Not Just for Refined Tastes

Roar! I know I often write about sweet art but this time the art isn't just sweet to look at but also to taste! Turns out Creativetime is presenting an amazing new sculpture series by Kara Walker that's housed in the old Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg! This will probably be the last chance I get to go inside the factory before it's razed and turned into condos so I decided to head on over to the Williamsburg waterfront to check it out! Roar! 

Roar! Here I am outside of the Domino Sugar Refinery. Look at this huge line of people waiting to see the Kara Walker Domino! Give me a break! Turns out the line moves really fast and it didn't take more than half an hour for me to get inside. That is also pretty sweet! Roar!

Oh Henry! Kara Walker has sculpted a giant sugar sphinx in the center of the refinery! The full title of the installation is "A Subtlety or the Marvelous Sugar Baby an Homage to the unpaid and overworked Artisans who have refined our Sweet tastes from the cane fields to the Kitchens of the New World on the Occasion of the demolition of the Domino Sugar Refining Plant."  Woah! That is one serious title, though I've got to say there really isn't anything subtle about this installation. Roar! 

This pictures bound to get a few Snickers.  What can I say? I like, this, art, and I can not lie... this is incredible! I feel like I've hit PayDay at the Domino refinery, not only do I get to see this amazing art but I also get to check out the factory I've long admired from the Williamsburg bridge! Roar! 

There are a ton of other smaller sculptures through out the refinery. Everything is made of sugar and it's melting the whole time the show is up. I hope as this guy's arm melts he doesn't get butterfingers and drop what he's carrying! Roar! 

Here are a bunch of photos of the decaying interior of the refinery. Things are so decrepit in here, I can't help but think it's a long way from 5th Ave! Roar! 

There is also a bunch of old machinery in the refinery, this is, it's, it's a, you know... Whatchamacallit? Oh I forget! Roar! 

There is a lot of other stuff that's messed up in the refinery. Here you can see all the walls that have begun to Krackle. No wonder they are tearing this place down it would cost more than a 100 Grand to fix this place up! Roar! 

Here are a couple detail shots of some crumbling stairs and pipes and rotting insulation. Despite all of this decay it really is a great location to host an art installation. Kudos to Creativetime for organizing it. Roar!

Here you can see the sugar from the sculptures melting and dripping all over the floors. It certainly added to the ambiance of the place. I must say Kara Walker certainly hit a Grand Slam with this show! In an interview she said this was some of the most fun she's had making art and it shows in the work! Roar!

The looming Domino refinery will soon be no more. A Subtlety is a great piece of commentary on the dark aspects of the history of sugar and presents plenty of ideas that a person probably wouldn't think about when staring at this building while biking over the bridge. It's also a fitting send off to a building with it's own rich history that's become something of a Brooklyn icon. The show is up until July 6th so if you have time come down to the sugar refinery and Take 5 with some sweet art. Roar! 

My Summer Solstice Adventure: Morning

Roar! After breakfast I decided to ride north through Queens to see what I could find.

It had turned into a beautiful morning and I thought it would be nice to enjoy the day the way I used to back in the Victorian era. Luckily I was passing by Mt. Zion cemetery so I decided to take a nice stroll through the cemetery.

Back when the cemeteries were first established in the 19th century there was still a lot of open green space to enjoy. Since this was before public parks, people used to come to the cemeteries for picnics. However, unlike in the 19th century, things are now a bit more crowded. Roar!

Despite the lack of open space, all the rocks and English ivy growing everywhere were making a great habitat for some of my relatives!

Here I am relaxing on a bench in one of the few open areas left in Mt. Zion cemetery. Behind me you can see the Sanitation Department's waste processing center. It looks so ominous looming over the cemetery like that! Roar!

After my stroll through the cemetery I decided it might be fun to do some more of the key to city locations so I rode on over to Jackson Heights.

Roar! Here I am outside the office of New York City council member Daniel Dromm.

Turns out my key opens the display case with this flag in it. I wonder what will be behind the flag?

Why, it looks like a bunch of people have been leaving messages here! Maybe I'll put up a sticker... Roar! Get along little doggy, Sheriff T-Rex is town! 

Next, I rode east until I hit the river and one of my favorite parks in the city...

Roar! I just love the Socrates Sculpture Park. There are a bunch of new pieces on display since I was last here in the fall. This piece is called "Facade." One side is covered in beautiful images of nature and the other side with scenes of urban decay. If you ask me it all seems a bit heavy clawed.

Roar! I pushed this tree stump over only to find it had a bunch of tubes and wires for roots?! I wonder what these artists are going for? 

This was a cool piece where the boat and everything on it was found in Jamaica Bay. The sculpture was called "Deadhorse." It looks like this artist has a good sense of humor about what they are doing. Roar! 

Visiting the park was really fun. There are always so many great events happening. There was even going to be a concert later in the day. It was park of Make Music New York. Turns out there were concerts happening all over the city. Maybe I'll go and see one later in the day. 

Next, I headed up to northern Astoria to check out Build it Green, a really cool place that helps recycle more "unorthodox" material in order to held keep New York City my favorite color!

Wow! Look at some of the crazy stuff they have here. I could even start my very own Diner. I'll call it T-Rex's T-Ruck Stop! Maybe they'll even film a movie there! Roar!

Wow! I can even get my skin done here! Maybe I'll finally go for that bluer shade of green I was thinking about last solstice.

Woah! They even have this sweet, sweet mantle! It sure would be cool to have this in my place.

Check out this awesome sculpture! Maybe I should have brought Giraffe along with me today. She would have loved this! 

Yikes! There were even a number of creepy things at Build it Green like a bunch of coffins and even this weird mummified bear that used to be in the Smithsonian. I wonder how it ended up here? Roar!

It sure was a fun exploring Queens all morning. It's such a great borough and there is always so much to explore. I wonder what the Bronx will have to offer? Roar!

Columbus Day Art Adventure!

ROAR! Today I rode up to the PS1 MoMA gallery in Queens. It's really cool. The museum has lots of local artists on display and it's suggested donation unlike the MoMA in Manhattan. The PS1 is in a big old schoolhouse and it's really fun to wander around all the rooms. Unfortunately they were setting up new exhibits so there were only a few things to see.

They had this crazy indoor pool where you could see people hanging out below under the water. It was a neat trick! Here I am getting ready to go for a dip.

Now I am floating around under the water! Everybody was so surprised to see a T-Rex swimming around them.

Here I am hanging out on the railing. Sometimes it's cool to just chill under the water and take it all in.

Woah! Somebody lost a dollar in the pool! I tried to chase it down but it wasn't easy. T-Rex's aren't really made for swimming you know!

One other interesting exhibit in the museum was this room whose floor was completely covered in old records. It was really interesting to walk around and look at all the great music I was stomping on! Crush! Take that Bee Gees! Smash! Woah! Look out Bach, it's a T-Rex!

Next I headed over to the Socrates Sculpture Park in Astoria Queens. It another cool little place where they showcase lots of student sculpture work. Here I am standing on top of a crushed car. Haha, silly art student, he had to use a machine to crush this! I could have done it all by myself! ROAR!

Check out this giant sculpture of a bisected whale! It looks so yummy! I wish I could eat it. Cool art though. Reminds me of that whale that beached itself over in Oregon decades ago. That sure was a disaster! Go look it up. Roar!

Check it out I found the missing I and U lines! I think this is a pretty great art piece but I think maybe the artist should have included the "O" line in there between the "I" and the "U" if they're trying to make some sort of comment about the MTA.