Bucky

Yesterday was a very productive day. I spent the morning sending out emails to potential fiscal sponsors. Looking for a non profit organization to umbrella this project is priority. Traffic to the website is being tracked now and in one day I got 182 hits. It's unfortunate that my initial umbrella organization backed out because now people are visiting the site and cant donate easily because i removed the paypal buttons because paypal has frozen my account until I can update and add a bank account to it. I cant do that until I get fiscal sponsorship. So in the meantime, if people want to donate to this project they have to send a personal check to me or they could send a check made out to the place where I will buy the conduit pipe. It's called Industrial Electric Wholesale.

We will be needing money to purchase our second batch of conduit pipe next week, so please do send money....
you can mail it to
Domes For Haiti c/o 3rd Ward
195 Morgan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11237

Apparently, though, you can send cash in the mail! I just got a hundred bucks from my ex boyfriend Chris Grill who lives in upstate NY but is from Wales. He sent a sweet note along with it. Thanks Chris!!!!!!!!!!

Email me and I'll tell you who to make the check out to: info@domesforhaiti.org

I know it discourages people from donating, but that's the best I can do right now. Those of you who have already donated, thank you and paypal is holding the money. I am going to contact you each individually when I get my new bank account set up and I will have to refund your money and then I will give you the option of re-donating it via google chrome to my new account. I know it sounds complicated but really it's just a speed bump aka sleeping policeman.

I've received a few responses from my emails seeking sponsorship so far, but only one seems promising. A large well known organization has asked me to come into their office for a meeting tomorrow to discuss fiscal sponsorship. I am not going to announce who they are until I know it's a definite.

So, yesterday. I drove Ben Wolf's truck over to the Brooklyn Navy yard.
He and Callie are traveling.. having use of this truck is making things so much easier!! I couldn't have carried all that stuff on my xtracycle.
THANK YOU!

Brooklyn Nayy yard is an urban decay junkie's wet dream

There are so many decrepit buildings over there and intriguing piles of debris, one could spend hours just wandering around and looking into dumpsters and behind fences. I was there to pick up vinyl, though. So I drove over to building 292 and met Disco from Scenic Corps. He directed me to the huge pile of vinyl they were giving to me.

Their shop is pretty huge, with bays on both sides of the building full of tools and men working. Because we were men and we built things. Sorry, that's a stupid quote from a comedian named Rob Shapiro. It was worthy of note that I saw no women building things in that shop.

So I loaded up Rhonda with the vinyl and strapped it on.

and drove over to Bushwick Project for the Arts....

The guys there helped me unload all the vinyl and we stashed it in the back with my cache of supplies. This is what the space looks like in there. Lot's of room to build a dome. Now with the donation from Scenic Corp to add to the one from MTV, I believe we may have enough vinyl to build all ten domes. Not sure, I'd have to lay it all out and measure it to see, and the time it would take to do that is not very wisely spent. I'd rather just take note when I am running out of the stuff and then go get more when it's needed. I am not at all worried about having enough vinyl. The shit is plentiful and there is always my dykes and a good climb up the side of a billboard.
Later Zach came over to my house and we ate cous cous with kale aka hippy food. Then we went over to the metal shop in Greenpoint and this time we set up a much better jig system to have consistency in the length of the flattened ends of the struts. The system was not great, it was totally ghetto because it was all built on top of a very rickety step unit and required me to stand on it to ground it out so it didn't shift every time the press came down on a pipe. That meant that Zach did all the pumping while I stood on the unit. I felt like I was a puppeteer in a puppet theater.

Zach was very active. He reminds me of the muppets.

We were both on a time crunch so we powered it out, it took approximately an hour and a half.
So far, it's been approx 7 hours of two people's labor from the buying of the conduit pipe to the present state which is without holes and not bent at the proper angle yet. Zach just told me that our other friend Orien said to him "we have a pnuemonic press at this shop, why didn't you just bring it over here?" They are building pontoon boats with motorcycles on top of them for the next phase of the swimming cities project called Oceans of Blood.
So, apparently, next week when we buy the next batch of conduit pipe with your contribution (thanks in advance, you are so generous) we will be slamming out the ends of the pipes in half the time. fantastico
We managed to achieve a really nice, clean pressed state, with consistency and a curved edge. Next they need to be smoothed on the edges and then we need to make two jigs for the different sized struts to be drilled with 3/8 " holes on both ends.

Love those struts.

Later, I decided to go to Paige's house of collections for a birthday party for Anne. I love going over there, it's like a trip to a house of curiosity with treats and interesting people to talk with. I have been noticing that my total obsession with this project is altering my mind and my perceptions about art in general and it's usefulness within a world which is heading for the tubes if things don't drastically change. I was thinking about Domes for Haiti or Domes for Sri Lanka or Domes for Brooklyn. If an earthquake hit Brooklyn alot of people would need insta shelter. I know I am going to keep one on my roof right next to my canoe, just in case. Flood, earthquake, hurricane, airplane, who knows.

Anyway, I am finding that time spent socializing is just as productive as time spent bending pipe ends. At Paige's I met a woman who just got back from Haiti and made a film about it. It's called Poto Mitan. In fact, when I was at the Women's Summit for global activism the other day, one of the trailers I watched in the lobby of the event was hers. Talk about synchronicity. I love when that happens. She speaks creole and just got back from Haiti. She has been there 6 times. Has some Haitian friends here in Brooklyn who are looking for a project to work on. I think it would be amazing if we all collaborated on making this thing happen. I really need a team of people to co-ordinate all of the volunteers and I think it's important for the team to have a couple Haitian people on it to legitimize it more and work with solidarity instead of an imperialistic viewpoint.

I am also looking at the design of the covers and how to incorporate certain things into the design. I am really excited to make these dome covers. I used to support myself by being a hat maker/designer years ago and a dome is very much like a hat. A hat with windows and an insert for a stove pipe holder. A stove pipe hat? That would be cool. With smoke.
I need mosquito netting. Lots of it. So how am I going to get this for free? Any ideas??

I keep getting these emails back from potential sponsors, directors of arts organizations saying something like "I love your project but I dont really see how this relates to art" I thought you might like to read a response to that I just sent out:
I replied:
Yes, I understand your concern. However I do feel it fits well within the realm of an arts organization because all of the people volunteering their time, skills and tools on this project are artists. It's an example of how an artistic community can pool their resources and create models for disaster relief. Also, the finished dome covers will be art in that they are composed of recycled banners and billboards featuring images from pop culture and advertising native to our culture. The finished covers will be like a 3D inverted canvas with the images inside. The audience for this collage are the inhabitants of the domes. A dada-esque collage of pop culture being sent to house people who have no shelter. Who says art has to be solely for viewing purposes? This art is functional. It is art as activism, art as community and art as disaster relief.


Later. Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment.

a really good sunday

Fao le bello
Make a beautiful thing.

I had a great sunday, got called into work last minute, which was fine with me. Went and had a great time with the guys at work as per usual.

Later I got a little morose riding home through mid town gazing at all the vapid billboards advertising sweaty looking models humping each other on sandy beaches. I was sorely tempted to scale the side of one or two of them and rip them down to make domes out of them. I found myself actually studying the backs of them to see how exactly they are attached. They look quite easy to take down, nothing that a nice pair of dykes couldn't handle.

I went to a sending off party for my friends and it was sweet. The thing about community is everyone eggs each other on, you yak with your friends about projects and people give you ideas, people help you clarify your goals and ideas by just listening to you. People make connections for you to other organizations that are doing similar things. Its a beautiful thing. I love my community even the douchebags that are laughing that Lopi wants to send every thing to Haiti.
It's true. I do. I am making fun of myself for the same thing. At work today there was a ginormous sheet of plastic on the stage. I wanted to send that to Haiti as well. And some bicycles and some bike powered generators and some good old fashioned DIY freaks too.

Thing is the more deep I get into this thing, the more I feel nonplussed about the art world. More about that later. I have to go email Sean Penn.

peace out, mulch love you douches

weekend

It was a long week, very productive and busy. it had some highlights and some disappointments.

I borrowed a truck from my friend Callie and went uptown with David to the MTV studios to pick up the vinyl. My friend Janna met us there.

David and her got along really well. ...










They decided to take up residence in a large cardboard box on 44th Street but it wasn't big enough for the two of them....

The guys in the MTV studios were so generous with me, especially George, he made sure I got a bunch of banners that would have ended up in the garbage otherwise. I tried to take a picture of the guys but they all ran away like little shy girls when I pulled out my camera. So I took a picture of the graphics on the walls in the hallway instead






Later that night, my friend Elizabeth drove me to pick up a couple of heat welding machines for vinyl from my old work mate Mitch who was working a late night gig at the Natural History Museum. We decided to go incognito:

The next day I carried the two heat welders over to Bushwick Project for the Arts on my xtracycle, but I forgot to take a photo of that or of the welders themselves, but they really do exist, I swear! I now have a stash of supplies over there to begin the cover construction. That night I picked up the cut conduit pipes with Callie's truck and brought it over to Zach's metal shop in Greenpoint and we started pressing the ends of the stuff with this hydraulic press they have over there. Here is a photo of the press:


















and one of Zach hard at work with the pumping of the press

We both came to the realization that it is kind of insane to try to make all the domes by hand like this, I mean it took us two hours just to do half of them and as it was it was really difficult to get them consistent. Then I had this idea that I should approach a technical high school with the project and ask them if they would want to have their students do it for credit.
That would be an amazing project for a group of kids, they could learn about sustainability, recycling, metal working, humanitarianism and good work ethics. I am going to follow this train.


All during the week I have been having trouble sorting out the bureaucratic aspect of the project. Paypal has given me all kinds of hoops to jump through, each one creating new ones nestled inside of them kind of like those Russian dolls you see sometimes, one within another within another, seemingly endless and sort of sinister in the right light.

Today I went to work at the Hudson Theater and when I arrived there I discovered that there is a Women's Summit on Global Activism there all weekend. That was kind of amazing to me and totally inspiring and frustrating at the same time. I think there was alot of people there who would love this project and who have the money to support it, but how to connect to them???

I was working in the lobby, focusing lights when I looked down and saw a giant roll of vinyl on the floor. It looked like gold to me. I was like HOLY SHIT! That could make ALOT OF DOMES!!
Actually, now that I am remembering this I remember also before I even arrived at the theater today walking through Times Square and gazing up at all the billboards and my head spinning with the imagining of people being housed within a crazy collage of them. Of course, the collage would be on the inside of the domes because I would put the white part on the outside to serve as more of a heat reflector.

So I approached the scenic dude and told him about my project and he was very receptive to it and said he'd give me as much vinyl as he could if I came back on Sunday for the strike. (strike in theater lingo is the de-install of a show) The name of his company is Scenicorps and they are based out of Brooklyn Navy Yard. Y'all should support them, they are awesome.

At the event today I learned that the founder of one of the organizations I want to send a dome to in Haiti, Magalie Marcelin, died in the earthquake on January 12th. It's a shelter for battered women called Kay Fanm.
http://www.truthout.org/magalie-marcelins-death-haiti-a-loss-whole-nation56993
I was watching the video in the lobby and crying, knowing I would never get to meet this wonderful sister activist. What a loss.

I was totally engrossed in the performance of the play called "Seven" which featured some very fine acting from Meryl Streep, Marcia Gay Harden, Shohreh Aghdasloo, Lauren Velez, Archie Panjabi, Stephanie Okereke and Julyana Soelistyo. I was especially moved by the piece read by Archie Panjabi about a real life woman named Mukhtar Mai, a Pakistani who was illiterate when she was raped by 4 men and then she took them to court and won. She took her settlement money and started a school to teach girls how to read. It was an incredible story as were all the other ones, but hers in particular really hit me in the heart.

This weekend I am going to be taking it easy, doing some research into finding a technical high school who wants to take on this project. The idea of having high school kids build domes for orphanages in Haiti is one I am very excited about.

I am also hard at work at home trying to find a non profit umbrella organization to help us out.
Doing things DIY is great and all, but sometimes we artists need legitimacy that other people have already. What I really love about this project is how its all about networking within a community of creative people and collaborating and pooling resources. Someone over here has a drill press, someone over there has a heat welder, someone over there has a truck,.... we all lend a hand and the result is larger than any one person

As with most things I have done in my life, this project is evolving as I go. If I were to have it all figured out before I began, I would never have began because the figuring happens as you do the thing. So I took the first step and then some obstacles appeared, so I dealt with those obstacles and took the second step and so on. One thing is clear to me and that is that my commitment to achieve the goal is 100%. I will do everything it takes. I will adapt to any obstacle thrown my way and become stronger for the adaptation.

tuesday

Today was another spectacular weather day. I rode over to Manhattan on my bike to open a bank account for Domes for Haiti.

I went back to Brooklyn and brought the vinyl I have over to the Bushwick Project for the Arts. They are good folks over there, willing to allow me full access to their space to work in. I measured out another pentagon to use as a pattern for more, and then realized I dont have enough vinyl yet to complete one cover. MTV is supposed to be giving me a large amount of it on the 15th, but in the meantime, I need more!

So tomorro I will get on the phone to some scenic companies to see if I can find another source. I will also be going tomorrow evening in Clyde, Elizabeth's truck, to pick up two heat welders from Mitch on 75th st. Yes, Elizabeth's truck's name is Clyde.

Tonight a new volunteer, our first off of craigslist turned up and turned out to be a total gem. Jim and I cut up the first batch of conduit pipe to size and ground down the ends to make them pretty.

Next step is taking them to Zach's shop in Greenpoint to smoosh the ends in his hydraulic press. I am having a challenging time finding access to trucks. I am thinking I could probably carry that shit on my xtracycle. I mean, my bike can carry 500 lbs, right? So what's 100 lbs of conduit pipe? con do it= can do it, afterall.

I had an offer today to be the subject of an MTV reality tv show. I asked the producer, "how much does it pay?" and she said, oh we dont pay, but it's great exposure. I wonder if this nice woman is also working for the exposure? How does one pay the rent on exposure?

peace out, thanks for reading.

moonday

A good day today, the weather has been amazing. I had a few days of recuperation after a minor surgery. I am almost back at 100%.

I started cutting out the vinyl for the first prototype dome. I will be cutting more tonight. I hope to receive the heat welder soon from Mitch.

build this week.....

We are getting ready to start building this week. If you want to volunteer a few hours in the metal shop at third ward please let me know. Email me at info@domesforhaiti.org.

I've got the key for the Bushwick Project for the Arts. Will go check it out Monday or Tuesday to set up the workspace for the covers.

Still looking for funding to buy the conduit pipes needed. $250 per dome.

If I can't get enough funding, I will be using reclaimed conduit pipe from the yard next to the Ferry boat. That pipe is only 3/4 inch though and it's not as strong as the 1" pipe. Also exploring the possibility of using old scaffolding from the same place. It would be alot more work to carry those heavy scaffolds over from across the street to third ward, but it's a potential free source.

I'm a little distressed by certain companies who seem to be using the disaster in Haiti to bolster their sales. Wonder what people's opinions are about getting paid to do disaster relief. Shouldn't it be volunteer work so that any moneys donated go directly to supplies to help the survivors rebuild?

The guy at the electrical supply place said he has two generators that he wants to send to Haiti. I have to remember to go by there and talk to him, see if we can ear mark them for the orphanages.

Spoke with Suncere today about sending the first dome to his project near port au prince. Sounds like he is doing some good work for kids....
http://www.move4haiti.org/

That's all for now, I had a little pause in work on this project because I am recovering from a surgery I had yesterday, but should be back on track by Monday.
Thanks for reading, please feel free to comment

It is in my personality that sometimes when people tell me what I am attempting to do "cant be done" It creates more motivation in me to make it happen to prove that person wrong. It's called reverse psychology, hello.
Thank you to everyone who is using straight up encouragement and support. Thank you to those of you who are telling me this cant be done.
All of you are making me more determined then ever to do this thing.

I may have to resort to Robin Hood tactics.