade Center. Perhaps my confusion is just due to the accumulation of open space, so rare, so transformative.
SOctober 2024
A Downtown Walk
Can architecture be narcissistic? How do I converse with structures that cry out, Here I am, behold my grander. They do not want discourse, only admiration. As I take my shot I hear them say, Move along.
SOctober 2024
A walk on Governors Island
I have come to believe that repurposed historic architecture should be designated a style in itself. While the integrity of Governor Island’s military structures remain largely intact, supplemental features added for the sake of current visitors creates a disturbing dissidence. Did the old fort always have a soda machine around back? Even when this presence is subtle, it still refuses integration like the symbols of conqueror plastered over an occupied land.
SOctober 2024
A walk from Union Square to Chelsea
Concrete and steel make a poor substitute for field and forest. As hell bent as we are to seal the world within this dead cocoon, we cannot help ourselves from filling it with reminders of what we destroy, with the connections we lose. Extinction may come too easily but it is far more difficult to erase the relationships formed over millions of years. Proof is easily found in any child’s eyes, as they rush to befriend all creatures, both real and imagined.
September 2024
A Midtown ramble
I find it more difficult to recognize the skyline with each passing day. It is not only the number of new skyscrapers going up but my unexpected confrontations with open space. Structures must fall like old memories to make way for the new. If I prefer the latter, it may only be that my feet are closer to earth than to heaven?
September 2024
A walk from Grand Central to Chelsea
An entire skyscraper has been torn down and replaced with a taller one taking up an entire city block. This time I will not criticize its design, I actually appreciate its ability to remain understated while projecting a tremendous presence. If there is a problem, it is with my lack of awareness. How could such a structure rise without my noticing? Have I been in a deep asleep or just distracted by everyday life? I suppose the city is always changing and that most changes have always escaped me. That is what it means to live in a big city.
September 2024
Walking from the Lower East Side to Union Square
I have been hearing reports that art sales are down this year; bad news for investors, but is this really bad news for artists? Yes, I know, we all need to make a living but most of us only have a peripheral relationship with art world commerce at best. Art is being created all over the city in this very moment. The problem is it is looked at as having no value unless money changes hands.
September 2024
A ramble through the East Village
As modern architecture takes over the city, the more Third World it begins to look. Even with attempts at better design, the mood created is always one of replacement. Local customs and color are all disappearing under the weight of the generic. Must everything built lack a soul?
August 2024
A walk from Union Square to the Upper East Side and down to Times Square
What do I do with a classic view, those that have appeared in films and on advertising. Are they to be ignored? What if I am moved by them, what then? If my reaction is honest, then why not take the shot? Where is the harm? It seems these days, with a billion photographs uploaded to the web daily, it all gets lost in the shuffle.
July 2024
A walk in Flushing on Independence Day
Flaming July spectaculars are truly a sight to behold, but I have grown weary of dealing with the crowds, the checkpoints, and all the hassles of finding a decent view. It is not that I have given up. There are alternatives. Impromptu shows that pop up all over Queens. If these do not reach dizzying heights, I at least get to be a participant instead of a spectator.
June 2024
A Coney Island ramble
Spectacle arrives in many forms.
May 2024
A ramble through the Village and Soho
Where in the city do its demons and spent gods spend their days? Is it in the never ending array of deep shadows or out in the open with us, hidden in parts worn that refuse to die?
Copyright 2024 Alan Petrulis All Rights Reserved