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Tag Archives: drawing

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South Bronx

  16 October 2014 ,

View more artwork like this about my experiences walking in New York City.

Strolling in the Bronx, I am arrested by the inner-city grid that stretches mile after mile. Block after block, street after street, a never ending treadmill of bodegas, tenements, hair salons, C-TOWN supermarkets, strip malls, and laundries. In the treadmill of the city grid, I become an explorer lost wandering. I retrace my footsteps.
And then, there is the ceaseless cacophony of Spanish speakers, buses, and car. The chaotic maze of streets leads me to fantasize walking through one of M.C. Escher’s drawings of a geometric maze. The blaring signage for SHOES, SHIRTS, PIZZA, and ICE CREAM hints at shabby decadence. The never-too-distant fast-food joint hints at obesity in a relative food desert. The din of distant cars on the Cross Bronx or Major Deegan hint at the childhood asthma that I, too, had. I immerse myself in the urban grid.
After many hours, I spy an elevated subway stop in the distance. I take the next southbound train back to Manhattan. I must return to the Bronx soon. The outer boroughs beckon.

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Marble Hill Home (2662 Kingsbridge Terr)
Marble Hill Home (2662 Kingsbridge Terr)
This home is still occupied (2662 Kingsbridge Terr).
This home is still occupied (2662 Kingsbridge Terr).
Subway Trestle (228th & Broadway)
Subway Trestle (228th & Broadway)
Parking Attendants (232nd & Broadway)
Parking Attendants (232nd & Broadway)
Pedestrians wait for bus (228 & Broadway).
Pedestrians wait for bus (228 & Broadway).
Latino family strolls to Target (Marble Hill Projects).
Latino family strolls to Target (Marble Hill Projects).
Riverdale Home (246th & Cayuga)
Riverdale Home (246th & Cayuga)
Latino couple in South Bronx
Latino couple in South Bronx
Children's Dentist (Kingsbridge & Heath)
Children’s Dentist (Kingsbridge & Heath)
Discounted Gold
Discounted Gold
Communion Dresses
Communion Dresses
Lady wearing shirt reading "Heart Breakers" passes Amiga Fasion.
Lady wearing shirt reading “Heart Breakers” passes Amiga Fasion.
Copious Signage (233rd &Broadway)
Copious Signage (233rd &Broadway)
Tenement Row on Kingsbridge Road
Tenement Row on Kingsbridge Road
King's Pizza (Sedgwick & Kingsbridge)
King’s Pizza (Sedgwick & Kingsbridge)
Garbage Collector
Garbage Collector
Kingsbridge Corner Bodega
Kingsbridge Corner Bodega
Metro Sunday Sidewalk School teaches Biblical stories.
Metro Sunday Sidewalk School teaches Biblical stories.
Broadway & 242: Last Stop
Broadway & 242: Last Stop
Lady crosses Kingsbridge Road.
Lady crosses Kingsbridge Road.
Haircut on Kingsbridge
Haircut on Kingsbridge
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New Jersey Meadowlands

  20 August 2014 , ,
The New Jersey Meadowlands, nestled between New York City and Newark, is a strange sort of in-between zone. It belongs neither to nature nor to man. The grasslands and birds of nature are abundant. So, too, are the derelict factories and warehouses. The unwanted detritus of civilization is cast off into the Meadowlands, ranging from garbage piles to noxious-smelling industries.
Millions of commuters to and from the suburbs to New York City pass through this region of indeterminate identity. Many look out the windows of passing trains, planes, and cars. Yet few care to observe the lapping tides and bizarre beauty of this unwanted strip of land. These views show various scenes from my daily train ride through the Meadowlands between Newark Broad Street and Hoboken Terminal.

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In Memory of Jimmy Hoffa
In Memory of Jimmy Hoffa
Premonition of a city on the Passaic River
Premonition of a city on the Passaic River
Shell Oil monopoly
Shell Oil monopoly
Industrial zone in the New Jersey Meadowlands
Industrial zone in the New Jersey Meadowlands
Industial beachhead at Port Newark
Industial beachhead at Port Newark
After hours in Port Newark
After hours in Port Newark
meadowlands 10
Power Generators
Power Generators
Hackensack River
Hackensack River
Dredging toxic industrial runoff buried in the river
Dredging toxic industrial runoff buried in the river
meadowlands 7
Old drawbridge at Port Newark
Old drawbridge at Port Newark
Jersey City Factories
Jersey City Factories
Factory Yard
Factory Yard
NJ Meadowlands
NJ Meadowlands
Overhead Power Lines
Overhead Power Lines
Port Newark tire yard
Port Newark tire yard
New Jersey Meadowlands
New Jersey Meadowlands
Railroad Station
Railroad Station
City in autumn
City in autumn
Sunset on the Passaic River
Sunset on the Passaic River
Hackensack River
Hackensack River
NJ Meadowlands
NJ Meadowlands
Power Generators
Power Generators
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Operating scale model of a steam crane

  17 June 2014 ,
Here is a scale model of a steam crane. Many of the small parts are made from found materials such as copper staples, old gears, recycled wood, beads, and metal tacks. A motor moves the machine forward. While one hand-operated crank raises or lowers the boom, the other crank unwinds the hook and cable. Dimensions: 4.5 inches wide, 8.5 inches long, and 20 inches tall.

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machine 2
machine 1
machine 10
Steam operated crane
Steam operated crane
Steam operated crane
Steam operated crane
machine 4
machine 3
machine 6
boom detail
boom detail
crank detail
crank detail
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When dinosaurs take over New York City at night

  16 June 2014 ,
In the New York City of my imagination, dinosaurs emerge from the Museum of Natural History to prowl “the city that never sleeps.” They roam the streets engaging in dinosaur-like activities: scaring people, stealing from butcher shops, and terrorizing the skyline. For one night, the city belongs to them.

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Haunting the Museum of Natural History
Haunting the Museum of Natural History
T-Rex head
T-Rex head
Dinosaurs as the Seagram Building
Dinosaurs as the Seagram Building
New York Public Library
New York Public Library
Stealing meat from Little Italy
Stealing meat from Little Italy
The city in the dinosaur's eye
The city in the dinosaur’s eye
Empire State and Chrysler Building
Empire State and Chrysler Building
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Political Cartoons

  11 May 2014
The following images are political style cartoons about nationalism, fascism, and communism. They are drawn in the pedantic and high-contrast style of propaganda images from the Soviet Union. The rigid use of geometry and symmetry is intentional to communicate the oppression these regimes stand for.

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Shell Oil monopoly
Shell Oil monopoly
So called Land of the Free (homage to Germania)
So called Land of the Free (homage to Germania)
God Bless America
God Bless America
God Bless Nationalism
God Bless Nationalism
Communism (homage to "Sleeping Peasants" by Jean-François Millet)
Communism (homage to “Sleeping Peasants” by Jean-François Millet)
Sarcastic homage to McCarthyism
Sarcastic homage to McCarthyism
Fascist corporate cabal
Fascist corporate cabal
The last proletariat on the Ford assembly line
The last proletariat on the Ford assembly line
Chairman Mao drinks Coca-Cola
Chairman Mao drinks Coca-Cola
Long live capitalism
Long live capitalism
Conspiracy theories and the JFK assassination on TV
Conspiracy theories and the JFK assassination on TV
Bullying hurts
Bullying hurts

McDonald’s Fast Food Slaughter Machine

This image is inspired by H.G. Wells’ 1895 book The Time Machine. H.G. Wells describes two worlds. The world above is a peaceful garden and amusement park full of naïve residents. Monsters live in the dark world below of tunnels, machines, and the equipment that sustains the aboveground garden. In my rendition of H.G. Wells’ story monsters emerge at night with their nasty machines to harvest people for “USDA approved grade A” burger patties.

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A Goliath made of corporate logos fights a tiny David dressed as Uncle Sam.