The street is beautiful

Four photos from this weekend: three on Purves Street in Long Island City, near the Sculpture Center, and one in Park Slope.

Neighborhood garden

Flux Factory's latest show, Bionic Garden, asks visitors to reimagine urban spaces both public and private. The art space incorporates a rooftop garden, a seed-sharing station, and plants rigged with wireless sensors that trigger an LED when they need to be watered. I found the seed-heads by Daupo, above, fanciful and functional.

We may have a hard time getting much of anything to grow in our backyard, but I suppose we'll try planting the tulsi seeds we picked up and hope for a little more luck with it than we've had with our ill-fated flowers.

Flux Factory, 39-31 29th Street, Long Island City, New York, 11101; exhibit closes June 24; open weekends, noon to 6 p.m.

Tentacular

Took a long (LONG! Ten or twelve miles total) walk yesterday, winding my way from Astoria to Long Island City and then to Bushwick, all before looping back to Queens by passing through Greenpoint. A lot of rubber was burned.

I happened upon two artful octopi. The pasted-up drawing above was on a  hoarding in LIC; the vibrant painted fellow below was in Bushwick.

A lot to like

It's been so beautifully clear and sunny and warm and lovely these past few days. Even an empty lot (this one is near Queens Plaza) shines.

LIC Arts Open 2012

Dropped by one of the LIC Arts Opens's "Nabe Nites" -- at 2 Gotham Center, right on Queens Plaza South. Great installations in vacant retail space; also pretty cool because it's an area with such heavy foot traffic -- people on the street couldn't help but poke their heads in to see what was going on, decidedly more democratic than many other city art events.

Tomorrow is the Vernon Boulevard Nabe Nite Out, and Friday's focus is Jackson Avenue. The festival continues through May 20, and there's tons to see. Just a few highlights if you plan on hitting the neighborhood this weekend: a Bill Bollinger retrospective at the Sculpture Center (44-19 Purves Street, on through July 30); the 10x10 benefit auction (Saturday) and exhibition at Art Plus LIC (43-01 22nd Street); a block party on 22nd Street between 43rd and 44th Avenue (Saturday, between noon and 6); and, of course, open studios at PaintCan Studios (10-10 44th Avenue, third floor) and Reis Studios this weekend.

All on the line

People in New York still depend on clotheslines. Well, at least in Long Island City. (Taken May 12, 2012.)

Off in the distance

Another beautiful, clear winter's day here in Queens; it's chilly, but when the sun is shining, even the view from an LIC street corner is picturesque.

Sicily through a new mirror

Above, "Le cupole rosse della chiesa di San Giovanni degli Eremiti Palermo," by Ida Saitta.

Just around the corner and down a block or two from our apartment, there's a storefront that is, more often than not, shuttered. But every so often, I walk by and see something a little bit magical in the otherwise unassuming area: an exhibition of photographs, say, or an invitation to take classes to learn Italian.

Today, a lovely little exhibition of paintings closed."Sicily Through a New Mirror," which presented a selection of Ida Saitta's work, was a breath of fresh air; the paintings were lively and colorful and made me want to learn more about Sicily, and Saitta, and the Cultural Association of the Molise Region (the organization responsible for the gallery and event space, which is at 31-16 36th Ave. in LIC).

If you missed out, fret not: there are more shows coming up. From October 22 to 29, "Colori d'Italia" will showcase photographs of Danilo Susi; in November, an exhibition on Jackson Pollack is planned and will feature the photojournalism of Tony Vaccaro; and in December, there will be something from Angela Grancagnolo.

Books and art, what could be better?

Ah, fall: when New York bestows upon its citizens a plethora of fests, fairs, and fun! The New York Art Book Fair, which closes tomorrow, is a lovely free-for-all at MoMA PS 1 in Long Island City (so convenient!).

L Magazine highlights 10 things you shouldn't miss; I'll just present a list of book and zine titles from the fair's presenters that I found poignant, amusing, or otherwise noteworthy:

• Once Upon No Time
• Wasted Time
• Scream at the Librarian
• Reduced to Silence
  
• Dirt, Detritus & Vermin
• Surprised by French Fries
• And If You Don't Go Crazy I'll Meet You Here Tomorrow
• Teenage Kissers
• You Make Me Want to Die in the Countryside
• A Fiesta of Tough Choices
• That Would Have Been Wonderful
• Footnotes to a Manual of Shaker Furniture
• Re-Reading the Riot Act
• Things Are Conspicuous in Their Absence
• An Eruption of Anti-Time

Buy a book -- or two, or three! Or just marvel at the wonderful design, the creamy pages, the odd tchotchkes on offer (such as the clip-in inchwide streak of gray hair, the Sontag: Feminist Hair Wear, yours for the low, low price of $25!), the hipster glasses, the plethora of limited-edition totes.

Out and about after Irene

Our backyard looked to be in pretty good shape: a few fallen figs and a bottle of prescription cough syrup that somehow blew our way; no real damage to report. After the rain stopped and the wind died down, we decided to take a long walk through Astoria and Long Island City. The abandoned umbrella, on Vernon Boulevard, brightened up a desolate stretch. Ditmars Boulevard was surprisingly lively; a number of restaurants found a way to open, and though a few trees were down, none of them seemed to have done much structural damage to buildings. Astoria Park was a nexus of activity -- two short stretches of Shore Boulevard were submerged, and the atmostphere was festive. Children splashed in the puddled water, bikers braved crossings, and people picnicked. Across the East River, with no public transit to speak of, Manhattan felt a world away.