My central practice is filmmaking but I reconize film as a medium but also as a language using it as mode of research. I spend time in other mediums such as painitng, photography, skateboarding and writing.  This digital studio shows complete and incomplete works. I think in many cases my work is never finished. I have films that sit on harddrives and the floating artifacts are as important as the finished work. I  find that a portfolio is limiting for my current level as an artist. Being in such a discory phase most of my work are experimtnents that are in attempt to discorver myself.  This space will hopefully give a bigger insight into my practice in a less resume esc style. I hope to post in here more gernousily with less thought. Creating a playful insight into my practices. 

The 5th and Hoyt project is the first build in our new effort to directly engage with the new wave of skate urbanism. It is our first ramp of a larger ongoing project that we are calling the Chameleon Ramps. Unlike DIY skate builds, usually made from concrete, the Chameleon Ramps are meant to be unobtrusive, limit damage to public infrastructure, and visually blend into the urban context. The goal isn’t to pose a new alternative to DIY skateboard obstacle building; rather, it’s meant to be a counter-monument to defensive design and privatization of public space in the United States, striking conversation about the deeper systemic players that hinder the inhabitation of space.

Gowanus, Brooklyn is one of the fastest-growing neighborhoods in New York City and has been in contention for hundreds of years. Gowanus Canal, or Gowanus Creek, was originally the land of the Canarsee branch of the Lenape people and was then colonized by the Dutch, transforming the creek into farms and mills in 1630. The man-made canal we know today was finished in 1869, becoming the United States’ busiest commercial canal by World War I.

During the turn of the century, concerns over its toxicity grew until the EPA declared the Gowanus Canal a Superfund site in 2010. The cleanup goal is set to finish in 2030, de-industrializing the space and replacing it with luxury apartment developments. With the space again in contention for new financial interests, I focus on how skateboarders disregard the intended programming of space and resourcefully re-imagine it for their benefit. Skateboarding inadvertently demonstrates how informal spatial practices can contest entrenched capital power.

I am excited to keep sharing the process of this research project with you all. Catch you next month.

Around one year ago Preston my studio mate began mentoring me with oil painting. These three paintings  represent the first year of practice and studies. Two paintings of my home in Rye New Hampshire and one abstract work very inspired by William De Koonings practice of laboring.  I feel that this year of painting has been so inspiring and has deeply effected my methodology into all my practices.