E M P T Y | V E S S E L | P R O J E C T | N E W S
EV is a World War II Navy Rescue boat. We saved her from demolition in the Bronx and brought her to Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal. By next year, she will become an Art and Design Center fostering projects focused on sustainable living in post-industrial urban landscapes. EV, herself, will be the first such project. We will begin by hosting work parties, movie nights, seminars, concerts, dinners, and workshops.
You are welcome to participate, suggest your own events, stop by and chat or offer insight. This missive is designed to serve as a guide for your participation. It will come out at the beginning of each week. If you have any suggestions for how this newsletter can be improved, contact
as@emptyvesselprojectREMOVEANTISPAMMEASURE.org.
This is issue number 10.
U P C O M I N G | C A L E N D A R
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1
Work Day
Projects could include: fixing the door to the captain’s cabin, sealing leak #2, buying and installing sliding door fittings that actually fit, fiberglassing around a window, and making the boat look nice.
12-6 p.m.
***at the boat
Also on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1
Pot Luck One Love Luck
Strong Drinks on a Slippery Slope
Mix Tapes Big Hugs
Twilights of Refreshment
Bring something to the boat to share (mix tapes, drinks, food, fabulous costumes...)
P.S. Paula is throwing herself a welcome home party, ya jerks!
7p.m. to 11 p.m.
***at the boat
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2
(Not an EV event but our friends’. We’ll be there)
The Madagascar Institute Presents: CARGO CULT
Being: The culmination of years of hard labor and brutal ritual, the final push that will get the runway done, the ancestors pleased, the planes back, and delivered to us the abundant cargo that we so, so deserve; featuring: merchant marines, brazen brass, exceedingly clever flying machines, cardboard communication, synchronized semaphore, lighthouses, ropework, Melanesia, control towers, morse code, dazzling displays of ritual dance, arbitrary and capricious blood letting, sacred Jello, red crosses, gigantic, gimpy John Frum, sea chanteys, and your helping hands when they are needed the most.
or:
an elaborate ruse for a tramway escape to a desolate island paradise.
Beware of swashbuckling pirates, unsympathetic Red Cross workers, and John Frum. If you follow the signs and complete the ritual, you will be amply rewarded for your faith.
Don your WWII flight suit (or similarly inspired attire), brush up on your semaphore signals . . . and chart a course for 14 Honey Locusts Park, at 59th St. betw. 1st Ave and 2nd Ave in Manhattan.
4:00 pm. You will be done at dark.
Watch for the arrival of the Vanuatu Air Fleet for your first clue.
Be late and you will miss it.
Bring libations, a Metro card and be prepared to walk.
Afterparty at the Carriage House, 59th St. Bet 2nd & 3rd Ave.
UPCOMING
Films, benefits, workshops, projects – write to us with ideas for projects, offers of space to host events, leads on financial help, etc.
S H I P ’ S L O G
This section contains updates on recent projects and status reports of on-going missions and explorations. Check here to find out the status of the webpage and what kind of heater we will ultimately install.
PROGRESS REPORT
The heating units are lined up and ready to go. There are lots of electrical outlets on the boat. There’s a picture of the interior of the boat on the website. And the toolboxes are organized. The boat looked beautiful on Thursday.
IMMINENT, PENDING, AND CONTINUING PROJECTS:
?? - means we could use a volunteer/some help — please get in touch!
Winterizing:
fixing remaining windowframes ??
Fiberglassing/painting/stripping exterior superstructure ??
laying/enclosing insulation/working on walls
bio-diesel furnace
Access:
ramp/dock/walkway from new entrance to boat
mural by swoon
Bilge:
finding and fixing small leak
Greening:
green waste management system??
solar power??
wind power??
green insulation??
bicycle/tidal power experiments?? (as workshop?)
Beautification/aesthetics and readying the boat for public use:
chopping and installing stairs - ?? welding
fixing doors - ??
strip and repaint interior and exterior - ??
sanding/refinishing floor - ??
repair of railing on roof
Tech:
web design for www.emptyvesselproject.org
wiki: log.emptyvesselproject.org
archiving
Fundraising:
design T-shirts ??
help plan/run/host an event - ??
have any rich uncles???
W I S H L I S T
ESPRESSO MACHINE WANTED FOR ONE DAY: Do you own one? Could we borrow it for October 22nd? (Rain day October 23rd). We’d like to have a one-day café, to coincide with the art we’re planning to host on the boat (see below), the Gowanus Oktoberfest, and the Gowanus Artists’ Open Studio Weekend.
OPEN CALL: We are open to additional proposals for projects to host on, in, and around EV for the Gowanus Open Studios weekend and the Gowanus Oktoberfest, October 22. We are most interested in projects that explore themes pertaining to sustainable living in urban landscapes. We would welcome green technology projects, utopian art/architecture/design, performance, and anything that explores the sticky place between theory and practice. We are interested in playful ideas, well realized ideas, and hare-brained schemes. Any questions, or to get an application form, e-mail Tianna Kennedy at
tk@emptyvesselprojectREMOVEANTISPAMMEASURE.org.
MATERIALS: We are creating a practice of re-use and salvage. We would like to give your old materials new life. Specifically, we are looking for:
**life rings
**marine paint
**dock lines
**plywood, and long two-by-fours
**furnace (from the street? call us if you see one)
**water tanks
**a Franklin stove
**mismatched windows (preferably double paned)
**tools (a good circular saw would come in particularly useful at the moment)
**boat repair supplies (fibreglass, epoxy resin, etc.)
**boat accessories (tie lines, cleats, automatic bilge or sump pumps, marine electric lines)
**a lead on used french fry oil
**a sound system (PA and speakers or just your old stereo)
**solar panels
**12V batteries
**a transformer 120V to 12/24V
**plumbing supplies
**a small motor boat
**a dock or dock building materials (50 gallon drums, we got the planks)
**fans
We will haul away any material contributions. Please forward widely.
Contact
tk@emptyvesselprojectREMOVEANTISPAMMEASURE.org to donate.
F U N D R A I S I N G
One thing we need is space – lofts, yards, empty warehouses, etc. – to hold benefit parties, concerts, dinners, etc. etc. If you want to host an event, or let us use your space, contact Michael at
mm@emptyvesselprojectREMOVEANTISPAMMEASURE.org.
Do you want to design a T-shirt for E.V? Have T-shirts you can donate? We are going to design and make a series of T-shirts to help raise money for the boat. If you want to sell them in your store, we want that, too.
We have started a $10,000 fundraising campaign to get the EVP through the winter. We have applied for a community grant from Lowe's. We are seeking other sources of official funding as well.
In addition, we are looking for individual donors to keep this project afloat. If you have any suggestions, or are interested in contributing, please contact
mm@emptyvesselprojectREMOVEANTISPAMMEASURE.org.
HISTORY
History will be back next week.
H E R O E S
Paula.
A history of heroes:
Danny, GDM, Captain Jim, Fictional Company, Ed, Michael, Madagascar Institute, Cindy Vanden Bosch, Dirty Fingers, Porkchop, northguineahills, Front Room Gallery, DJ Olive, Steven, Ed and Brooke, Paris 1968, Corey and the Free Store, Christian, Mike Topper, Alisa Blanter, Jesse Green, Leo Raphaely, Peter Field, Jeff Stark, Stephen, Lee Azzazello, Nathan,
ToddP?, Dan and Elizabeth, Trevor, Brian Spinks, Andy.
W H E R E I S T H E B O A T ?
If you are interested in seeing the vessel and/or trying out the hammock, just come down to the Carroll Street bridge over the canal during a Work Day and yell. It's just 4 blocks from the Carroll stop on the F train. For directions by train: www.hopstop.com. The bridge is close to the intersection of Bond and Carroll.
To take a look at a bird’s eye view of the boat’s location, check out the maps.google.com satellite image at
http://tinyurl.com/7eu5q.
Our own entrance from Carroll Street has now been installed. Our new address is 401 Carroll Street (though it won’t work for mail quite yet).
--
PaulaZ - 21 Nov 2005
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