sukkah city 2010

sukkah city was an invitation to reimagine the sukkah – a temporary structure created for use for one week during the jewish festival of sukkot, as a symbol of the transience of life and dependence on god, and to foster a reconnection with nature. the international competition received 600 entries from 43 countries; a jury of 14 designers selected 12 works as finalists. those pieces lived temporarily, appropriately, in union square for 2 days, on september 19-20. a "people's choice" winner will remain in the square through october 2.

from an architectural standpoint, this presented an interesting design challenge, both conceptually and formally, with its strict parameters regarding size (it must enclose a minimum square area of at least 7 x 7 square handbreadths), dimension (at least 3 walls, but the third doesn’t have to be complete; if it has only 2 complete walls “the third wall of at least 4 handbreadths" must be within at least 3 handbreadths of one the complete walls), materials (no bundles of straw for the roof, though individual sticks may be okay. the roof may also not be made of utensils or food). questions of orthodoxy apparently factored into the voting--at least for the people's choice competition-- just as heavily as the innovative design elements.

as public art it seemed to serve its function: to inspire engagement, calm, thoughtfulness, curiosity, crowds, education...and photography.

here are a few shots from monday afternoon:

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time/timeless by peter sagar (uk)...

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single thread...matter practice, brooklyn

an amazing 2000 lb spool of wire, woven around temporary bamboo "scaffolding" ...

a "single line" that meanders...

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log...kyle may and scott abrahams

an 18-foot cedar log, as the sukkah "roof"

laminated glass offer a view of "the heavens"

(and each other)

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repetition meets difference...matthias karch (berlin, germany)

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blo puff...bittertang, brooklyn

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sukkah of the signs...ronald rael and virginia san fratello (oakland, ca)

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gathering...dale suttle, so sugita, and ginna nguyen (ny, ny)

all photos © anita aguilar

(almost) everyone loves a parade

i don't love a parade. the noise, the over-crowding, the potential for mayhem... i think it's nice that people can muster such verve for them. i just want to be left out of it.

but my neighborhood, on sundays in the summertime, lies directly in the path of a number of national pride parades--which means several midtown streets that intersect madison and fifth avenues are closed, even to pedestrian traffic. it's annoying to be forced 6 blocks and 2 avenues out of your way when you're really only block away from home. you learn to avoid that part of town all together.

on some occasions, like yesterday, my block serves as the staging area. luckily, i live in a rear-facing apartment--shut the windows, shut out the street noise.

but once you leave the building, you get a load of this:

i sort of love this guy, hangin out on the float in his ecko tee. i think his party started the night before.

see the corn cob sideburns?

normally, this kind of scene makes me want to run-lola-run. but something about the mexican day parade--the energy of the music and dance and the people, the wild costumes--kept me around for a while. i even started to like it a little...

the kids were my favorite subjects--they were utterly bewildered. what's going on? am i having fun? do i have to dance?

with a little encouragement, they followed along.

eventually they smiled, even for me.

actually, i received a lot of smiles that day, mostly shy, all warm.

hope you like the photos.

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even the pineapples were dolled up

and: even tough guys like self-portraits

there was definitely a strong trend toward mixing the jerseys with the traditional costumes. though, these guys were straight up dodgers and cowboys.

i waited for this smile. worth it.

love her face

it really does get to be a bit much...this might be my favorite shot.

all photos © anita aguilar

are you game?

we are...

zovig, brittany, teresa, me at women's health magazine's are you game? event

pier 46, nyc

in the face!

the defensive stop

good morning...

in the parking lot

hudson, ny. aug 21, 2010

photo @ anita aguilar

have a happy weekend...

who knows, who cares

this week at work we were charged with producing a video--nothing cinematic, just a straightforward promotional piece, a recruiting tool. in essence a highly animated powerpoint presentation. but it was sort of fun to pull together.

the client mentioned that music would be key--cool, popular music, something to liven the thing up.

the 4 of us producers were asked to come up with suggestions. whoa. do i tell them that the most played song on my itunes for august was a little pop ballad from the summer of 1980 by teri desario and kc, of kc and the sunshine band? (long story.) and that, just as inexplicably, foster the people's "pumped up kicks" was running a close second? a couple of them tossed out names of bands i'd never listened to more than once (the bravery, fleet foxes...i can't even remember). i wanted to tell them, what i like isn't gonna work for you (which is mostly true) and just leave them to debate what was cool/not. but then i thought... maybe this was going to be part of my job--to listen to new music. that's not so bad, right? so i did it. it proved impossible during the day, with other work that required full-focus. but i spent a few hours late at night playing pandora, i-like-ing, hitting the lastfm. and what did i wind up giving them?

this yo la tengo tune.



seems wrong doesn't it? too subdued? seductive? maybe i shouldn't have been listening so late at night. but i thought with a good edit, they could make a very nice 2 minute soundtrack...

the thing is, yo la tengo, is a name i'm familiar and that's about it. but i went to an art exhibit at the MAD museum last year and came to admire the work of dario robleto who created the artwork for their last cd, which got me interested enough to borrow a cd or two from my hometown library. but once i "borrowed" the music, i forgot about it. never really listened to it until a couple of weeks ago, when it shuffled into my ears. i liked it.

that "gentle hour "was new to me (though probably no one else in the universe), felt like a little victory. but i didn't really find anything else new to love. maybe i was just all new-tuned out? so i gave them my usuals: a couple of feelies tracks (i could at least bet that no one would offer them up), variations on m ward/monsters of folk....

i figured the client would go with something super-pop or a production track, anyway. (and they did--a phoenix tune from last year) but it wasn't a bad exercise, as work goes.

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it reminded me though that i forgot to post the very last video from the local natives concert. they count as new, yes?

i don't know who is throwing who off tune here. it's pretty bad for the first minute or two, but in a way that makes me laugh really hard. i think its "us" ruining them. and maybe the trumpeter was still trying to find the right tune...

but this is my favorite song of theirs, the one i wanted to hear most of all. the first time i really heard it, i had that heart surge, that full, swell feeling. i was pretty sure that if i ever heard it live, i'd tear up.

that didn't actually happen, but i was especially happy and smiley during this one. and, as you see, battling pork-pie hat guy. but even he couldn't ruin the ending for me.

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maximum favorite writer does this thing from time to time, where he sort of empties his notebook. i love it--it basically means you get a peek into all the seemingly small things he observes. but when he pulls them all together, all the snapshots and moments become big and wonderful and you feel like you've taken a little adventure yourself. i sort of wish i could do that here. i'd tell you that they played one full cd from george harrison's "all things must pass" -- and it washed away any strange feelings about being there (alone, with all the really, really young kids). and then they segued right into "i would die for you," which i got really into, until it became clear that the awful, drunk kid in front of me loved that song, too. thank goodness the band came out and saved me from further torment...there are probably assorted moments like that that would be nice to share. but i can't do what he does. which is why i try to take pictures.

look at the kids...

i barely got this, and it's not great, so dark i had to do an exposure adjustment, and the really high ISO shows the grain (which i'm not opposed to). i just wanted to remember the moment, how these two gals squealed and clapped and danced when the roadie gave them the set list.

and on the 9th day...

i had an idea to mark the occasion of my first day at my new job with a photo of the "new" neighborhood. but i fussed a little too long over what to wear, and a quick snapshot was all i had time for. disappointing. i liked the lines in this shot. (meanwhile, a jam, a half-closed street and an ambulance seemed, for a second, a bit ominous...)


but it also seemed on review, an unremarkable photo. i probably wouldn't have posted it here, except a little more than a week later, you can see this small swath of 17th street has been transformed, as part of our transportation commissioner's livable streets program.

free line skaters

the pedestrian and bike paths and a handful of tables and chairs leave only a slim lane for traffic on 17th, and north on broadway...

not that i would sit here (the prospect of a cab sidling up to my elbow as i sip my coffee doesn't appeal) but it does change the energy of the block. people seem bolder, weaving in and out (on foot, on bikes, on skates) which may not be so wise. but they all seem happier with these small touches (well, maybe not the people in the cars and cabs).