Today I have something great to share with you that I’ve been excited to share for some time! Do you recall that one project that Jason Eppink and I came up with? No, not that one; this one!

Well, Jordan loved it, and with his help, we were able to take it to another level. This time we got the new signage printed “professionally”, and we did a lot more of them. It took Jordan and I about a day to assemble the vinyl, and we took another day (…and a good bit of the night) walking all around New York installing them! We had a close call with a couple police officers, close encounters with a couple bars along the way, and very tired feet by the end of it all!

Jordan Writes:

“Back In February PosterChild created an altered placard for the NPA city outdoor illegal street level billboards. He was aware of the fact that these placards were a lie being perpetrated on NY City by NPA as it made its transition to a new company called Contest Promotions. Under this new company, NPA’s illegal operations would be shut down and only those that could pretend to be running a raffle box would remain through a twisting of legal language. PosterChild’s single placard flew under the radar while still informing the public of NPA’s little secret, in a stark contrast to more overt actions we tend to carry out here at PublicAdCampaign. Needless to say, I wanted to see more.
At this same time I had been toying with the idea of running a micro-grant program. The grant would be on a rolling submission/review basis and the only stipulations would be that projects facilitate critical public interaction with outdoor advertising, and cost under one hundred dollars. Along with this small amount of production money PublicAdCampaign would help by tapping any resources we might have which could facilitate potential projects. PosterChild’s Truth In Advertising was a natural choice. In total the entire project ended up costing $91.48 and produced about 40 fake placards. You can see all of the images [Here]
I would like to thank PosterChild for inaugurating this micro-grant program with such a fantastically simple and effective project. In doing so I would also like to open up the next cycle of grant submissions. A clever idea can go a long way, alter how people think about the spaces they live in, and change what they come to expect from the streets that surround them. We hope that even in a small way we can facilitate this process and enrich the cities of this world with innovative and fun public works. Please take a look at the simple guidelines for submitting a proposal.”

I highly encourage you to submit to this new, fantastic and generous micro-grant program offered by PublicAdCampaign!

You can see my “Under One Hundred” project page here!

Astoria Scum River Bridge from Jason Eppink on Vimeo.

As Jason mentioned a few days ago, the repair work on The Astoria Scum River has finally been completed!

So, I am now proudly able to present this fantastic video made by Jason, which does a wonderful job of summing up the project, and telling the story of it from start to finish!

ENJOY!

From Jason’s Video Description:
Astoria Scum River Bridge is an unauthorized city improvement by Jason Eppink and Posterchild:

http://jasoneppink.com/astoria-scum-river-bridge
http://bladediary.com/tag/astoria-scum-river-bridge

For more than twenty years, a leaky pipe on 33rd Street beneath the Hell Gate Bridge viaduct approach submerged more than a hundred square feet of heavily-trafficked sidewalk under a festering cesspool of standing water. Astoria Scum River, as it was called, stretched the entire width of the sidewalk, and as winter approached, the river iced over and became particularly hazardous to cross.

Astoria Scum River Bridge was constructed to offer Astorians an opportunity to safely cross this hazard. The unauthorized bridge was a gift to the pedestrians of Astoria in the absence of successful municipal efforts to ameliorate the problem.

The bridge was made at zero cost entirely from recycled materials: an old work bench found on the curb, rescued screws from a disassembled desk, and a metal plate from an expired electrical component. It was installed and dedicated on December 30th, 2009.

On January 25th, 2010, Astoria Scum River Bridge was the subject of a commendation from the office of NYC Council Member Peter F. Vallone, Jr., accompanied by a pledge to work with Amtrak to re-route Astoria Scum River off the sidewalk.

Two days later, Amtrak workers began construction work. Astoria Scum River was quickly routed off the sidewalk, and within a couple months, custom-made grates were installed to complete the project. The bridge, no longer needed, was de-installed on March 20th, 2010 and returned to the curb whence it came.

Hey hey- we made change happen AND we made da paper!

I’d like to thank my partner in SLIME, Jason Eppink, again, for maintaining the bridge, handling all the media requests, and being such a good ambassador for us while I’m out of NY!

What a guy!

Original article here.

Wow!

Jason Says:

“Walking to the train this morning, I heard construction noises and half joked that maybe Amtrak was fixing Astoria Scum River. Turns out they were!

The guys were really friendly and very complimentary of our bridge. Awesome!”

As of this morning, The Astoria Scum River, that long dreaded crossing, is dead!!! (or dying, anyway!)

All photos courtesy of Jason Eppink.

The bridge has been tagged!

While I would have preferred a tag with a bit more… aesthetic appeal… I must say that I’m actually not at all upset by this- in fact, I’m happy to see it. Personally, I think it legitimizes the bridge in a way. Every other bridge in New York is tagged, now this one is too! It’s like christening a boat. Now this is truly a New York bridge, no?

Like people crossing the bridge, It can also be seen as a sign of incorporation, acceptance and use by the community. Here’s another: The other day Jason and I both received a very nice email:

Hello,

Thanks for making the bridge for residents. Our office had a meeting with Amtrak and discussed some solutions beginning with cleaning out the existing drop inlets that are filled with debris. A timeline for alleviating the problem will be developed shortly.

Thanks,

Jonathan A. Szott
Constituent Liaison
NYC Council Member Peter F. Vallone Jr.

We were very happy to get such news; here is Jason’s reply:

Hi Jonathan, thanks for the note.

Posterchild (cc-ed) and I are thrilled that the community has taken such
a liking to the Astoria Scum River Bridge. Besides just using the
bridge to walk over the “river”, our neighbors have been snapping
photographs and even writing songs about it!

But your note is especially affirming. As artists working in public
spaces, our intentions and actions are sometimes misinterpreted,
particularly by city officials.

We saw a problem and took the most direct and creative action we could
to fix it. It’s a minor improvement, certainly, but we’re both adament
about the importance of direct action and personal responsibility in
caring for our shared spaces.

So it’s very gratifying to receive a positive response from you and to
learn that your office is working to create a long-term solution. This
outcome is the best we could have hoped for!

Knowing that you’re a busy guy and that your office has a lot more
pressing matters to attend to, I’d love if you could keep us posted on
this project as it progresses.

cheers,
-jason

I’m very excited to see any positive developments that may come out of this!

All photos courtesy of Jason Eppink.

Ah, yes, yes y’all.

Another sweet ol’ collabo from Jason Eppink and myself.

As the inimitable Eppink explains:
“For years, a leaking pipe on 33rd Street beneath the Hell Gate Bridge viaduct approach has submerged more than a hundred square feet of a heavily-trafficked sidewalk in a festering cesspool of standing water. In the winter, Astoria Scum River, as it’s called, ices over and becomes particularly hazardous to cross. Posterchild and I constructed this bridge as a gift to the pedestrians of Astoria.”

Some very interesting things have developed since the bridge was installed, the least of which was the dedication plaque slowly developing its full-blown patina!

More on all that soon!

All photos courtesy of Jason Eppink.

A little something on the waterfront.

Hey, all of the talks from AAAA are now up! You can check them all out here! (If you are so inclined)

Here are some direct links to save you time: Jason! Jordan! Specter!

And here is my own talk- embedded:

Thanks To Matt for recording, and thanks to Jason for capturing and providing these files!

I would like to thank everyone who came out to AAAA last Friday! I’d also like to thank the three incredible artists who took the time and energy to share their work- true to character- without any financial compensation. Gifts from volunteers, all. I’d also like to thank Wonderland for being such great hosts- and finally, I’d also like to apologize for being so sick and spacey. I suddenly got a very high fever on Wednesday- and while the fever had broke by Friday- I was still rather exhausted, sweaty, and out of it on Friday evening. Grandpa Batman was feeling mighty ill, my friends.

I was dressed as granpa batman

It wasn’t just an act- I was a true old man: with achy joints, frequent naps, low appetite, and lots of complaints about the youth of today. Therefore, my preparations for the event were a rather hampered, slowed, stressed and last minute affair- so I apologize for any of the weird organizational stuff! For example, instead of welcoming you to the space, explaining the order of speakers, listing the locations, titles and artists responsible for the new murals and works in the space, the location of the bathrooms, or anything even slightly useful, I rambled about art for a bit. This is because I had literally JUST woken up from a nap, had a pounding headache, and additionally, never planned the introduction out in the slightest.

I also forgot to turn on the new post-pixelator I installed in the space! Oh well- you’ll get to see it when it hits the street, and it’ll be SPECTACULAR.

In the meantime, to correct at least one of my oversights, todays update is the mural I created for the event. This will mark the second time I’ve posted non-street art work to the site! (the first was here)

for those of you who couldn’t make the talks but wanted to hear them, not to fret: we recorded them, and I will upload the footage, separated by artist, as soon as possible.

My thanks again to Jason, Jordan & Gabriel!

New York: The Big City, The Big Apple, The City of the World, The City that Never Sleeps, The City of Dreams.

I’d like to suggest a another new nickname: “The City of Scaffolding”

The stuff is everywhere in New York. It’s almost a permanent feature. I like to imagine that there is a set amount of scaffolding alive in the city, and even when it is cut back after months of colonization, new stuff sprouts up somewhere else- and the balance is maintained.

I’ve been trying to think of good ways to take advantage of all this scaffolding, and here is one thing I came up with. I don’t know about you, but when scaffolding seems maybe out of reach, I try to jump up and touch it- just to see if I can… or to see if my friends walking with me can’t! I expand on that instinct here, with the HI-5!

Its use is being demonstrated by Mr. Jason Eppink- AND HEY, did you know that Jason, Jordan Seiler, Specter and myself will be giving a talk TONIGHT?

IT’s TRUE! You should check it out: all the deets are here.

Video:

I’m very excited to announce a very special and exciting event!

Art, Advertising, Activism & Alchemy:

The power of public art. The problem of ubiquitous, aggressive, and even illegal advertising. The renaissance of urban activism. The alchemical conversion of public spaces when these concerns meet. These four artists, with different but overlapping practices, represent the transformative intersection of art, advertising & activism. Speaking together for the first time ever:

Jordan Seiler, of the provocative Public Ad Campaign: replacer of advertising with beautiful art and organizer of the staggeringly ambitious New York Street Art Takeovers.

Gabriel “Specter” Reese: the pioneering Artist, emerging from a traditional graffiti background to become the creator of remarkably innovative street works that deal with socially marginalized people and places.

Jason Eppink: the Urban Alchemist transforming video ads into video art with a simple filter and trashed chairs into treasured seating by clever relocation.

Posterchild: the incredibly prolific creator of hundreds of conceptual and sensitive street works, including sculptural, kinetic, robotic and interactive installations, guerrilla gardens, stencils, and of course posters.

Come see these distinguished and award winning persons give individual talks about their practices, followed by a panel Q&A with all four artists. Also on display: 20 screens featuring past street works of all artists and the unveiling of new mural works by Posterchild and I Am. (http://iamis.me/) Drinks are available all evening.

Friday, November 20th, 2009
At Wonderland: 3801, 23rd Avenue in Astoria, Queens.
7pm: Doors open, 8pm: Artists talks, 9:30pm: Panel Q&A

Free to Enter

http://www.publicadcampaign.com

http://www.specterart.com

http://jasoneppink.com

http://www.bladediary.com