biomimi

I am utterly outraged by this highly offensive new building proposal by MVRDV to be built in Seoul, Korea.

They are a well known architecture firm from the Netherlands and I actually liked them because they do some fun buildings… I think there a tower rendering with a pig in the middle…supposedly there’s a farm in the middle of the building. Anyways.

So MVRDV claims that the cluster in the middle is a “cloud”.. yeah bullsh!t.

Maybe if they were actually from NYC they wouldn’t have dared to do this. If they had seen, like I’ve seen this very wall standing burnt to the ground. The very same wall I had stood behind as a kid. Or if they’d smelled the smell of burning corpses, metal, rubber, and paper. If they could see the store displays barely a thing out of place but dressed in gray ashes of the dead. Then they wouldn’t  have dared. I am disgusted to associate myself with architects right now. Disgusted. Thanks to all the negative media, hopefully the building won’t be built.

I do acknowledge that the architects apologized for the similarity, but they are not planning on editing the design. Maybe they knew it would be controversial (both offensive and optimistic as an attempt to use the cloud as recreation center) but I don’t think they expected some many people to be that offended and maybe they didn’t really understand the politics and emotions this stirs up. I still highly doubt they did not intensionally design that building to look like the twin towers in a cloud of smoke though.

So this past Saturday May 7th there was an open house at the Bowery Mission where you could have saw my 2 murals (this one and my Stain Glass Mural) in person. It was featured as part of the New Museum‘s Sustainable Cities theme during the Festival of Ideas. These murals are to an addition/promotion to their new green roof. Here’s an article on the event! http://inhabitat.com/nyc/photos-the-bowery-mission-inaugurates-its-rooftop-farm-during-the-festival-of-ideas/

Base coat

Stenciling the words

Finished Fruit and Veggy Mural

“Someone’s going to take a bite of that wall one day. They’re going to bite into that strawberry thinking it’s real.”

To be honest I don’t know how I got that strawberry to look so realistic. I wasn’t thinking really when painting it. It was sort of instinctive and the fastest I’ve ever painted anything this size. Only took 2 days.

Complete with Verse

I gave The Bowery the honor of picking what it would say below and they chose this appropriate and inspiration verse about overcoming hardship from Mark 4:8.

I want to especially thank Matt Krivich from the Bowery Mission for giving me this amazing opportunity. And I hope that The Bowery enjoy my little gift of art through the years!

I just finished my stain glass styled mural! The mural is painted at the Downtown NYC, Bowery Mission on their metal door at the top of the stairs leading out to the roof.

“When I first saw it, I looked up and thought the door was open and someone had already planted the garden on the roof.” -Peter from Bowery Mission.

…which was exactly my concept behind the mural and I was so happy to hear that several people were fooled, thinking it was open or that it was glass.

Click Here for the Stain Glass Mural- Progress entry.

Door before

Door After

My Concept/ First Impression coming up stairs..

Stain Glass Mural from bottom of stairs

If you wanted to see my brush strokes..

Stain Glass Mural Close Up of Top

Stain Glass Mural Close up of Bottom

Here’s a little teaser of the second mural I’m working on for the Bowery Mission.

Fruit and Veggy Mural Teaser

Click for finished Fruit and Veggy Mural

I’m not a fan of those cookie cutter houses we call McMansions… but this one literally is a Mcdonald’s Mansion. This old landmark mansion was converted into the world’s popular fast food chain. Located in New Hyde Park in Long Island, NY.

I can’t decide if this is a pitiful statement of our nation, or just plain amusing.

There’s your Big Mac ads and behind was where you place orders.

Grand staircase and entrance.

Circular glass Sun room/dining area. My favorite part.

That same Sunroom from outside.

Thanks. More strange architecture to come!

I want to talk about something that most New Yorkers face, something that I call the “New Yorker’s Dilemma.” I have spent 4 years of my college life fighting it and I must say I’m losing terribly. Many people deal with it their whole lives.. either (a) without knowing it (b) they have no choice (c) they can’t get out of this vicious cycle (d) all of the above <<that’s me!

Symptoms:

• fatigue
• addiction to work
• anxiety and stress
• lack of life
• ulcers
• panda eyes
• frustration
• loss of friends/social life
• depression
• loss of hair

If you are a victim or know one, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Art students,  business owners, architects, wall street employees, ivy league students, commuters. We work too hard and have no life! It’s the cost of working in a city like New York. Yes it’s the city of great opportunity, but too many people I know get sucked into it, trying to get to the top of the money ladder because it’s seemingly possible here. But that money goes to high rents or long commutes anyways.

Our choice: work hard > pay rent > work harder > pay more rent> work to death?

Then what? I’m frustrated and I don’t even make money yet! All of my friends and family work like this and so do I. All because I choose to be an overachiever and do the impossible.. 5 year double major with the two most intense and demanding programs in my school, Architecture and Environmental Studies… spending at least 18 hours a day on school work and on top of that running a non-profit. Great!.. why am I complaining? I realize this isn’t a happy healthy life for any of us, so I present the cure.

Cure:

…I wish I knew. Please, if you know, please leave it in the comment box. Thanks!

P.S. Had to change blog so you will need to resubscribe to my blog by clicking the little orange RSS icon. Sorry. Thanks!