Memorandum - December 1, 2007

From: Master of None
Attn: Everyone
Re: For Your Information…

Emcee C.M., in his Life’s Work, is currently working in and around the Cue Art Foundation, 511 W. 25th Street, NY, NY. You are invited to take part however you see fit. He likes visitors, collaborators and conversations. Here is the schedule:


Monday, December 3rd through Saturday, January 5th


Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays:

§ 9 a.m. to 12 noon, Emcee C.M. will be installing and maintaining a number of Public Domestications[1] around the neighborhood.

§ 12 noon to 1 p.m., Emcee C.M. will be eating lunch in his studio, in the basement of the Cue Art Foundation, and would be happy to have you join him for a chat.

§ 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Emcee C.M. will be collecting and cooking edible plants for tea and jam, and throwing spontaneous Wild Tea Parties[2] around the area.


Wednesdays and Saturdays

§ 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., Emcee C.M. will be showing old silent comedy films in hopes of inciting parades of joy, using MOBILIZE: The Moving Picture Show, a traveling cinema. The shows will depart from outside 511 W. 25th Street at 6 p.m., and tour the surrounding streets.


Special Events and Exceptions to Regular Event Schedule:

§ Saturday 12/15, 3:00-5:00 p.m.: Emcee C.M. will be participating in a panel at Artists Space, called “Performing Life” (daytime events end at 2:00 p.m.).

§ Monday 12/24 and Wednesday 12/26: No events.

§ Saturday 01/05, 12 noon - 6 p.m.: Open Studio event at Cue Art Foundation.


Notice: During regular daytime event schedule hours which coincide with gallery hours (WThFSa 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.) you can reach Emcee C.M. by walkie-talkie from Cue Art Foundation, 511 W. 25th St., if you want to find out his location. Or just look around about a five-block radius for the guy with the big red tricycle.


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[1] These are useful items for public creativity and general need, such as self-service libraries and junk drawers. They are made from discarded objects and materials, using MOBILIZE: The Wandering Workbench. The term “Public Domestications” was coined in collaboration with Huong Ngo. A map will be made available at Cue Art Foundation.
[2] Edible plants are abundant in the neighborhood. You are welcome to join in seeking them out and/or eating them. The teas will be served with the help of MOBILIZE: The Portable Pantry.

Public Domestications

I have started working on a project with Huong Ngo in New York. It's called Public Domestications and is about making public spaces on the sidewalks of the city more comfortable and enjoyable to be in. The first installment is up on the streets of the East Village at this very moment. Visit Huong's PD site for a description and map. We are looking for writers to use the desks we've installed, please get in touch if you or someone you know is down!

The Boat Sailed!

Last fall we built a wooden boat in about three weeks with a large crew of volunteers. We sailed it on Mansfield Hollow Lake last week. It was a great day. You can see some pictures on the main Pulling Together page at the bottom:

http://www.emceecm.com/boat

Thanks to everyone who helped out!

New website

I got an actual website of my own going. Lots of stuff on there about current things I'm working on, mostly at The Lot in New Haven. Swing by.

www.emceecm.com

CM

Pulling Together a Boat for Willimantic

Ted Efremoff and I collaborated on this project over the month of October, 2006. We set up an open workshop at the gallery at Artspace Windham, where Ted lives, in Willimantic, Connecticut. I grew up in the next town over, Coventry, and my parents still live in the area. We solicited the participation of anyone who wanted to join us in building an 18 foot wooden boat.


We were blessed with close to 100 participants throughout the 19 days of building. Both of us have experience working with wood, but neither had ever been involved in building a boat previously. We got some great advice and help from a few people who had done boat building. We also built a wooden cart to tow the boat over land, as it was meant to debut in a procession through the local street festival on October 19.


At the festival we were joined by a team of pullers, several of whom had worked with us eight or ten hours a day for the last week of the project, unpaid, just enjoying the project. It became an impromptu team, all of us working together to figure out problems and learn the craft as we went. This was an exciting development, to say the least.


At the street festival, after fall of night, we projected a video of the Willimantic River onto the sail of the boat as we pulled it along. The river runs parallel to Main Street, where the festival is held monthly from May to October. Willimantic, "Thread City," is an old mill town that's fallen on hard luck in recent years. The town is experiencing a bit of a renaissance, however, and the vital role of the river in its continued prosperity has been a theme throughout the common feeling of the citizenry.


Our collaboration evolved into a project of the larger community. The future of the boat is unclear. We plan to house it over the winter and take it for a trip on the river when the ice breaks. We are investigating possibilities of a permanent home for it in town as a sort of public monument built by and for the people.

WORK TOGETHER worked out

Four strangers did a one-day installation during a raging hurricane. The remains are still visible. Stop by and check them out during LMCC Swing Space open studios, Thursday, September 21st, 6 - 9 pm.
















Ted Efremoff and I are PULLING TOGETHER the community of Willimantic and its resources to build an 18-foot boat. The boat-sculpture will be paraded down Main Street on October 19th during the Third Thursday Street Festival and installed at Heritage Park. It is to be a symbol of Willimantic's revitalization and the vital role of the Willimantic river in that effort. We will be building the boat in the gallery at Artspace Windham starting October 1st, and are seeking material and time contributions. Please get in touch!

WE ARE GOING TO WORK TOGETHER

I found three wonderful strangers to collaborate with. Come see what will happen when we work together. Nobody knows, least of all us. You are welcome to interact with us through the window all day. We might even have a walkie talkie for you. The space will be open to the public for a celebration from 6 to 8pm. Feel free to bring some food to share. Remember this: Life could be a dream.

WORK IS LEISURE

I am on vacation this week, working furiously at relaxation.

This is the plan for when I return to The Big Potato:

August 17 - September 23, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights: MOBILIZE, the moving movie show, will be touring lower Manhattan. The tricycle will depart from 32 Avenue of the Americas (between Walker and Lispenard) at 9:00 p.m., showing various stock footage compilations and short films. Check this blog for updates or email me to RSVP: emcee_cm@yahoo.com
NOTE: Look for an article about the project in the September issue of the Tribeca Trib

FOOTPRINT FACTORY will also continue touring the area. Please email me to arrange a meeting if you want to collaborate on a free blockprint.

WORK TOGETHER hasn't come together yet, but there seems to be some interest in meeting August 16. All interested parties should meet me that day outside 32 Avenue of the Americas (between Walker and Lispenard) at high noon for an information and planning meeting. Or, if you can't make it that day at all, send me an email and we'll do an informal correspondence course.

Huong Ngo and I are installing a glorified and electrified dixie-cup phone outside our groundfloor studio windows at 32 Avenue of the Americas (our windows are midway along on Walker Street between 6th Ave and Church) for you to exercise your artist visitation rights. It should be out there on Monday, the 14th. You can talk to us about anything you want, but we reserve the right to steer the conversation toward innovations in blanket forts, costuming, candy, stilts, slapstick and song.

Art Show at New York Open Center

I will have some books in a group show organized by Paul Cabezas at New York Open Center.
Runs August 4-18, hours are 12:00-5:00 p.m.
83 Spring Street, Soho.

I will be riding MOBILIZE, the moving movie show, at the opening, which is Friday, August 4 from 6-9:30 p.m.

WORK TOGETHER

TREASURE HUNTERS!
ADVENTURERS!
FRIENDS UNKNOWN!

I want us to WORK TOGETHER

I am looking for three strangers to join me in a meaningful diversion. Think of a labor of love, or an unusually productive day off.

WORKING TOGETHER, we could make something beautiful.

If you are interested, meet me at 32 Avenue of the Americas (between Walker and Lispenard) on Wednesday, August 16th, at 12:00 noon. I will be wearing a yellow work shirt and red sneakers.

You can also email me to learn more: emcee_cm@yahoo.com

Series of Actions for Lower Manhattan

Emcee C.M. will be acting up in the areas surrounding 32 Avenue of the Americas, NYC, in the coming weeks.

MOBILIZE is a moving movie theater built onto a big tricycle. Come for a walk around the neighborhood while watching funnies and munching on popcorn and lollipops, all free! It will be screening Chaplin films and various other shorts on a nightly basis from July 24th through August 3, departing from the NE corner of 6th Avenue and Walker Street at approximately 9 p.m. To assure that there is a show on a particular night, check this blog for changes. This is a fair weather action - if there is rain, the show's off.

FOOTPRINT FACTORY is a portable printing station for spontaneous collaboration. Emcee C.M. handles the ink and the blocks, and you are the press. Look for the factory on curbs and sidewalks throughout lower Manhattan, evenings, wednesdays and weekends through the end of August. If you would like to make a foot print, please email emcee_cm@yahoo.com to arrange a meeting.