On Sunday I met 3 old friends. Hassan, Simone and Zak Ove. Hass and Zak are visiting from the UK, so it was my pleasure to spend a day with them in Upstate New York. We took a metro-north train from Grand Central Station and passed thru the rebirthed cool of Harlem, then the boogie down Bronx and soon the citys grid system of streets, blocks and buildings gave way to luscious rolling hills of green and the shimmer of the Hudson River. Hassan and I did much catching up and cracking up. We twittered like two mischievous old birds perched on a telephone line. Hass was the 1st person to bring me to NYC in the late 80s and Zak was the 2nd in the early 90s. Zak was shooting a video for Starlena, a back up singer for Steve Arrington (ex Slave frontman) who had gone solo. I was lucky to be the designated dancer. On both those early trips to NYC, I stayed at Simones apartment in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. These were the people that opened my eyes to the splendours of NYC. They are the very founders of my (continuing) Big Apple experience. Eternal gratitude !. Yesterday the adventure entailed a trip to the Hudson River Valley, more specifically, the DIA Gallery in the town of Beacon. The Dia:Beacon is a vast space, (like 1 and a half airplane hangers big). Inside, the art ranged from string to sheet metal, wooden boxes to crumpled cars, huge spirograph (remember that?) style drawings to bricks stacked neatly in rows. My fave piece was a huge alien spider creature made from blackened brass. Wondering how they got it into the space begged comparison to ships in bottles. Afterwards, we walked down to the water and sat on the all white, art deco-style dock. Simone took pictures while Hassan and Zak did what earthily artistic people do, namely creating art out of leaves, stones & driftwood. I sat on the dock and imagined that the lush emerald valley walls surrounding us were totally uninhabited. From my viewpoint they looked devoid of man. That is not a daydream you can get away with in the people stacked on peopleness of Brooklyn. Except, maybe, in the still of the night. This was the middle of a gorgeous day for roving and taking quiet pleasure in the comfort of well established camaraderie. I dont think theres a word for it but it felt like escape and being home at the same time . X
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 10:02:49 +0000