The guests congregate in the belly of the "Frying Pan" a ship that spent 3 years underwater

Forgotten objects from the deep inspire widespread creation.
By Joshua Harris

“Do you want to come to a special reading? Some NYC based writers and artists are reading their work.” is what I was asked last wednesday morning. My initial response was to pass it up…I mean, how many times are there readings in the city with brilliant authors or artists? A lot, that’s how many.

“…Well, the reading is on an old light boat that was raised from the sea after being sunk for 3 years.” …that followup got my attention. I decided to go.

The reading is a launch party celebrating the creative collaboration between artists, writers, and musicians all focusing on creating something inspired by long forgotten objects that have been raised from the waters surrounding NYC.  The organizers call it “Underwater New York“. Everything from ice cream trucks to old shopping carts serve as inspiration to create vivid works of fiction.  The people at Underwater New York encourage  interested creatives to make some form of art inspired from their list of “crazy” objects found under the boroughs’ murky waters.  The result are a range of works, from songs and short stories to photography.

When I arrived, I boarded the old vessel, The Frying Pan ; the smell of diesel and rusted metal combined with the melodic sway gave an old world industrial feel to everything.  Inside, on three levels, people congregated in quiet excitement sipping drinks mixed by a centrally located bar, probably converted from an old mess kitchen.  The ship is a historic relic, everything seems preserved and worn down at the same time.  In the belly of the ship, this is most evident; old levers, pipes, and broken fixtures serve to remind the attendees of the ships forgotten purpose.

Inside this area of the boat, the night started with a bit of sketch comedy, was highlighted by some live sets by accoustic musicians, and ended with a short story of two tragic lovers.  The expression of the love for creativity inspired by misplaced objects was strong and was the lasting impression I took away from the event.  You can check out more on Underwater New York, submit your stories and other artwork, and even check out pictures of the event here.

Feel the Love

Ken Tanabe’s lovingday.org celebrates the spirit of perseverance and promotes multicultural awareness.
by Christian Ghigliotty

The sun loves Ken Tanabe. Or maybe it’s the other way around. “Man I have to say it feels so good to be out here right now. I’ve got my Vitamin D for the week, “ he says and flashes a toothy grin afterward. Ken pushes out his chest and the LovingDay logo gleams brightly , like it’s where he holds all his power. “The logo has a heart surrounded by a shield. The shield represents law, protection. The inner part, the heart, represents love and the Loving decision.”  The multi talented designer of Belgian-Japanese descent has flexed his creative muscle throughout the design industry in a variety of roles. As founder of lovingday.org, however, he now plays a much more pivotal role that transcends his industry niche—that of educator.

In 1959 the Virginia Circuit Court found Richard and Mildred Loving guilty of violating a state ban against interracial marriages. The couple was sentenced to one year in jail, which was lifted under the proviso that the two leave the state and not return for a period twenty-five years. The Lovings left their home and families in Virginia and moved to Washington D.C. where they were able to live together legally but were subject to racial taunting and limited opportunities. Nonetheless the Lovings endured and were vindicated by a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision—the case is known as Loving v. Virginia —on June 12, 1967. The ruling removed all state laws barring interracial marriage.

Ken Tanabe knows this. Now he wants you to know this.

Video Interview

“We want to fight prejudice through education, especially against multiethnic couples and individuals and build a sense of community…through people that embrace the idea of multiculturalism.”

Lovingday.org is a rich repository for information that reinforces Tanabe’s educational vision. The site has become, in part, a soundboard for interracial couples to tell their stories, either in print, images or video. Moreover, since its inception in 2004—the same year Tanabe graduated from Parsons School of Design—over a dozen events in nine different states have brought together thousands of people of different ethnicities, establishing human connections and providing common ground for all people. The two biggest events Loving Day has spawned are the annual flagship celebrations in New York City and The Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival in Los Angeles, both of which have garnered huge amounts interest and success.

Despite the actual June 12 celebration happening once year, the mission is to celebrate Loving Day everyday in some small way. The movement continues to grow in a grass-roots fashion, as people host their own events after attending one of Ken’s organized functions, which is also something the site encourages people to do. It also has helped to create a platform where awareness becomes the stimulus for enlightenment.

“If you could compare all the places you could start something like Loving Day, New York is one of the best places to do it. It such a crossroads of the world…”

Photo Shoot

Dead wood Redux

Bill Hilgendorf and company bring a whole new meaning to the phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle.”
By Christian Ghigliotty

Red Hook lies in ruins.

Even on days where the sun warms the mahogany bricks of the many hollowed, dusty factories along the waterfront, the neighborhood has the feel of a place long forgotten. Iron wrought fences bend back as if stepped on by giants. Human sized oil drums are scattered and labeled “hazardous liquid” in rushed handwriting, amongst warped deadwood that look like fossil remains. Despite the Red Hook Flea Market a few blocks away, it is noticeably empty on a Sunday afternoon. There is a quiet hum underneath the streets that can be heard, like something is brooding beneath. This is just one of Bill Hilgendorfʼs many Brooklyn playgrounds.

“I was so amazed at the stuff that people would throw out…full pieces of furniture, cutoffs of wood, material…you walk around on the streets on a trash day and youʼll never know what youʼll see.”

Bill is the cofounder (with business partner Jason Horvath) of Uhuru [pronounced oo-hoo-roo], a design and build furniture company dedicated to sustainability, repurposing materials such as riven deadwood to craft products with an emphasis on minimal, modern form. The word Uhuru is proudly emblazoned on the company’s insignia and is the Swahili word for freedom. It also happens to be the name of one of Bill’s favorite bands. As he talks he moves with a softness and fluidity that one does not expect from someone raised in Boston. The word “like” is prevalent in between flailing arms. Heʼs all knees and elbows. A short boxed beard sprouts from an affable face, a tidy shag cut skims above lightly colored eyebrows.

Video Interview

The two founded the company in 2004, and primarily collect scrap woods from local Brooklyn wood shops, leaving small bins to discard wood that’s not used in their production, which is then upcycled to create furniture that leaves the smallest environmental footprint possible without sacrificing quality, aesthetic, and durability. “…we like to show the simplicity of the material. So if itʼs wood, highlighting the figure of grain pattern, metal…can have a really great texture. Minimal forms with decorative graphics.”

Located in an old foundry in Red Hook, Brooklyn, Uhuruʼs has the feel of an old World War II manufacturing facility. Saws and welding tools moan as wood is cut to form. Weathered screw drivers and hammers hang from cork board, each one carrying memories of the furniture it helped create in the grooves of its handles and bits. Uhuruʼs insignia—a chair with wings spanned proudly flying underneath the word Uhuru, each of the letters like miniature pieces of Bill’s furniture—even seems to speak of another time, perhaps one better than this one. Each piece is built by hand and as a result no two pieces are the same, each sui generis in color, texture and grain. Their product line is replete with tables, beds and seating that echo their vision, however none greater than the Stoolen end table , one of Uhuruʼs original items that help push the company to its current standing. Using a vegetable based resin, dozens of smaller two inch pieces of wood are glued together into the top surface of a hollowed base, similar to that of a barrel. After sanding and multiple coats of finish, the end resembles a three dimensional puzzle that is inherently beautiful and deceptively stylish.

Billʼs passion for furniture design was rooted in scavenging for discarded electronics, bicycle parts, unwanted furniture that was left on curbs or in trash bins as a child, trying to Frankenstein whatever he could into something reusable. This obsession led to a degree as an adult from the Rhode Island School of Design studying industrial design. During his junior year Bill studied abroad for a semester in Stockholm , Sweden, where he started building furniture he was passionate about, using his hands and found materials to create pieces that arenʼt as Bill says “cheesy product design”.

The idea of sustainability transcends the Uhuru brand, as evidenced in the art installation Bill created with his girlfriend and artist Maria Cristina Rueda, titled “63 chairs.” Originally on Columbia Street in Brooklyn, the installation was a collection of sixty-three chairs from the Carroll Gardens, Park Slope and Fort Greene neighborhoods, piled high along an a twenty-two foot wall. From July to October of 2008, the chairs were collected the night before trash day and painted black. Oddly enough most of them are still usable. The chairs inherent forms are underscored by the shape of the installation and the rich blank paint used to coat them. The installation exists seemingly on its own, devoid of time or of place. The chairs all seem to be banding together as if to ward off extinction. “We collected these chairs as a commentary on the throwaway culture…a lot of these chairs are in perfectly good condition. People are into the idea of things being flashy, it doesnʼt have to last. Gone are the days that furniture is passed down from generation to generation.”

Five years after its inception Uhuru continues to seek out new materials and new ways to create without waste. In preparation for New York design week (May 8-19^th) Uhuru has launched three new innovative designs: the Stitch Coffee table, the Standard chair, and the Metal Stoolen , a beautiful metal version of the company’s signature piece.

And just like all of his other pieces, the past and future intertwine in Bill’s work.

Bill’s Photo Shoot

Stephanie White and crew get Philthy on debut smash.

Talented ensemble band grooves to the voice of its own White light.
By Christian Ghigliotty

Some people wear their emotions on their sleeve.

Stephanie White wears hers on her foot.

On a sun kissed afternoon in Brooklyn, Stephanie and drummer Robbie LaFalce saunter up the sidewalk playfully exchanging words. From afar the two look like an odd coupling. Stephanie seems guarded, with her arms wrapped against her stomach almost as if she is hugging herself. With tawny, free falling locks, dusky brown eyes and a freckled complexion one might expect Stephanie to be a model or actress instead of a top twenty-one female vocalist selection on American Idol. Robbie with his hands in his pockets is much more relaxed. A stubble beard threads a wide eyed, boyish face underneath a low sitting cap. He looks like your brother’s geeky best friend from high school, and not the former drummer of the ska band the Miasmics.

When the clomps of Stephanie’s heels cease against the sidewalk it becomes apparent. Just above the arch of her left foot floats a treble clef staff , the veins under her creamy skin pointing up to the tattoo as if in awe. As she swings her ankle out to further display her branding, her black high heel looks the shape of an ‘F’ note.

Video Interview

Despite preconceived notions of the pair, within moments of Robbie strumming his guitar strings to Stephanie’s smoky croon on the steps of a brownstone it’s clear the two feed off each, displaying a musical verve that excites.

New York has a Philharmonic Orchestra . Say hello to New Jersey’s Philth Harmonic.

“So Alex (Ozolins) has played French horn in several orchestras, and he came to the conclusion that New Jersey doesn’t have a Philharmonic, and decided that we needed one, and since we like to enhance stereotypes, you know the dirty Jerz, we came up with Philth Harmonic.”

The unlikely duo are the founding members of Stephanie White and the New Jersey Philth Harmonic, a fusion group from Essex, New Jersey. Along with members Aleks “Mos” Ozolins, Eric “Yaz L” Lindberg and Nick LaFalce, Pat Smith, Cameron MacManus, Joe Schmidt, James Lawrence, Erik S. Donough, and Tom Spears, the group finds creative ways to combine rock, jazz and reggae with head nodding pop tunes.

The band’s debut album Knee Deep InSanity is a ten track melange (three of which, interestingly enough, were recorded acoustically in an old forge) of French horn, saxophone, drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, with White’s mellifluous voice flirting voraciously with them all. Thematically the album paints with broad stokes, touching on ideas of unrequited love and loss. While Stephanie doesn’t try to hide the fact that she was one of the top forty-two selected on American Idol , it isn’t something that she advertises freely. Taking her Hollywood experience and co-writing with Robbie on would become the second track on the album, aptly titled Tough Enough. “When I came home everyone was apologetic about my return (from American Idol) and questioning what I would do next. I told them I would make my own music and play for whoever would listen…I can handle the pressures of the industry, I’m tough enough.”

While listening to the album the level of musicianship is clearly at a high level, each band member bringing individual flair to the table when called upon (listen for the awesome tenor and alto sax components in Bogged Down and Tough Enough) and no one style or instrument hogs the spotlight, which often times can be difficult for fusion artists. Back on the steps of the brownstone, Robbie’s background vocals hum underneath as Stephanie’s voice rises to a crescendo. Inside the brownstone as the two perform their song Teardrops, the third song from their debut album, the haunting lyrics of the fairy-tale sans happy ending come to the forefront as Stephanie spins her tale

“Then one dark day it came/ my prince masked by his shame/ ’cause he knew he couldn’t stay/ but he rescued me anyway.”

The band dropped Knee Deep InSanity in 2007 and have been touring mostly since its debut. The band is now hard at work on its sophomore follow up, and will be charting the album’s progress on a video blog which can be found on its YouTube channel. The new single, King of Wishful Thinking can be heard on

the band’s homepage.

Philth Harmonic Photo Shoot

Endangered Species

2008 was the year of Chuckboy. Can 2009 be a repeat year for the Brooklyn based urban vinyl designer?
by Christian Ghigliotty

From the front window pane of myplasticheart , a collectors paradise in the Lower East Side, Charles Hui (aka Chuckboy) stands arms crossed, hunkering over the glass shelving that houses many of the designs that has influenced his own work. He is pensive, donning a blue zip-up hoodie from another collectible store you may have heard of, Kid Robot . Despite the success and acclaim he received in 2008 for his work, he really is still just a kid at heart, admiring the collectibles as if he were the proud owner of them all. “I think creating a toy starts with a really great idea and design, either in your head or on paper…coming up with something great, then cleaning it up and finalizing it…if it hits people in the way it looks and feels, that’s when it’s successful.”

Chuckboy’s work thus far has done just that. His highly successful three inch Reindeer Dunny took Santa’s little helper and turned him on his antlers, shoved a ball gag in his mouth, a harness around his torso and handed him a mean little bullwhip to so some damage with. The design helped inspire a Kid Robot produced claymation video , that showed this Dunny doesn’t take shit from anyone. “It was a surprise…I was in shock.” The toy was a hit both in the U.S and abroad, moving UK based company Crystled to bling out the Reindeer Dunny using sparkling Crystallized Swarovski Elements.

ChuckBoy Interview at My Plastic Heart toy shop

His love for biotechnology and model building come to form in his interpretation of the daruma for the Dreams to Dreams Custom vinyl show which took place in December of last year. Prototype DCTO Mark 1 —painted in a shiny chrome, metal rivets running up and down layers that encase a smirking visage—resembles the helmet of a Russian space suit or space bound escape pod. Along with forty-one other choice artists his work was on display and for sale at the Japanese American National Museum from December 2008 to January 2009.

From April 10th-May 10th he was part of myplacticheart’s mixed media show using the Chinese Zodiac as inspiration for work. Born in the year of the monkey Chuckboy created three four inch models that look like a new genetically engineered species of primate, housed in glass tanks as if they were in cryopreservation. Coming up on May 21st Kid Robot is releasing its Dunny Endangered! series and Chuckboy it at it again, this time unleashing a Lion Dunny.

Walking in the Lower East Side a teenager recognizes Chuckboy and tells him that he’s a big fan. Chuckboy’s all “awww shucks” about it and thanks him but the kid wants more. He asks him to draw him something, anything. His dad pulls out some paper from a pocket somewhere and Chuckboy goes to work. Within minutes the kid has a Chuckboy original, a skull and bones piece that he says isn’t much and Chuckboy is apologetic. Nonetheless the kid is happy.

“It’s really a surreal for me. You do a couple of designs and nobody sees your face, and then all of a sudden people in the street are seeing your face for the first time and taking your picture…I hope it’s a sign of things to come.”

Looks like 2009 is starting to look a lot like 2008. For most people that wouldn’t be a good thing. For Chuckboy, it’s where he wants to be.

ChuckBoy’s Photo Shoot

Pen to Skin

Brian Wren builds his Tattoo artistry in Brooklyn.
by Joshua C. Harris

Late one night, new tattoo machine in hand, Brian Wren started his first practice tattoo on a slab of pork. Half frozen after an hour or so, the flesh starts to become a bit unusable, shifting around the over sized plate on his dining room table. “It’s looked down upon to start tattooing on someone when you’re not ready” Brian explains as he gives us the reason for inking a perfectly good pork chop. Brian carries himself with a quiet confidence, his face is strong and he always seems to think before he speaks. We find out that Brian is a man of some pretty strong conviction, he’s ambitions, truthful, and damn handy with a tattoo gun.

Until 1997, to tattoo was an illegal act in New York City. After hepatitis outbreaks occurred in the early 60’s, New York lawmakers put the blame on the tattooing community and passed a law to prohibit the art form. Brian explains that there where a handful of artists that really preserved and nurtured the skill of tattooing during this time. These people took tattooing seriously, “…back then there where no magazines, no internet..really there were just a handful of people that kept tattooing alive through personal contacts” Brian explains.

Brian’s Video Interview

The social mistrust didn’t suppress the practice fully, tattooing became legalized in the late 1990’s and a swell of interest followed. Brian was drawn to tattooing after being stuck at a dead end job working usually twelve or more hours a day. He found the opportunity to go into his passion of drawing full force, which then evolved into a strong attraction to the mystique of tattooing. After a couple years of practice on himself and very trusting friends, Brian began searching for a home: a tattoo shop to apprentice under an experienced artist in order to one day take the reigns himself.

At the base of 682 Union St. in Brooklyn is where Brian now hones his craft. The shop name is 3rd Eye Tattoo and it proudly serves the local Brooklyn communities’ permanent ink appetite. It’s everything you’d expect in a tattoo shop: underground entrance, amazing art, vivid personalities, and tattoo artists with lots of stories to tell. Brian found what he was looking for in 3rd Eye Tattoo and now enjoys his own clients and studio space. The customers are friendly as they pop in and inquire about what a tattoo involves. Sometimes the shop is visited by long time tattooed patrons and other times over sixty grandmothers looking for a final thrill. No matter the customer, Brian stands poised and reassuring as he explains the process. All leave happy.

“The way I see it is, …everything I do here [tattooing] is still walking around these streets”, Brian explains, “I dont want anyone to walk out the door with something I’m not proud to attach my name to.” Brian’s passion for making a permanent mark is boundless. You get the sense from him that he’s found that thing in his life that sets him apart from the rest. Brian’s creativity helps this; his ideas for tattoos combine traditional elements such as Japanese coy fish or 1950’s pin up art with more modern designs filled with color and bold lines. His tattoing space is neatly filled with frames of his pen and paper artwork, while his desk boasts a drawing lighttable always blanketed with a new piece of tracingpaper etched with a new design.

I happened to catch Brian as he was making some touch ups to a previous customer’s ink. He was patient and meticulous, circling his orange ink drenched tattoo pen inside the previously made lines. During this process you can see why Brian describes being tattooed and tattooing as an amazing experience, “…to me it’s just more about opening yourself up to that experience”. Excited and content after his work, he even invited me back to his shop, “whenever I was ready”, with a look that made me think he expected me to one day want a tattoo.

He’s probably right, after all, everybody can appreciate some good ink. If not, Brian will make sure of it. He called me over, and opened his art book; tons of references in the form of torn sheets and leaflets seemed to pour out. Flipping quickly through it, he closed the book shut and then picked up another. He was looking for a Chinese zodiac themed Ox , a design he overheard me saying would be an optimal tattoo for my left arm. “That one!” he pointed to a charcoal sketch of a bull writhing with power, it’s back arched creating the shape of the “c”. “That’s the inspiration for a great tattoo…we could work with this…” he said.

I couldn’t help but agree.

Brian’s Photo Shoot

Slapstick With a Little Pink Lipstick

Amanda Duarte wants to be a household name of a different kind.
By Joshua C. Harris

I enter the Peoples Improv Theatre at W. 29th St. and 7th ave. It’s tucked upstairs, nestled as most things are in the city so I almost miss it. I don’t know what to expect from the show. All I remember is Amanda’s picture on the promotional flyer that she gave me: her legs open with the title “Lucky Pink Wonderland” in bold lettering conveniently covering anything indecent. “Hi! Come on back! We’re setting up…” Amanda yells to me from the theater as I stand in the lobby. She seems a bit flustered but excited nonetheless. I obey. I creep back, suddenly surrounded by the black walls of the theater. It’s small, with flairs of red and pink, sort of like Amanda.

She’s about to go on; the music blasts a bubblegum pop tune as the lights dim. Amanda enters wearing a white dress, pink scarf, pink handbag, and pink sunglasses. She has so much overdone sass, I have to laugh. Her intro is hilarious. The opening dance satirizes the latest music video, incorporates faux cocaine snorting, and Britney upskirt shots . If I had had an expectation it would have been shattered in this moment.

Amanda’s Video Interview

Amanda Duarte has probably always been an actor and writer, because as she puts it “…she was never good at anything else…” I find that hard to believe and laugh as we sit down at the G:NY studio and have a chat. The topic: how Amanda got where she is, and where she’s going. Amanda duped her way through college, conning professors into giving her credit for acting and writing gigs. After graduating, she lived in San Francisco for many years, honing her skills by getting acting jobs at various venues. Eventually, she made the leap to the Big Apple: the ultimate test of an actor’s true value. Amanda quickly realized the game was much bigger in the city that never sleeps; however, she’s proving she’s up for the task.

Amanda penned her one woman show “Lucky Pink Wonderland” over time by collecting different pieces of her writing and weaving them together into a full commentary on modern ideals of celebrity, self-worth, and the pit falls of stardom. In the play, Amanda is an ex-child star “What’s-Her-Name” or “Pinky Peppercorn” as the public remembers her. She’s struggling to transition from child actor to actress, relapsing into impressions of her former character for old “fans” but more often waiting tables. Yet, “Pinky Peppercorn” isn’t the only character Amanda plays, she shifts seamlessly into a negligent mother, a drunken ex-actor, and a hyper-unaware teenager among others. Each character is introduced after a musical interlude in which Amanda does another dance number against a video projection backdrop featuring the latest in pop-culture’s excess.

The show is a success. The audience laughs uncontrollably while feeling guilty for doing so after one of Amanda’s soliloquies as the forgotten ex-child star. It’s a thrilling mish-mash of reactions. Amanda’s excited after performing two sold out runs. She remembers a time only close friends and relatives would come see her perform, “…probably the most exciting thing were the nights of my show when I would look out in the crowd and I didn’t really know the people who where there…”

I ask Amanda what happens in the moments before she goes on and performs as these characters and she stares at me blankly. I re-iterate, “what are you thinking in that moment? You seem very pensive”. Amanda responds with a giggle “I don’t know…I’m probably thinking about what I’m going to eat later!” I laugh with her and then try to pry out some more information with my next question, “where do you want to be in the future?” She answers, “I want to be on your TV; I want to be in your movies; I want to be in your cereal bowl,” she laughs, “I want to be all up in you,” she laughs some more, “…that’s what I want, why else would I be here?!” I join in her laughter as I realize that’s all anyone can do when they’re in a room with Amanda Duarte.

Amanda’s Photo Shoot