Day 18

These are drawings based on quotes from J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye. I made them by the Duck Pond in the Southwest part of the park.

I'm still by the Duck Pond. This is a quote from John Irving, The Hotel New Hampshire.

And then I headed north, to the Turtle Pond in the middle of the park. This is a drawing based on a quote from Marueen  Howard, The Rags of Time. 

This belongs to one of my favorite quotes:
 
"I trained my binoculars on the foot soldiers above. (...) the tourists seemed puzzled or plain embarrassed by their bird's-eye view of us horsing around. What had they seen? A private moment, always lovers in the Park, though not often caught in an act of observation."

I moved on to West 86th Street's entrance to the park, where I created two drawings based on quotes from Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. 

I really love both quotes. Could be related to my fascination with archeology and mapping:

"Every time the beeps would get close together, I'd tell Grandma to shine the flashlight on the spot. Then I'd put on my gloves, take the hand shovel from my kit, and dig extremely gently."

"When I saw something, I used a paintbrush to get rid of the dirt, just like a real archeologist. (...) I put all the evidence in a bag and marked on a map where I found it." 

I ended the day up there, by the W 86th entrance. I ended with quotes from Claire Messus, The Emperor's Children. 

Both are great quotes, but I especially like the middle one:

"It's the perfect place for dad to spy on you from his study, you know. She squinted into the trees, pointed at the building looming over them from across the street."

Day 17

I'm making a drawing based on a quote from Paul Auster's Moon Palace. The location is by the Conservatory Water.

The two first ones comes from the same as above and they are made by the Conservatory Water. The one to the far right is based on a Jonathan Safran Foer quote from the novel Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. That one is made north of the Children Zoo. 

Day 15

Three drawings from Paul Auster, Moon Palace. I made them by the edge of a softball field, close to the Metro-politan Museum. 

Three drawings from Maureen Howard, A Lover's Almanac. The first and the last drawing was made south of the Reservoir. The middle one was made right by the Metropolitan Museum.

These two comes from Maureen Howard, The Rags of Time, and was made at the place that was once Seneca Village - where 82nd and 89th Street and 7th and 8th Avenue would now intersect. 

Same as above.

Day 14

A productive day in the park

All three comes from John Rechy's City of Night. I made them in, or around, the Ramble.

The one to the far right is based on one of my favorite quotes:

"Unexpectedly at night you may come upon scenes of crushed intimacy along the dark twisting lanes. In the eery mottled light of a distant lamp, a shadow lies on his stomach on the grasspatched ground, another straddles him: ignoring the danger of detection in the last moment of exiled excitement"

They all come from Paul Auster's Moon Palace. I made them close to 72nd Street on the West side of the park.

The one to the far left, as well as the one in the middle belongs to some of my favorite quotes:

"It took me a while to adjust, but once I accepted the idea of putting things into my mouth that had already touched the mouths of others, I found no end of nourishment around me."  

"I began giving funny names to the garbage cans. I called them cylindrical restaurants, pt-luck dinners, municipal care packages - anything that could deflect me from saying what they really were."

These comes from Jack Finney's Time and Again. I made them close to 72nd Street on the West side of the park.

 

Here's three drawings from Maureen Howard's The Rags of Time. The one in the middle were made on a bench on Strawberry Field, right by the IMAGINE piece. The other two were made in the Ramble.  

The one on the middle is one of my favorites as well:

"He came toward her, laughing. His front teeth broken, she would remember; all but one, the one capped with gold. He rapped his stick on stone.

What did you think I was goin' to do, girl?

I don't know. I don't know."

Day 12

It started raining ... or it came three drops of rain. Seems like I needed an excuse to take a break from the park. I only made one drawing. The quote is from J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye. Placed by the Lagoon, in the southern part of the park.

Day 11

From left to right: Paul Auster, Moon Palace. Claire Messud, The Emperor's Children. Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. All three is made in the south part of the park.  

Day 10

Left to right: Two quotes from Paul Auster, City of Glass (at the northeast corner of the Reservoir). One quote from Maureen Howard, The Rags of Time (up on the Great Hill by W 105th Street). 

The middle one is one of my favorite quotes:

"There was an oak tree not far from where he stood, and Quinn went for it now, staggering in the way a drunk gropes for his bed after an all-night binge."

Day 9

Spent the day around The Ramble and the Lake.

Left to right: John Rechy, "City of Night". Maureen Howard, "The Rags of Time".

Both are from Robert Smithson, "Frederick Law Olmsted and the Dialectical Writing".

Both are from Robert Smithson, "Frederick Law Olmsted and the Dialectical Writing".

Day 7

From left to right: Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Southeast corner of Reservoir). John Irving, The Hotel New Hampshire (Between Reservoir and Tennis Courts).

From left to right: Maureen Howard, A Lover's Almanac (Between Reservoir and Tennis Courts). Paul Auster, Moon Palace (Southeast corner of Reservoir).

These two belong to some of my favorite quotes:

"These are known as exhaustive events, Lou. One must occur, has occurred. Both may occur. Exhaustive events cover all possibilities. So that's where we must be, Sweetheart, on the island of overlap in the beauty of inter-section."   

"One morning, an old man sat down beside me on a bench, stuck out his hand, and introduced himself as Frank. 'You may call me Bob if you want to', he said, 'I'm not fussy. Just as long as you don't call me Bill, we'll get along fine."  

Day 5

From left to right, top to bottom: All quotes comes from Jack Finney's Time and Again. I placed the first one by the big outcropping of black rocks in southwest Central Park. The second one was places on a bench on West Drive and I placed the last one were West Drive intersects with 72nd Street.

I extracted this quote from Paul Auster's Moon Palace. It's made on a rock were West Drive intersects with 72nd Street.

Here's documentations of the drawings I left in the park before I started this blog.

 

Left to right, top to bottom:These four are all from Dylan Landis novel Normal People Don't Live Like This. I made them sitting on a bench overlooking the Bethesda Terrace. 

The top one to the right is one of my favorite quotes:

"The man with his knee between her legs and the heels of his palms bearing into her wrists says, 'Jesus God, Rainey.' He says, 'I want toe eat your hair.' It is a lie that he actually eats her hair, but it is true that he chews on it for a while."

Left to right: Jack Finney Time and Again. I was sitting on the rocks in Southwest Central Park. Maureen Howard The Rags of Time. I sat in the grass overlooking the Bethesda Terrace. There will be more quotes and drawings from both Finney's and Maureen's novel. 

This blog might be part of an art project that takes place in Central Park in the summer of 2010. It all depends on the activity of this blog. During three June-weeks in New York, Central Park will partly become my studio. 

I've conducted lots of research before my departure from San Francisco - I've been reading novels. Through great recommendations I've now collected quotes from 12 different novels, all quotes from Central Park. On a map I've later marked all the different spots that the quotes refer to. The next step is to visit them all and make drawings. Each drawing will carry the quote from a novel. Each novel is connected to a unique outlined drawing and I will fold the drawing into different geometrical shapes based on what novel the quote is extracted from. By the use of a transfer paper there will be one original drawing as well as a copy. The transferred copy might be the only reason for anyone to ever come across this blog. That's the drawing I left behind in the park.

Tomorrow will be the first day I'll leave a drawing behind with the address to this blog. My guess is that some of my drawings will end up in the trashcan, but some might find its way to curious observers. You can always revisit this site if a specific drawing, and its belonging information, hasn't been published. That might just mean I haven't gotten back from the park. And if you do come across one of my drawings, please feel free to leave a comment.