E M P T Y | V E S S E L | P R O J E C T | N E W S | 10 . 31 . 05
The Empty Vessel Project is an action, art and sustainability experiment. In the summer of 2005, we salvaged a WWII rescue boat, brought it to Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal and are using it as a space for harnessing and focusing the potential of post-industrial urban environments. The Empty Vessel Project is not-for-profit, volunteer-run organization that encourages participation on all levels. We host work parties, movie nights, seminars, concerts, dinners, and workshops. The Empty Vessel is available to realize your dreams and schemes.
This newsletter is your guide. It appears in your in box at the beginning of each week, listing events and tracking changes. Can it be better? Contact
pz@emptyvesselprojectREMOVEANTISPAMMEASURE.org with suggestions.
This is issue number 15.
UPCOMING
Work on the boat in the gorgeous autumn light. The sunsets are spectacular and the cold is imminent.
Fancy Dinner.
WHERE IS THE BOAT
HISTORY
Garbage!
SHIP’S LOG
Chugging along
IN THE MEDIA
Still looking for last week's Time Out New York
WISHLIST
We need your old things! Clean out that storage space!
Proposals
Donations
FUNDRAISING
Calling all Location Scouts!!!
Fancy Dinner, November 7
HEROES
Bloody stars in our eyes
U P C O M I N G
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1
Work Day
Walls!
2-9 p.m.
***at the boat
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5
Work Day
1-8 p.m.
***at the boat
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6
Work Day
Put in insulation (generously donated by Johns Manville).
2-9pm
***at the boat
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7
Fancy Dinner
**POSTPONED**
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11 & 12
The Empty Vessel crew will attend the
EcoMetropolis? Conference at CUNY Graduate Center (365 5th Ave, at 34th St.)
This is a co-production of the New York Open Center, the Continuing Education & Public Programs at The Graduate Center at CUNY, and the Bioneers Conference.
The conference is open to the public.
http://www.ecometropolis.org for more information.
**November**
Silent Films with Live Soundtracks (Gretta Cohn)
Field Trip::Tugboat Graveyard
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. Brooklyn NY 11231.
H I S T O R Y
In 1881, the New York City Department of Street Cleaning (DSC) was created in a city of 4 million people, most of them living below 14th Street in Manhattan. Most of the time, the densely populated streets were so littered and packed with organic waste and horse manure that they became impassable by carriage. Huge mountains of trash lined the roads. Residents clamored for someone to take responsibility for this blight.
The DSC made its first real mark in the 1890s, when Col. George Waring, who had earned his rank during the Civil War, became Commissioner and organized the city's street sweepers along military lines. He created a chain of command, required workers to wear white uniforms and march around their assigned areas in formation. In April, 1903 Col. Waring's "White Wings" were captured parading on film by an Edison cameraman. (This film is available at New York Public Library.)
Throughout the 1880’s, 75% of NYC’s waste was dumped into the Atlantic Ocean. In 1895, Col. Waring instituted a waste management plan that eliminated ocean dumping and mandated recycling. Household waste was separated into three categories: food waste, which was steamed and compressed to eventually produce grease (for soap products) and fertilizer; rubbish, from which paper and other marketable materials were salvaged; and ash, which along with the nonsalable rubbish was landfilled. The Police Department, under the direction of its Commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, enforced the recycling law.
Throughout the 20th century, New York City has experienced a series of set backs to these early ambitious plans. Recycling programs were eliminated in 1918 due to lack of workers during World War I. Recycling did not become a city-wide mandate again until 1989. In 2001, a significant portion of NYC's recycling program was suspended. It was restored to pre-2001 levels in 2004. Today glass, plastic and metals that are picked up by the Department of Sanitation are not actually reintroduced into the consumer cycle. Instead, these materials are crushed to be used as construction fill and daily cover for landfills.
More trash talk:
http://tinyurl.com/ds8fh
http://members.aol.com/Ramola15/timeline.html
A photo of Col. Waring:
http://tinyurl.com/83jor
S H I P ’ S L O G
Sealing, fiberglassing, cleaning. The insulation is here and we are ready for it.
IMMINENT, PENDING, AND CONTINUING PROJECTS:
For updates on ongoing projects, check out our TWiki at
http://log.emptyvesselproject.org. Advice is always appreciated. Don’t be shy. Please post.
I N T H E M E D I A
The Empty Vessel Project was featured in the Around Town section of Time Out New York on October 18, 2005. We would love some extra copies of the magazine for our archive. Please contact
pz@emptyvesselprojectREMOVEANTISPAMMEASURE.org if you have one you could donate.
W I S H L I S T
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:
**10 gallon plastic buckets with lids
**safety goggles
**toaster oven
**vegetable steamer
**mailbox
**wet/dry vac
**hot plate
**camping stove
**plywood (3/4 inch)
**50,000 –100,000 BTU oil-burning boiler (small)
**water tanks
**a Franklin stove
**tools (a good circular saw would come in particularly useful at the moment)
**bilge or sump pumps
**a lead on used french fry oil (anyone work in a restaurant with a deep fryer?)
**solar panels
**12V batteries
**a transformer 120V to 12/24V
**another small boat (canoe, kayak, motor)
**life rings
**marine paint
**tie lines
**small fans
**beautiful material in bulk to face the interior of the cabin walls (Does anyone have a good supply of free wooden wine boxes?)
We will haul away any material contributions. Please forward widely. Contact
tk@emptyvesselprojectREMOVEANTISPAMMEASURE.org to donate.
WINTERTIME PROPOSALS: We are accepting proposals for projects this fall and winter. We are particularly interested in hosting projects in and around the boat that relate to sustainable architectures (social and physical), sea shanties, mysteries, and abandoned artifacts. The boat is also available for your workshops, talks, birthday parties, fashion shows, fish watching picnics, or anything else that could fit on or around our bit of salvaged history. Contact
pz@emptyvesselprojectREMOVEANTISPAMMEASURE.org with your fantastic schemes.
MATERIAL DONATIONS: We are partnering with companies that have ecologically friendly materials and getting material contributions to the Empty Vessel Project in exchange for advertising. Johns Manville (www.specjm.com) has donated formaldehyde-free insulation. Do you know a company that might be interested in showcasing their products on EV? Contact
pz@emptyvesselprojectREMOVEANTISPAMMEASURE.org.
F U N D R A I S I N G
We are looking for sources of official money that will fund the Empty Vessel Project as either (a) an arts project (b) an environmental project or (c) a social experiment and decentralized environment for skill shares. We need money for both infrastructure and specific projects. Are you a grant writer? In development? Know someone that is? We need to raise $10-20,000 to get through the winter. Contact
pz@emptyvesselprojectREMOVEANTISPAMMEASURE.org.
Upcoming fundraiser: FANCY DINNER, Monday, November 7. We are looking for a nice space, cooks, and donations of food from your store or restaurant. Contact
tk@emptyvesselprojectREMOVEANTISPAMMEASURE.org about our FANCY DINNER.
Do you know anyone who works LOCATIONS for a film or photo shoots? EV is a great location and available for rentals. Do you know how we can get on a database to share/rent our wonderful resourse? Contact
pz@emptyvesselprojectREMOVEANTISPAMMEASURE.org.
H E R O E S
Johns Manville (insulation!); Lee Azzarello (great party, better bust); Black Label Bike Club (
BikeKill3?)
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 Azzarello, Nathan,
ToddP?, Dan and Elizabeth, Trevor, Brian Spinks, Andy Baker, Shellshag (Jen and Shell), Urban Stitch (Alessandro and William), Paul Ford, Bez, Brian, Alex Lucas, Leqah Beeferman, Brent Arnould, The Dave Carter Quartet, Estee Pierce, Alison Prete, Jason Enghert, Rosie Weinberg
You are receiving this newsletter because you are involved in the Empty Vessel Project, or have at least feigned interest. To subscribe, or to be removed from this list, visit www.emptyvesselproject.org and click on the link to the mailing list. Please forward to anyone we may have missed.
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