flint mi x10

Seeding Time

As noted in the last post, I’ve been a bit slow on the Flint MI x10 site in April due to a show at the Aurora Picture Show in Houston. I’m happy to report that the show is complete and turned out well. You can see how it went on the UBT tumblr site. If you are ever in Houston, check out APS. They are good folks. 

So, jumping back into FMx10, let’s start with a recap.  Of the 10 artworks for Flint, I have sent the DADA book to the Flint Public Library (#2) and responded to a “the pasta is terrible” comment on Google Maps for Chevy In The Hole (#9). So far, so good. I think the next thing to wrap up is #6  - With seeds culled from friends Catskill garden, plant rouge pumpkin in a Flint public park.

Way back in January, we looked at the best time to plant pumpkins in Flint. It seemed like the date to get things in the ground would be the fast approaching May 1.

So, here is what I’m thinking…

You might of heard of Flower Bombing. In general, I do not think this will work with pumpkin seeds. I have a feeling that you will probably only end up feeding squirrels. Also, as seen in the linked video, I do not advocate driving around Flint tossing clumps of dirt out of the back of pickup trucks into well kept lawns as this is A.) dorky and B.)  most likely pointless due to the fact that Mr and Mrs. well-kept-lawn, as well as the maintenance workers of Flint, will probably just weed whack anything that does not look like kentucky blue grass. 

Here is what I suggest. Find a patch of ground that is out of the way and will gets plenty of sun. Look for land that seems to be overgrown, ignored and forgotten.  Every big city has them. They are filler spaces stuck in some in between state. This space is perfect for a bit of urban gardening.  In the list, I say “public park” but any open space will do. This could be a parking lot, road divide or even be your front lawn. 

When you have your location picked out, it’s time for some rouge and perhaps nocturnal gardening. I would suggest one of following two approaches.

Method 1.

Using something like a spade, hand trowel or just a big stick, draw a circle in the ground about 3 feet in diameter. The line of your circle should be around an inch or so in depth. This small trench help will catch some rain as pumpkins are notorious water hogs. Inside your circle dump some soil with the center a few inches higher than the edges. In the center of the circle plant 5 seeds just below the surface in a roughly 5 inch ring. Place each seed into the ground on its edge with the pointy side of seed facing the center. Drench the circle in water and you are done. You can also try sticking a small sign in the ground with text like “Amy’s First Rouge Pumpkins Patch”. I’m not sure that this will stop someone from mowing over your plants but it might help.

A few week later when the seeds come up, pull the 2 smallest plants out as they will end up choking the larger plants growth. Sorry, I know that sound harsh but that’s the way plants work sometimes. Later in the summer, when things get going, you can steak the vines and fruits a bit to avoid weird ground rot and bugs.      

Method 2.

Dig a small shallow hole in the ground and dump a few seeds in. Cover it up and come back in the Fall to see if anything happened. 

Want Seeds?

If you are in and around Flint and would be interested in planting some seeds, send me an email mriver (at) mteww.com and I will mail some off to you.  I have 81 seeds from last year so don’t be shy. In solidarity, I plan on planing a patch here in Greenpoint Brooklyn along the waterfront. I’ll let you know how it goes. 

Slow Flint MI x1O posting until May

Hi. Just in case you had begun to worry about the lack of Flint Mi x 10 progress in the last few weeks (yeah. I know you have not really been thinking about it but I like to imagine someone would), I have been working on an installation for Houston Texas for April 14. You can check out the details at http://universalbackyardtheater.tumblr.com

I promise that once I finish the UBT project, I’m back at Flint MI x 10. Also, if you have short film or video that you would be interested in screening, let me know.   

flint jpg landscapes

March is here and with a few of the Flint MI x10 projects underway, I’ve been touring around the city thinking about the next step. I’ve noticed a small collection of screen shots growing in a folder on my desktop.  So, for this week, I thought I would just photoshop some of my favorites for you. Think of them as postcards. Enjoy. 

Also, here is the ongoing map of  Flint MI x10 sites with the photo locations marked. 

View flintmix10 in a larger map

Oh, if you have a favorite site in Flint to photograph, let me know. 

2 for 1 Hot Wings

In last week’s The Pasta is Terrible post, I started Flint, MI x10 Project #9 - Respond to “the pasta is terrible” comment on Google Maps for Chevy In The Hole. “  

View Larger Map

In an example of why the Internet is a strange space to make pubic art, the author of the original “the pasta is terrible” review showed up in the blog’s comments. Matthew Woodson (aka VonWoodson), talked a bit on how he ended up posting the Chevy in the Hole review. He noted “Come for the pasta but stay for the Thursday 2 for 1 hot wings” and “This place will take your order and never deliver it. This has happened more than once !!!!!!” as responses I proposed that made him laugh. I’m glad Woodson showed up as I have spent some time in the last months imagining the person who left the comment. Disgruntled former employee and spam bot had crossed my mind. Good to see it was a person in Flint with a sense of humor.
 
In the end, as no one else weighed on the matter, I gave Chevy in the Hole 4 stars and went with Woodson’s pick of the hot wings review.  Everyone loves Hot Wings.

When I posted the review, Google encouraged me to be the first to post an image. As I like to consider myself a visual artist, I thought this might be a good idea. After a quick image search for “hot wings” and some photoshopping of my favorite result, I posted this image as well. 

Google said that it was reviewing my image and would let me know when it was approved. I fear I might have gone one step to far.

The Pasta is Terrible

With winter finally here in NYC and a deep chill in Flint, today is a good day to be inside surfing the Internet. It seems like the right time to begin Flint MI x10 Project #9

Respond to “the pasta is terrible” comment on Google Maps for Chevy In The Hole.

Before we dig into the pasta and the hole, here are a few Flint MI x10 updates.

It has been a few weeks since I mailed the DADA catalogue to the Flint Public Library. Still no word of it making it to the shelves. I’m not going to worry about it yet. This may just be the nature of the work. Some Flint MI x 10 projects will end with - and It went to Flint  and was never seen or heard from again.  But, for now, I still have some hope it will show up.
 
From the last post on planting Pumpkins seeds in Flint, Shaun Smakal noted on the Flint Public Art’s Facebook page that the Flint’s Hardness Zone was just updated for the first time since 1990 by the USDA. It is now 6a (-10 to -5).  I’ve heard a few reasons for the update. I’ve heard USDA folks say that we’re better at modeling weather patterns now or our last data set was in the 70’s and it was unusually cold back then.  And, of course, we might want to consider the gigantic elephant in the room. It’s hard to avoid the thought that this is another sign of global warming. In any case, and for any reason, it might be time to consider what a warming planting zone might mean for the next 100 years.

And now from plants to the plant, also know as Chevy in The Hole. 

 
First, some here is a brief history from the Land Bank Report  - Reimagining Chevy in the Hole

Flint first became known as the nation’s Vehicle City in the late 1800s for its wagon and carriage industry, and later for the automobile industry. Chevy in the Hole was the manufacturing center of Chevrolet Motors, part of General Motors, in the early 1900s. When General Motors was at its peak in the 1950s, the company employed 89,000 in Flint and around 8,000 at Chevy in the Hole. Chevy in the Hole and its workers also made national history in the labor movement when the United Auto Workers’ Sit-Down Strike occurred in 1936-1937

Most of the buildings at the site were torn down in the 90’s with the last operating facilities shutting in 2004. On May 12, 2011, the city of Flint took control of the 103 acre site , now one of America’s largest brownfields, with the goal of converting it to a low maintenance green space.   

In December of 2011, while doing RnD for the Flint , MI x10 project, I came across the then lone user review on Goolge Maps for Chevy in the Hole.  The review/epitaph for this nationally historic site simple stated “The pasta is terrible.” 


 
I had a friend who placed art, pop culture and the Internet on a high pedestal. She did so with an intelligence and insight that always dropped my jaw.  She held one Golden Rule for culture and I have tried to keep this standard in my life. The rule - “Never step on a punchline.”  

So, be it intentional on unintentional comedy or tragedy, I have taken the task to reply to “The pasta is terrible” review. With respect and love to the city, and an apology to user name “VonWoodson” for stepping on their line, here is my short list of possible review responses. Each one is lifted from the literary sub-gene “online restaurant user reviews.”

1. Come for the pasta but stay for the Thursday 2 for 1 hot wings.

2. explain to me how I managed to blow $100 on drinks the other night

3.  Here is where you can eat pasta and it feels “light.” The dishes have the optimal ingredients and prepared so precisely. A very modern decor, a good place to take out of town friends, or family of any age. Can be a wait to get in so best to get a reservation, they are very popular! It is very fun to get the pasta prepared in the cheese wheel. You would think it would taste very “heavy” but it was somehow creamy and light and wonderfully smooth with a sharp cheese bite - you should try it!

4. This place will take your order and never deliver it. This has happened more than once !!!!!!

5. Third day at this place. Waitress laughed away the discount request.

6. I’ve dined in twice so far and did takeout once. I’d like to see some flowers on the tables and maybe a candle.

7. the bartender did not like us, probably because we were on a pub crawl and had stopped for dinner.

8. There has been many severe zombie attacks in this area!

9. Best flavor I ever experienced

10. ..and such small portions.

Since October a few more reviews have join VonWoodson and I think I’m ready to weigh in as well. So, just to open this up, let me know which one to go with or post your user review in the comments below. Of course, it might be better to say something like “Site of UAWs’ Sit-Down Strike 1936-1937” or ”looks like a good location to build a public park”  I’ll leave that up to you. Whatever everyone likes, I’ll post on Google Maps next weekend.   

Zone 5b (-15 to -10 Fahrenheit)

 



Pumpkins, native to the Americas and traditional stars of Fall festivities, always seemed to me a hearty cold weather plant. The truth is they warm plants like watermelons and tomatoes. As a warm season plant, pumpkins should go in the ground after the last frost of winter.  The trick is that you also need to avoid planting them late or you’ll end up with poor freezing unripe pumpkins at Halloween.
 
This would be a good time to inform you of anunfortunate fact in my life. Although I come from generation after generation of German Iowan farmers, I’m a plant killer. The one plant in my apartment, a little cactus named Roxey, just holds onto life in spite.  You name it and I’ve let it go unwatered for weeks in a terracotta pot. 

 
I think part of the problem is that I’m just not interested in house plants. I mean, what’s the point of an indoor fern? Pumpkins, on the other hand, I fawn over. I like to eat them. I like to carve them. I find them oddly beautiful and full of magic. For me, they are ancient beings who come into the world each Fall. They appear and let us know it is time to say goodbye to Summer’s grace.
 
It was with some hesitation that my neighbors and best of friends Kate and Mike invited me to plant a pumpkin patch near their cabin in upstate New York. As I have killed a few of Kate and Mike’s plants while house sitting as well as drowning every living thing in their backyard for good measure, I understood their concern. To all of our amazement, as the corn will not take and bugs munch on the tomatoes, a small patch of cooking pumpkins thrives in their garden. Each year, we cull a few seeds for planting  next spring.

Mailing DADA to Flint

It’s the end of January and this afternoon, for $17.27 from a Brooklyn shop, I sent the book off to Flint. Should be there Thursday. Next up, horseshoes and pumpkin seeds. 

National Correction

An awake reader on the Flint Public Art Project site noted that although I saw the DADA exhibition at MOMA and picked up the catalogue in NYC, the exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris, in collaboration with the The Museum of Modern Art, New York and the catalogue credit goes to the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

I’ve updated a few spots on this site from “MOMA” to “National Gallery of Art.” Although, I did briefly considered just leaving it MOMA DADA as it just sounds funnier. 

Flint Owl Letter

 




Here is the note I’m sending with the donation of the 2006  DADA exhibition catalogue.
 
Dear Kay Schwartz, Director of the Flint Public Library

So, this is the letter I will place in the box with the book next week and mail off to Flint. I hope to post some pictures of the box and of mailing it out. After that, I guess the work is in the hands of the city. 

On Dada and The Public Library of Flint

With the need for x10 to depart from somewhere, let’s start with #2
 
#2 Give the Flint Public Library a signed hardcover copy of National Gallery of Art’s 2006  DADA exhibition catalogue.
   


Let us start 161 years ago in America in what will become the city of Flint. On March 22, 1851 a group of women, concerned about the lack of cultural and educational opportunities in their community, met at the home of Maria Smith Stockton. As a result of the meeting, the group adopted a constitution written by Sophia Gotee Jenney that established the Ladies Library Association.



Let us now move the clock forward 65 years from that meeting in Flint and look over to Europe on the brink of WW1. In Switzerland we see the opening of the Cabaret Voltaire, the spiritual birthplace of the art movement DADA.

Cabaret Voltaire - Under this name a group of young artists and writers has been formed whose aim is to create a centre for artistic entertainment. The idea of the cabaret will be that guest artists will come and give musical performances and readings at the daily meetings. The young artists of Zurich, whatever their orientation, are invited to come along with suggestions and contributions of all kinds. -Zurich, February 2, 1916



 

Now, move forward in time again. Move 95 years later and West to America. In a small apartment in Brooklyn, New York in the Fall or 2011. I’m sitting at my laptop writing down 10 artworks that I would like to build in Flint. I want to start by sending a gift to Flint. This gift should be able to be held and brought home by anyone in the city. The gift can be a book. It should be  a ridiculously large book.

Move forward in time to now. Now for me is 5:51 pm on New Year’s Eve 2012. This will be the past for you. Looking up from laptop, I see my DADA exhibition catalogue.

Now backwards in time a few years and a few miles West to the Museum of Modern Art. I’m wondering around the DADA show. So much stuff. So much text. It’s hard for me to focus on anything but the fact I’m wandering around a museum. Works come in out of focus. I’m happy when I recognize an artwork without reading the text. I might be with my ex-girl friend. She loved to wander around museums with me. I can’t remember. I do remember covertly filming Duchamp’s optic disk. If I find the video buried on some old external hard drive, you will see it below. If not, it is also lost.