Queens
Welkin: Astoria, Queens
Locations:
33rd Street @ Ditmars Blvd (visual)
Hellgate Bridge (visual)
24th Street @ Ditmars Blvd (visual)
ConEd Plant @ 19th Ave (visual)
Immaculate Conception Church, 29th St @ Ditmars Blvd (audio)
There is surprisingly little to be found on google about the term welkin. It is an archaic word meaning “the sky” and is rarely used in modern language except for in the phrase “to make the welkin ring,” meaning to cause a loud noise. It is also the name of a death metal band and a computer systems corporation based in North Virginia. Susan pointed out that the origin of the word comes from the Old Enlgish “Wolcen” and directed me to a wolcen-themed blog, which you readers may enjoy
http://www.wolcen.blogspot.com/
Back to welkin. The bare-basic concept of my entry for welkin is to introduce my neighborhood through a series of tranquil shots, panning across the area skyline as viewed from my old balcony and my current apartment. At the moment we transfer to video, I hope to illustrate the act of making the welkin ring, disrupting the serene mood with the abrasive intrusion of bells and lightning, symbolizing the pace of (not necessarily welcome) change in this city.
Getting the audio cut to my liking proved to be a bit of a challenge. I wanted to record the bells of the Immaculate Conception Church- a goal I’ve had in the back of mind for three years and have only now found an excuse to try. I really hate being seen doing my creative work, so I wasn’t about to go all-out dragging a microphone over to the church, I didn’t even go in to the church, rather I took my handheld dv camera, found a spot on the back stoop, and hit “record.” Consequently, I had every person I turned to for audio design assistance gripe about the poor quality of my recording. I can’t argue that fact, but there was something important to me about capturing an honest depiction of things as I hear them which is why I like my results. You never hear just one sound at one time in this city. You have to master the art of tuning out the static and hearing what’s soothing. If you do this here you will find that, despite the background chatter and traffic, there is beautiful music being played.
This piece is in many ways symbolic of my current relationship with New York. In considering leaving I’ve also been forced to consider what I will miss if I leave. I know that as long as I live within the five burroughs, I’ll want to live in Astoria. It’s been a source of serenity for me in the years that I’ve lived here and I find it very aesthetically pleasing. The problem I’m having lately is that I find my serenity being disrupted more and more lately by the sight of walking attitudes with bad haircuts, wide-eyed recent graduates from the Midwest, and yuppie couples hogging the sidewalk. It’s not overwhelming yet, but it’s a noticeable evolution that’s really been getting under my skin. I’m the first to admit that my misanthropic aversion to my own demographic is somewhat odd, but I stand by my love of old people and families and my desire to live quietly amongst them. When the panoramic view of my neighborhood skyline is disrupted by the electrical storm it is representative of what I have considered an unwelcome intrusion into my peace of mind.
Open City: Fort Totten, Queens
Construction began on Fort Totten in 1862 after the land was purchased by the U.S. Government in 1857 from the Willets family. The fort sits on Willets Point, near Bayside in Queens County, New York. The original purpose was to protect the East River approach to New York Harbor, along with Fort Schuyler, which faces it from Throgs Neck on the opposite side of the river entrance. The fort was named in 1898 after Joseph Gilbert Totten.
In 1954, the fort became a Project Nike air defense site. Although no missiles were located at Fort Totten, it was the regional headquarters for the New York area; administrative offices and personnel housing was located at the fort. Fort Totten was also the headquarters for the 66th Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion, Battery D, whose missiles where located at nearby Fort Slocum on Hart Island. This use of Fort Totten was discontinued in 1974.
Much of the fort has become a public park and is open to the people of NYC for tours by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. During the winter months, a large variety of migratory waterfowl can be observed in the surrounding Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay. Most of the buildings are now run-down and not used. Fort Totten is also a sports complex, as it holds baseball fields and three soccer fields used for youth soccer.
A Walk Back in Time
Date: Saturday, Aug 04, 2007 | 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Come tour the catacombs of Fort Totten, built during the War of 1812 to protect New York’s Harbor
Location: Fort Totten Ranger Station, Fort Totten Park
Read full Wikipedia article >>
- “Fort Totten, New York.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 17 Mar 2007, 19:33 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 25 Jul 2007.
Vaticinate: Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens
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Today I visited Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, NY. This sprawling public park was once the site of the 1939 and 1964-65 World’s Fair.
View full album of photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/abecedariumnyc/Vaticinate
Jerry-Build: Long Island City, Queens
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Here is an example of Jerry-build in Long Island City. I have watched the progression of this building from the platform of Queensboro Plaza station when waiting for the 7 train.
Open City: Fort Totten, Queens
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Fort Totten is the official headquarters of the U.S. Army Reserve’s U.S. 77th Division, the “Statue of Liberty Division”.
Construction began on Fort Totten in 1862 after the land was purchased by the U.S. Government in 1857 from the Willets family. The fort sits on Willets Point, near Bayside in Queens County, New York. The original purpose was to protect the East River approach to New York Harbor, along with Fort Schuyler, which faces it from Throgs Neck on the opposite side of the river entrance. The fort was named in 1898 after Joseph Gilbert Totten.
In 1954, the fort became a Project Nike air defense site. Although no missiles were located at Fort Totten, it was the regional headquarters for the New York area; administrative offices and personnel housing was located at the fort. Fort Totten was also the headquarters for the 66th Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion, Battery D, whose missiles where located at nearby Fort Slocum on Hart Island. This use of Fort Totten was discontinued in 1974.
Much of the fort has become a public park and is open to the people of NYC for tours by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. During the winter months, a large variety of migratory waterfowl can be observed in the surrounding Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay. Most of the buildings are now run-down and not used. Fort Totten is also a sports complex, as it holds baseball fields and three soccer fields used for youth soccer.
Vaticinate: Definition
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Vaticinate: To prophesy; to foretell; to practice prediction; to utter prophecies.
Diglot: King of Falafel & Shawarma, Queens
I just wanted to share a great experience I had on a shoot yesterday for Diglot.
Down the street from my apartment in Queens there is a fabulous street cart vendor aptly named King of Falafel & Shawarma who really does have the best of both.
The owner is an extremely exuberant Palestinian-American man who makes it his business to know everyone in the neighborhood.
I will be editing the footage and hope to have it up soon but in the meantime I wanted to share some still images with you all.
Just go to this URL for a photo gallery: http://www.abecedariumnyc.com/042807.html
Audile: Steinway Piano Factory, Queens
I love factories, so I feel lucky to spend three hours in the world famous Steinway Piano Factory. It is almost impossible to believe that such an old world institution, producing some of the most sublime musical instruments on earth, is flourishing in the middle of Queens. Here hundreds of craftsmen hammer, bend, glue and tinker with the wood slats and the keys that comprise one Steinway piano. During our three-hour tour, we witness the meticulous step-by-step process. We record the musical cacophony created by the creation of these renowned musical instruments. These sounds will become our second sound addition to the audile archive of New York City noises to remember.
Audile: Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens
On a cold winter morning, Susan Agliata, my Abecedarium:NYC collaborator, and I visit this surprising burst of sculptural splendor. Modernism meets camp here mid-week, when no one else seems to remember that a symphony of East River wind chimes are beckoning the birds, the boats and the muses. With our microphones in hand, we reach up to the clouds and listen to a lovely, twisting, mobile sculpture as it produces exquisite, rhythmic, bell-like tones. This is our first of many Abecedarium recordings. We will create a sound map of New York City in which our website users will travel from burrough to burrough exploring this metropolis with their ears.
