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Von and I had the privilege of staying at an incredible place called Brunel Sculpture Garden in Boiceville NY for a week. The garden is a home to gigantic cement sculptures created by Emil Brunel who lived and worked on the property 100 years ago. The grounds are now lived on and meticulously maintained by a wonderful couple, Cynthia and Evgeny Nikitin. They are wonderful people and extremely generous and inspiring hosts. One day Cynthia and Evgeny took us to visit their friend Nick Della Penna. Nick is a visionary man who created a folk art site called Rock Star meadows. Him and his late partner Estelle Ross would dig up huge boulders from riverbeds by hand without the use of any tools and drag them great distances back to his property to use them in gigantic stone walls and towers. He’s 82 and he looks like he could be in his 60s. His brute strength, determination and willpower is profoundly staggering. Nick also makes amazing marble statues and mosaics that he fills the place with. He has friends and admirers that come and assist him in his work. I’m hoping to return as soon as possible to help Nick move his boulders and build his walls. Truly an extraordinary man.
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Everyone hypes Storm King, especially for first date or cuffing reveal photos. But there's a big distinction here: Storm King is a sculpture park, Opus 40 is a park that's a sculpture. This guy named Harvey Fite bought an abandoned bluestone quarry in 1938 and started stacking rocks "in the ancient Mayan method." Fuck yeah, brother, I love the ancient Mayan method. He apparently meant to work on it for 40 years, but decided after 37 that the site was complete. Fite is considered one of the innovators of the modern earthworks movement. There's a museum of rusty tools (no "please do not touch" sign, I touched a bunch of shit) and a gift shop with like crunchy crafts and dry goods.
Nov 13, 2023
oh my gosh most incredible sculpture garden i have ever laid eyes on right outside of stockholm (15/20 min uber). unbelievable…. took my breath away. quaint but somehow still feels massive. incredible collection of work from Carl Milles and also his wife Olga + his personal collection of art from others. do not miss
Sep 26, 2024
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I started renting the house behind my studio a couple months ago, even though the space was *wrecked* (the location tho…!) I couldn’t conceive of how I would renovate it into a beautiful home until I began to think of it as art project. Crucial to the plan was 24 year-old Nico B Young, a genius artist who had never made a cabinet in his life but was game for the challenge of completely rebuilding the kitchen from scratch. He carved these shiny, butter yellow cupboards and counters that you just want to eat. The whole thing is a perfect installation that I made crepes for my child in this morning.
Apr 30, 2024
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I used to work at Casey Rubber Stamps in the East Village, the best shop in New York City. I was a very big fan of John and the store prior to working there. I begged him to give me a job at the store for over a year. Finally he gave in and I was thrilled! I worked there 7 days a week for a period which was a massive trip. John Casey is an idiot savant, very much a folk hero. He simultaneously drove me raving mad and taught me so much. I loved watching boxing with him on Saturday mornings while making stamps. John is truly the last of his kind in New York City. Beautiful handmade rubber stamps, go see go buy
Dec 11, 2023
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I’ve had two separate experiences seeing doppelgängers when I was living in Philly working as a dishwasher. This was not the same thing as simply finding someone who looks just like you or someone else. It was a far more unsettling and confusing situation. On two separate occasions I witnessed two of my coworkers passing through the kitchen single file and going down into the basement with disturbingly blank expressions on their faces. But both times they weren’t in the basement when I checked, they were in the front by the register. I did some digging on the internet to see if anybody had experienced anything similar and to my surprise I found lots of cases of doppelgänger sightings. Many stories had eerily identical details to my own, down to the uncanny valley facial expressions of the doubles. People think experiences like these are hallucinations brought on by extreme lack of sleep which would make a lot of sense because I was sleeping very little at the time. Nonetheless it deeply effected me.
Dec 11, 2023