Sewer Art

Sometimes when you're walking around the East Village, you see things and you think: I wonder how that happened?!

This sewer grate, at the corner of First Avenue and East 6th Street, is one of those things.

One of those things.

To the untrained eye, it looks like two separate spillages, but if you pay close attention you will see that both the puke and the paint are the same distance from the top corners of the sewer grate, and cover the same area.

This is an art project if ever there was one!

#eastvillage #sewergrates #artproject #firstavenue #6thstreet

Dumpster Liners

In an effort to keep dumpsters clean and free of unsightly scratches, some dumpster owners have taken to putting liners inside their dumpsters.

Behold, on St. Mark's Place, a mere two weeks ago:

Clean and tidy.

I can just imagine some East Villager coming out with a hose and filling that dumpster with water and making a makeshift swimming pool — it would like an art project!

#eastvillage #artproject #dumpsters #dumpsterliners #stmarksplace

Wreath & Can

You have probably noticed, while walking around the East Village, trash cans on the street corners.

Oh, they're fine for filling to over-capacity with things like empty coffee cups and plastic bags of dog doo-doo, but what about larger refuse, like… Christmas wreaths?

You can see what I'm talking about here, on Avenue C and East 5th Street:

Inadequate to the task.

What if… it's an art project?

East Villagers are amazing.

#eastvillage #5thstreet #artprojects #avenuec #christmaswreaths #trashcans

Bed Frame Tree Guard

Tree guards in the East Village are a never-ending source of wonder.

Here is one I was wondering about, that I saw on First Avenue a couple of weeks ago:

Add caption

My guess is that some artist got rid of their kid's bed frame, and made an art project out of it — what's up with all that litter, though?!

#eastvillage #firstavenue #treeguards #litter #artproject

Three, Three, & Three

I was walking across St. Mark's Place this past Saturday, when I saw these pay phones, across the street from the beloved Gem Spa:

Pay phones.

Three pay phones, three abandoned cups perched on top of them, and three dangling receivers — it's a work of art!

You just can't make this stuff up.

#eastvillage #payphones #stmarksplace #gemspa #artproject

Hypnotoad on East 2nd Street

I first wrote about this place back when East Village Today was new — today you might say it was East Village Then!

Well, I was walking across East 2nd Street recently, when I saw that the riot gates of this beloved place had changed again:

Riot gates changed.

Wait a second… what's that I see?

Hypnotoad.

East Villagers love Hypnotoad!



#eastvillage #2ndstreet #hypnotoad #awnings #artproject #riotgates

The Chairs

I'm not sure what to make of this line of chairs I saw the other day, when walking down East 3rd Street:

A line of chairs.

The sidewalk is cleared, and they are all on the snow. Two are facing away from the sculpture garden, and one faces in. Two are together, and one is separated. They are designed for sitting on, and no one is sitting.

Life imitates art… in the East Village Today!

#eastvillage #3rdstreet #artproject #snow

Return of the 7th Street Art Project / Big Mess Thing

A couple of months ago, I was writing about an art project/big mess on East 7th Street. Eventually, the mess was cleaned up (although there's still orange paint on the sidewalk in front of the building). Not much happened for since then.

Tonight, I found myself there again, and what did I behold but what is no doubt the beginning of a new art project/mess!

A new mess, coming your way!

I can't wait to see what this will become! No doubt it's already there! I have to go this way again tonight.

Remember, you saw this report first here, on East Village Today!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #art

Plant Peace Trees

As soon as one art project ends, another begins!

There's always something cool going on here. I've taken many pictures of this awning frame, and the one to the right of it.

Two Boots Hanging From Awning Frame art project

Welcome to the Steam Powered Hour Underground Hoedown. I'm not sure what that means, but it sounds 19th-century and Southern.

Of course, no post would be complete without a picture of an open door!

There was sound coming from behind the curtain. "Pay no attention to… something."

Big Mess, September 6

It looks like the days of the Big Mess Art Project are over.

Remnants of the Big Mess Art Project on East 7th Street.

I passed by today, and everything is gone but the mess on the sidewalk.

Who knows where the next art project will appear? Stay tuned to East Village Today to find out!

Autumn on the Roof of New York

I didn't make it over to 7th Street today — I was out of town. Did anyone make it over there? Did the woman in the shorts finish her project, as she said she would?

Here is a photo completely unrelated to anything:

It's sort of in the East Village, on the western-most fringe. It's already Fall on top of that building.

Big Mess August 30

So, I'm going to just put the date at the end of "Big Mess" for these, until I stop doing them.

Yesterday,  I reported that the woman here said today she would be finished. Maybe I passed by too early — I don't think this is finished yet.

This Is Not An Art Project

Or maybe it is.

Big Mess Update Again

I made it a point to walk by the Art Project/Mess this evening. The scene has changed:

The chair is still there, but the rest of the stuff from previous days is gone.

A group of people stood looking at it:

The woman said "It will be finished tomorrow."

The orange, barbed-wire-looking stuff is construction fencing, the sort that holds other materials in place. It's probably not a good idea to cut it up and string it over a chair.

I guess it doesn't need to be said that I'm going to keep an eye on this site, now that I found it!

Some Kind of Mess - Update

Yes, the letters spelled ALMOST:

Some Kind of Mess or Art Project or Something

I was walking around tonight, when I came upon this, on East 7th Street:

The letters behind the square thing appear to spell ALMOST.

There was a black chair to the right of this, with black paint or something in it. Maybe tar. You can see some of it on the rug. If I remember correctly, there was a lamp or something above the chair with this black stuff dripping very slowly, like pitch, downward. A man was photographing it, and I think he described it as "demented". The chair didn't interest me though, so I didn't take a picture of it.

Personally, I think it's a mess. Probably the superintendent of the building will think so too.