Back in San Francisco

First I redrew all drawings I made in Central Park on a thicker paper. After that I 
cut them all out and folded them, exactly the way way I folded them in the park.

Then I started building a model of Central Park. The big 
streets are what separates the 6 different podiums. 

After a month or so I was all done. This is the outcome.

The map in the background.


Parts of the project will be exhibited at the North South 
Gallery in Oakland September 29 - October 3 2010
 

Map of quotes

This is more or less the map I prepared before I arrived to New York. Many quotes refer to specific places in the park. Although some spoke of Central Park in a more general term. 

 

At the end of my New York visit, this map occurred in the Daily News. I just thought it was a funny coincidence. 

DAILY NEWS, Thursday, July 1, 2010.

Day 20

My last day in Central Park. I spent the whole day around the northern part of the Reservoir. By now I'm back in San Francisco and I need a sweater as well as a jacket when I go out in the evening. I love it! Although I enjoyed New York as well, but it was just too warm for me.

North of the Reservoir. Three quotes from Paul Auster, City of Glass (part of The New York Trilogy). 

The middle one has a great quote:

"No matter what he did now, he felt that he would always be too late. He could run for a hundred years, and still he would arrive just as the doors were closing."

These are all quotes written by Maureen Howard. The first and the second are extracted from A Lover's Almanac. I made them on a bench close to West 89th Street. The following four comes from The Rags of Time. They were all made between the Reservoir and the Tennis courts. 

Drawing number two, number five and six has great quotes:

"One day Artie sat on a park bench, a laundry bag with clean underwear for his grandfather - fragment of story - an old man who did not like servants in his house, the underwear stolen the instant Artie closed his eyes."

"Last night I told you of my slow progress round the track, the reflection of clouds skimming the water (...) Outwitted by an owl. I did not mention shortness of breath, my heart's marathon beat pumping for the booby prize."

"Our binoculars captured the Halloween mask of the owl's flat face. (...) Do you remember the old woman huffing and puffing her way round the track? You signaled her to stop?"

 

My last drawing, drawing number 72. Or, the last drawing I made was actually the final one in the Howard series - the one were I was drawing the shadows cast on the paper. This one was actually drawing number 70. The quote is extracted from John Irving, The Hotel New Hampshire. I made it between the Reservoir and the Tennis courts. 

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."