(circa 1924, courtesy nycsubway.org)

If you haven’t already noticed the MTA has just put out the new subway map to replace the previous one, which has constantly been updated for the past 10 years. This new map shows more defined routes compared to the previous map, which had a lot of unfinished business. The new map that launched this month  is graphically cleaner with finer attention paid to the color scheme, although I think the bright blue is a tad loud. The New York Subway system must be the oldest in the world, you can witness this history at the Chambers Street station, where you can still feel the grit of New York’s past times. Updating the map is a sign that the city is putting an effort for these improvements, and evidently they are enhancing some of the stations, albeit at a slow rate. I think there are still lots of technological advancement that we can learn from other cities such as the London Undergound, which has a superior information design navigational system (online and onsite), and Berlin with its time table that is precise to the second, and other cities in Asia such as Tokyo and Hong Kong that are admirable for their service to riders. And perhaps even Barcelona, that gives riders an ad-free commute.

The NYTimes did a great article comparing the map of MTA’s present and past here.

(above top: Anne Eastman, Untitled, 2009.  above: Vince Rourke, 132 Hedron 2000)

Summer vacation seems to have started a bit earlier in the Chelsea gallery world than the rest of us. This past Thursday, it was nearly empty in Chelsea. The weather was perfect for gallery hopping, but I suppose that the beach is more exciting than looking at art.  I randomly walked into ATM gallery to be caught by surprisingly fresh work. The group exhibition appropriately titled Summer Survey are works by Anne Eastman, Virginia Martinsen, Noam Rappaport, Miguel Angelo Rocha, Eric Sall, Peter Sutherland, and Vince Rourke. You may already be familiar with some of the names, such as Peter Sutherland who is renowned for his photographs. Here he shows his recent video Ice Cream and Tacos (2010). The works are a dry yet interesting showing of urban minimalist grit and raw that is usually more of an LA thing than in Chelsea, NY. I really enjoyed this off-the-beaten-path of a Summer Survey.

Summer Survey at the ATM goes on until July 15.

Photo: Hans Schabus Klub Europa, 2010

Marlene Haring, Marlene Haarig oder In meiner Badewanne bin Ich Kapitän! (Marlene Hairy or In My Bathtub I am the Captain), 2005
Kriech- und Badeperformance / crawling and bathing performance  (Courtesy the artist)

(all images courtesy Rob Beschizza)

While the NY Public Libraries are under the stress of budget cuts, the nation’s Library of Congress has been busy digitizing its collections with a grand vision for the future. The Library of Congress houses the largest database in the world with original manuscripts, ancient books, renaissance-era maps, audio/video files, and historical artifacts. I came across an interesting photo essay by Rob Beschizza revealing some interesting facts about what is going on behind the library’s preservation department.  It is both interesting and exciting to see how they are handling cultural artifacts using intelligence from specialists (perhaps researching from other countries as well) to realize a whole new digital culture, hence a different way of researching and learning.

My hope is that as they develop, they will preserve the traditional values of a library, as a powerful resource and cultural establishment, going into the future to advance digitally. As Eric Hansen, chief of the Preservation Research and Testing Division puts it, “You can learn about a culture from how it builds and stores things.” Browse the LoC’s digital collection online.

(Geoff Marslett’s Mars, US, 2010)

BAM Cinema Fest opens tomorrow!  The new program boasts a mixture of interesting picks from marked time periods with eclectic titles such as Ben Chace’s Wah Do Dem (with Norah Jones) and award-winning director Ken Wardrop’s His & Hers, and how about Cane Toads: The Conquest in 3-D..!  Most of the selected 18 new features are also NY premieres as part of the new festival.  These along with a delightful program of Shorts (check out Clay Liford’s My Mom Smokes Weed), director/artist Q&A’s, outdoor screenings, and a nice wrap-up closing party are enough to start off your summer film marathon.

See the Program Here

Elephant by Chris Barreto, 2010 (7:30pm auctioned at $35)

Untitled (Water Towers) by Harry Gold, 2010 (7:30pm average bid $150 each)

It’s Thursday. And people are swarming to gallery openings everywhere here in Manhattan.  There seems to be an early summer fiesta happening in the art world this weekend. Normally I would’ve done my Chelsea to Lower East Side gallery hopping routine, but tonight I skipped both entirely and went into Dumbo, Brooklyn instead. It’s the 1st Thursday of June, which kicks off the Dumbo Gallery Walk event of the month.  It’s a little haven for the young and emerging, but nonetheless there is a small auction scene happening underground at Rabbit Hole Gallery. I really enjoyed the works, which was installed in non-traditional ways, and mostly in small scale (see above), with an all encompassing silent auction going on. Which means the bidder marks his or her bid on a hanging piece of note-paper taped alongside the artwork. It’s fun and engaging; brilliant! This also gives average folks a chance to collect original works of art.

Two other shows worth noting are the Syracuse University MFA exhibition housed in DAC (Dumbo Arts Center, above) and Cinema 16 hosted by Smack Mellon.

The streets in Dumbo tonight were a mixture of amiable visitors from out of town, local artists, art school graduates, professionals, yuppies, and of course the indie crowd. Not that I want to categorize, but just to give you an idea of the scene, which wasn’t rowdy and hyper as in Chelsea openings, but laid-back and mellow.  By closing time and as darkness fell most people either meandered into nearby bars and restaurants or went to sit by the water.

Dumbo Gallery Walk will be happening every first Thursday of the month throughout the Summer. So get out there and experience the Brooklyn alternative arts culture!