Tag Archives: film

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The Urban Development of Newark: 1660-2016

  17 August 2016 , ,

Audio from Freesound

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As Newark celebrates the 350th anniversary of its founding in 1666, I created this series of drawings based on historical images and maps. As Newark develops from a small town to a bustling and industrial metropolis, the sounds shift from quiet woodlands to the din of the vibrant city with rising skyscrapers. This two minute time-lapse aims to represent history as a living and fluid process.

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1280
1280
1880
1880
1920
1920
1960
1960
Today
Today
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New York Chinatown: time-lapse drawing

  7 August 2016 ,

Chinese music: Feng Yang (The Flower Drum)

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This time-lapse of Manhattan Chinatown took sixty hours to complete and measures 26 by 40 inches. Chinatown’s tenements are in the foreground, while the skyscraper canyons of Lower Manhattan rise on top. This shows the area of Chinatown bordered by Bowery, Canal Street, and Columbus Park.

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Model of Jane’s Carousel in Brooklyn

  15 July 2016 ,

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A wind-up music box featuring Jane’s Carousel along the Brooklyn Waterfront. When closed, the antique cigar box measures a mere 7 by 7 inches and 3 inches deep. When opened, the Brooklyn Bridge and historic Jane’s Carousel fold out. The carousel spins to the tune of the music while the moon slides across the night sky.
Materials: $4 cigar box, $5 wind-up music box, electrical wire (for trees), plastic lids for wheels, string, tape measure, tin foil, and thick paper

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New York Skyline
New York Skyline
Jane's Carousel along the Brooklyn Waterfront
Jane’s Carousel along the Brooklyn Waterfront
The Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge
Jane's Carousel 1
Jane's Carousel

Carousel with my hand and a pen for scale.

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Pictures of Newark

  12 January 2016 ,

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As a lifelong citizen of Newark, I spent much of the past few years painting and photographing my changing city. Pictures features a selection of my work, complemented by classical music. Five of Modest Mussorgsky’s pieces from his composition Pictures at an Exhibition are selected, each of which represents the feel of a certain part of Newark. The following five locations are featured:
1. THE PASSAIC RIVER – music: Mussorgsky’s Promenade
2. OLD ESSEX COUNTY JAIL – music: With the Dead in the Language of Death
3. MOUNT PLEASANT CEMETERY – music: Promenade
4. DOWNTOWN NEWARK – music: Mozart’s Death March (k 453a)
5. PORT NEWARK – music: Promenade
Growing up in Newark, I am inspired and saddened by the inner city. I am inspired by Newark’s hope of renewal after decades of white flight, under-investment, and urban neglect. I am saddened by the loss of my city’s historic architecture and urban fabric to the wrecking ball of what is called progress.
Curious about the history of the old Essex County Jail? Explore this interactive exhibit.

 

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 Featured work from this film

Essex County Jail
Essex County Jail
Big tires, bigger nation
Big tires, bigger nation
4-18-14 north wing at essex county jail
Arrested Motion
City in autumn
City in autumn
Gulf Station
Gulf Station
The Chimney Falls - 2008
The Chimney Falls – 2008
This way to freedom
This way to freedom
After hours in Port Newark
After hours in Port Newark
Old drawbridge at Port Newark
Old drawbridge at Port Newark
Corbin Stret
Corbin Stret
Newark Broad Street Station
Newark Broad Street Station
Sunset on the Passaic River
Sunset on the Passaic River
Essex County Jail
Essex County Jail
Industrial zone in the New Jersey Meadowlands
Industrial zone in the New Jersey Meadowlands
Symmetrical bridges cross the Passic River
Symmetrical bridges cross the Passic River
Waiting for demolition at the "Little Annie Bridge"
Waiting for demolition at the “Little Annie Bridge”
Roman Ruins
Roman Ruins
Pulaski Skyway
Pulaski Skyway
Port Newark
Port Newark
Waiting for demolition at the "Little Annie Drawbridge"
Waiting for demolition at the “Little Annie Drawbridge”
Downtown Newark
Downtown Newark
Rusting barge
Rusting barge
Craneway Street
Craneway Street
A sense of scale
A sense of scale

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Renaissance City

  29 December 2015 ,
Growing up in Newark, I was inspired and saddened by my inner-city environment: I am inspired by Newark’s hope of renewal after decades of white flight, under-investment, and urban neglect. I am saddened by the loss of my city’s historic architecture and urban fabric to the wrecking ball of ostensible progress. My Renaissance City photo and art series depicts the Newark of my childhood with garish signage and decayed structures blanketing my city’s architecture in a medley of color and consumerism.
Click here to see a film featuring more of my Newark-based artwork.

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Urban decay in Newark to the tune of Mozart’s death march (k 453a)

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Reflection on Walking in New York City

  17 July 2015 , ,
Dedicated to Professor Brendan O’Flaherty for helping my apply to Columbia as an undergraduate. The following video lecture contains paintings and photos I compiled while walking in New York.

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Learn more about my New York walks in this collection of photos and drawings. They are organized into ten urban walks, with each day in a different Manhattan neighborhood.
Strolling in New York City is a world tour. The street fairs of Spanish Harlem mesh into college town Columbia. Columbia gives way to the shabby chic of Harlem. A few blocks farther and I am drowned by the tourists of Times Square. Further still and I reach the bustle of Wall Street brokers. I stroll and try to identify the passing languages. Spanish in the outer boroughs. Polish in Greenpoint. Russian in Brighton Beach. Cantonese in Chinatown. French and German shoppers in SoHo. There could be no more fitting a place for the United Nations.
Reading Here is New York by E.B. White, I realizethat  some aspects of New York have changed little in the past seventy years. The streets, cars, and tenements are different, but the essential spirit of dynamic and diverse urbanism remains. Here is New York.
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Handmade Dollhouse

  11 May 2014 ,
I built this dollhouse over several years. Using balsa wood, cardboard, and salvaged scraps, I glued together all the pieces of furniture. Odds and ends – such as bottle caps, fabric scraps, and earrings – enrich the rooms with detail. None of the materials are purchased from a building kit or model store. They are all handmade as a skill-building exercise.

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Dollhouse

Living room
Living room
Living room
Living room
Doll house
Doll house
Bedroom
Bedroom
Bedroom
Bedroom
Children's room
Children’s room
Children's room
Children’s room
Kitchen
Kitchen
Kitchen
Kitchen
Kitchen
Kitchen
sense of scale