'Combined Overflow' Roundtable Discussion Marks End Of Exhibition At Proteus Gowanus This Friday

triptych with images from Jose Gaytan, Willis Elkins and Jenifer Wightman.

If you have not yet had the opportunity to see "Combined Overflow" - the Newtown Creek & Gowanus Canal exhibit at Proteus Gowanus at 543 Union Street, you still can do so till Saturday May 24th.

The show has been curated by Laura Chipley, Nathan Kensinger, Sarah Nelson Wright, and features the works of Wendy Andringa, Liz Barry, Sarah Christman, Willis Elkins, Eymund Diegel, Jose Gaytan, Jan Mun, Leif Percifield, George Trakas, Mitch Waxman, Jenifer Wightman.

From the curators:

"Combined Overflow is an exhibition of creative responses to the Newtown Creek and the Gowanus Canal, two New York City waterways with similar histories of industry, pollution and neglect. Both of these salt-water inlets were designated as federal Superfund sites in 2010, and are currently undergoing remediation, even as new residents are lured to their shorelines. Both have also inspired dedicated communities of artists, innovators and explorers, who have been working to collectively recalibrate these bodies of water as fertile sites of collaboration, invention and public engagement."

To mark the closing of the show, the curators will be moderating "Combined Overflow Roundtable Discussion" on Friday May 23rd from 7 pm to 9 pm.

"Join us for a roundtable discussion with several artists from our current Water exhibition, Combined Overflow. They will discuss creative collaborations on the Newtown Creek and Gowanus Canal and consider new ideas for how to engage with Superfund Sites, urban waterfronts and environmental pollution in Brooklyn and beyond.
Participants include George Trakas, designer of the Newtown Creek Nature Walk; artist Willis Elkins of the Newtown Creek Alliance and North Brooklyn Boat Club; engineer Jeff Laut of the Brooklyn Atlantis robot project; photographer Mitch Waxman; media artist Jan Mun; and artist/scientist Jenifer Wightman."

RSVP for the Combined Overflow Roundtable discussion here.  Free wine and refreshments will be served.

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"At the Corner of 3rd and 3rd": A Documentary On The Coignet Building By Max Kutner

The Coignet building in all its glory. An etching from 1873.

Historic photo of the Coignet Stone Company Building

In many ways, the decrepit Coignet building at the corner of Third Avenue and Third Street exemplifies the industrial history of the Gowanus area. The building was designed by William Fields & Son and built in 1872-73 on a five-acre site. It housed the New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company and was meant to showcase the durability and the versatility of the structural prefabricated and iron- reinforced concrete developed by industrialist François Coignet in Lyon, France in 1846.

The Coignet Stone Company factory closed in 1882 and the building next housed the offices of Edwin Clark Litchfield’s Brooklyn Improvement Company. In more recent years, it was used by the Pippin Radiator Company.Though the Coignet building was landmarked in 2006 by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, it has been allowed to crumble.

To chronicle its history and changing fortune, writer and filmmaker Max Kutner has made a wonderful documentary entitled At the Corner of 3rd and 3rd on "the past, present and future" of the Coignet Stone Company Building.  Kutner has just released a trailer, which you can see above
(And yes, that's me in some of the clips. Kutner also interviewed good friends Joseph Alexiou and Nathan Kensinger.)

At the Corner of 3rd and 3rd

Directed/Filmed/Edited by Max Kutner

(2013, 20 minutes)

At the Corner of 3rd and 3rd, a new documentary by Max Kutner, explores the evolving character of Gowanus, Brooklyn and the mysterious New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company Building that captivates all who pass it. Constructed in 1873, the building at 3rd Avenue and 3rd Street is a historic landmark, but has been mostly abandoned since the 1960s. The Coignet Building got back in the news when Whole Foods broke ground on its first Brooklyn market just a few feet away from the landmark. Through archival materials and interviews with historians, activists, artists, photographers, and local residents, the 20-minute film presents the first comprehensive account of the past, present, and future of the Coignet Building and how a community looks to the future while fighting to preserve the past.

View the trailer for the film at vimeo.com/maxkutner/3rdand3rd.
More information is available at maxkutner.tumblr.com/3rdand3rd.

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Great Line-Up For The 2011 Brooklyn Film Festival

The 2011 Brooklyn Film Festival

June 3rd to June 12th, 2011

at IndieScreen & the Brooklyn Heights Cinema

Got a pen? Got your calendar? Great. Because you will want to mark down the just released screening dates of the upcoming 2011 Brooklyn Film Festival. The list of films is stellar. They were chosen from 2,400 submissions from 26 countries. The selected movies will be presented over 10 days in June both at the Brooklyn Heights Cinema and at IndieScreen in Williamsburg. So get your festival passes early here.

Here is a note from Nathan Kensinger, the director of programming for the festival:

We have some great Brooklyn stories in the festival this year, including these documentaries:

Battle For Brooklyn - (USA Premiere) Our opening night film, 7 years in the making, follows Daniel Goldstein of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, as he fights against the Atlantic Yards development, trying to save his home.

http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/films/detail.asp?fid=1112

Bed Stuy - Do or Die - (World Premiere) The Bed Stuy volunteer ambulance corp struggles to survive on the gritty streets of Brooklyn.

http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/films/detail.asp?fid=1140

Skydancer (World Premiere) - Mohawk Indians help build NYC's skyscrapers, living in Brooklyn during the week and returning to their reservation on weekends.

http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/films/detail.asp?fid=1182

Damn! (World Premiere) - A portrait of Brooklynite Jimmy McMillan of the Rent is 2 Damn High party!

http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/films/detail.asp?fid=1135

The Best Thing I Ever Done (east coast premiere) - a portrait of Domenico DeMarco of Di Faras Pizza!

http://www.brooklynfilmfestival.org/films/detail.asp?fid=1162

See you at the movies!!

Nathan

For the complete list of movies and screening times, click here

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A Must Read Photo Essay On Gowanus Whole Foods Site

photos by Nathan Kensinger

Photographer, blogger, and friend Nathan Kensinger just published an amazing photo essay on the the Gowanus Whole Foods site. Nate not only chronicles the history of the heavily polluted site starting with its industrial use 125 years ago, but is also critical of the unrealistic, unsustainable revitalization "schemes" of the Bloomberg administration.
It is a must read.

The Whole Foods Lot by Nathan Kensinger

The story of the Whole Foods lot is one of the best examples of how New York City's recent real estate boom and subsequent collapse unfolded. Located at the intersection of 3rd Avenue and 3rd Street, this empty lot is bordered on two sides by the Gowanus Canal. In 2006, it housed an active scrapyard, but this closed when ground was broken for a planned 68,000 square Whole Foods Market, which promised "Brooklyn residents a wide array of natural and organic foods" alongside a public esplanade and community center. The idea of building this market on the banks of a toxic industrial canal struck some local residents as a far-fetched idea, but this was representative of the ambitious yet ill-conceived development projects that were common during the past decade.

Soon after the groundbreaking ceremony, construction came to a halt. Leaking "550 gallon oil drums" were discovered underneath the planned construction site, remnants from the lot's "former life as a petroleum refinery," according to the NY Daily News, "demolishing the company's forecast for a store opening" in 2006. Today, after 4 years of delays, cleanup crews have finally moved in to fulfill Whole Foods' promise to detoxify the property, although the future of their store remains uncertain.

Continue reading photo essay here

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'Abandoned Brooklyn' Exhibit At UnionDocs Gallery

Photographer and fellow blogger Nathan Kensinger is exhibiting his amazing photos of the Brooklyn that time forgot. His photos capture the hidden, abandoned and decrepit industrial spaces within our borough and turns them into places of pure beauty. Hope you will take time to see the show. You won't regret it.

To kick off 2009, you're invited to a new exhibit of my photographs: Abandoned Brooklyn at the UnionDocs gallery. The opening reception is on Saturday January 24th at 7pm.

Abandoned Brooklyn explores the industrial neighborhoods of Brooklyn, visiting an abandoned airport, deserted train stations and empty powerhouses. The exhibit documents a transitional moment in Brooklyn’s history, as it moves from its industrial past towards a future that seems to be dominated by luxury apartment buildings and chain stores. This exhibit is curated by the documentary collaborative UnionDocs and kicks off a new season of their Documentary Bodega screening series. As part of the opening night event, there will also be a screening of my film Covered Tracks - a short documentary about an abandoned homeless city underneath Manhattan. Also screening will be a short documentary about my photography, directed by Joe Pacheco and filmed inside an abandoned Brooklyn sanitation depot. A Q&A and opening reception with wine and food will follow the screening. Union Docs is located at 322 Union Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

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