Creating Sculpture Out of Old Clothes

New Yorkers send 386 million pounds of textile waste to landfills annually, according to a study conducted by the Department of Sanitation. At the “Green Brooklyn... Green City” fair and symposium, held by the Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC), this alarming fact will be visualized through a day-long sculpture demonstration conducted by artist Derick Melander.

Melander, with a group of volunteers, will carefully fold and stack 3,615 pounds of recycled clothing into a five- by seven-foot cube over the course of the conference, which runs from noon until 6 p.m. “It will be a race against the clock,” he said.

The figure 3,615 — calculated by CENYC’s Office of Recycling Outreach and Education (OROE) and Brooklyn-based clothing recycling company Wearable Collections — represents the pounds of textile waste New Yorkers create every five minutes, Melander explained. He noted that textile waste comes from the residential waste stream: clothing textiles, non-clothing textiles (towels, carpets, furniture cushions), sneakers and leather goods. It does not include textile waste from the industrial/commercial waste stream.

Wearable Collections is donating the clothes for Melander’s sculpture. Through a partnership with CENYC, Wearable Collections has a presence at several greenmarkets throughout the city. Over its five-year life span, the organization has diverted over one million pounds of New York City’s textile waste from landfills, said founder Adam Baruchowitz.

The sculpture will be made up of four stacks of clothes, with only the weight of the clothes and lateral supports keeping the structure intact, said Melander. Clothing will be divided by color into four categories: blues, warm colors, cool colors, and blacks and grays. “There’s no gluing or sewing and no treatment other than Febreze every once and a while.”

He will set up a large folding table for volunteers, using a template that indicates the dimensions of the fold, which vary depending on the garment. A sweater dictates a smaller size than a cotton shirt, because when stacked it will compress and become wider.

Folded garments will then be passed on to volunteers who, overseen by Melander, will build the sculpture. “It will be Ford Motor car assembly line-style,” he said.

Volunteers (which are still needed) can fold for part of the day or the whole six hours. Those who stay for the duration will receive a free watercolor painting by Melander, he said.

He previously collaborated with CENYC through OROE for a fundraiser to which he donated two small artworks. But Melander has been constructing clothing sculptures for more than seven years.

Having “no natural affinity for clothing,” Melander says the material found him while he was working with found vintage suitcases. “I thought they needed to be up on a pedestal,” he explained. Not wanting to put them on plain white pedestals, he decided to construct bases out of piles of clothes.

“Working with all that clothing, I started to get interested in clothes,” Melander said. He would sometimes find notes in pockets or be able to detect the lingering smell of someone’s cologne on the garments he has used.

“Clothing has this natural connection to the people who wore it,” he said. “I’m making artwork that’s like a collective portrait... it’s a symbolic gesture where I’m compressing the space between people.”

And since the clothes in his sculptures are not attached, just stacked, they can be taken apart and recycled into new pieces.

“I’m eco-conscious as a person,” he said. “It’s part of who I am and naturally ends up having a place in my artwork as well.”

Melander’s demonstration will send a clear message, illustrating how much clothing is sent to landfills. “It’s important that people understand the magnitude of the issue,” Baruchowitz said. “It’s important for people to see it.”

“Green Brooklyn... Green City,” at Brooklyn Borough Hall on September 24, will run from noon to 6 p.m. with opening remarks at 11:30 a.m. To volunteer for the fair, e-mail cshann@cenyc.org. To volunteer for Derick Melander’s sculpture demonstration, e-mail the artist at derick.melander@mindspring.com.

The work in the top photo, called Compression, is constructed of 800 pounds of carefully folded, second hand clothing, crisscrossed around a central spine, and is from the collection of Farshid Assassi. Bottom photo is called The Ocean is the Underlying Basis for Every Wave, 1,859 pounds of folded clothing. Photos courtesy of Derick Melander.

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'Robert Redford: Artist & Activist' at BAM

From Sept. 8-16, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) will present "Robert Redford: Artist & Activist," a 16-film tribute to Robert Redford's 50-year film career. Some of the films to be shown are The Candidate (1972), Downhill Racer (1969), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Quiz Show (1994), The Sting (1973), All the President's Men (1976), A River Runs Through It (1992) and Jeremiah Johnson (1972). Out of Africa (1984), The Natural (1985), The Electric Horseman (1979) and The Way We Were (1973) are part of a special event on Sunday, Sept. 13, called "Redford: Film & Conversation," at which the award-winning actor/director (pictured here with BAM President Karen Brooks Hopkins) will participate in a panel discussion about his career as well as his role as a leading environmental and social change activist. For more information, visit www.bam.org.

Photo by Elena Olivio

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Brooklyn Botanic Garden Photo Contest

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is calling all photographers (amateur and otherwise) for its seasonal photo contest and asking visitors to focus on themselves. Dubbed "Me @ BBG!" the contest will document the diverse community of people who visit the garden. Photos are submitted by posting them on the Me @ BBG! Flickr group, and one will be chosen as the photo of the week for the next three weeks. Winners will receive a $20 gift certificate to the garden shops. For more information, to post photos and to view past week's winners, visit www.bbg.org.

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‘Get Yr Fix’ this Saturday in Williamsburg

The economic and climate crises have inspired in many a desire to reuse and repurpose old household objects, making them last longer, in order to use and spend less. But sometimes things break, prompting feelings of helplessness in those who aren’t sure how to fix them.

It’s this helplessness that the Brooklyn-based Fixers’ Collective tries to combat. It was started in March as a way for people to come together with their broken things and discuss how best to fix them. At Thursday night meetings, people come to art gallery/reading room Proteus Gowanus and put their broken objects on a communal table, sharing ideas with each other.

“We fix most of the stuff that comes,” artist David Mahfouda said. “We have a really high success rate.”

The collective is an idea that grew out of MEND, a year-long exhibit at Proteus Gowanus, where old tools were on display and one artist set up a station at which to fix books.

Mahfouda was one of the contributors to the exhibit, repairing a giant American flag that had been destroyed during celebrations in Union Square after President Obama was elected. “People were so excited that they made headbands and capes out of the flag,” he explained. Half of the flag was left after that night, and during MEND, Mahfouda was able to repair it, with donations and new fabric.

Some interesting challenges have come through the Fixers’ Collective. At last week’s meeting, Mahfouda said someone literally came in off the street and taught participants how to diagnose a stereo. Once, at an earlier meeting, someone brought in their iPod and an old rotary phone, their objective being to pick up the phone to hear music on their iPod. “It totally worked,” Mahfouda recalled. “It was pretty amazing.”

Fixing Fair

Fixers’ Collective meetings are usually small and low-key, with between five and 10 people at a time, all contributing $5 to participate. But this Saturday, the group will host its first major event, called “Get Yr Fix,” at VOD Space at 99 S. Sixth St. in Williamsburg.

The Collective has partnered with Sewing Rebellion and NYC Resistor for the fixing fair. Sewing Rebellion was started by a woman who calls herself Frau Fiber, Mahfouda said. She used to make clothes but decided instead to teach people how to sew and fix clothes for themselves. NYC Resistor is a Downtown Brooklyn-based group of tech designers who meet to share knowledge and build projects.

Attendees will be able to compete in individual fixing competitions, kind of like hot potato, said Mahfouda. Pairs will be given two objects to fix, with each person spending two minutes on one before passing it to their partner. The object is to be the one who actually fixes the object in the end.

“It’s kind of a faux competition,” Mahfouda explained. “Fixing can seem pretty mundane, we wanted to think about ways to popularize it and make it exciting.”

There will be a larger group competition — “kind of like Iron Chef or American Idol,” Mahfouda says — in which Fixers’ Collective will be pitted against Sewing Rebellion and NYC Resistor in front of a panel of judges.

“There will also be a barter auction, where people can auction their things off not for cash but for other people’s things,” Mahfouda said. The event, which is free, will feature live music from bands Band Practice and Too Big To Fail, will provide food and beverages for sale throughout, and will offer soldering, sewing and umbrella-fixing workshops. “It’s a fixing picnic with beer and hot dogs,” Mahfouda said.

He said that concern for the environment influenced the Fixers’ Collective, noting, “We’re going to be better off if we can consume a bit less.”

“Get Yr Fix” is this Saturday, Aug. 28 at VOD Space at 99 S. Sixth St. from 2 to 10 p.m. For questions and to RSVP, e-mail info@getyrfix.com.

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Williamsburg Faux Chicken Sandwich Named One Of Top 10 in Country

For many, the word “vegan” does not invoke mouth-watering temptation. Jeff Blanchard (above), one of the owners of vegan fast food restaurant Foodswings, often sees passers-by look at his menu and grimace when they read the word.

But this Grand Street eatery has perfected a faux chicken sandwich that tastes just like the real thing. In fact, its “Chick’n Caesar Club” was chosen by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) as one of the top 10 meat-free chicken sandwiches in the country.

The sandwich is made of grilled mock chicken with romaine lettuce, tomato and black olives with Caesar dressing on Italian bread and is the brainchild of Foodswings’ original owner. Blanchard bought the place nine months ago with Melody Henry and Eric Gershick, and they decided to keep the sandwich when they reinvigorated the menu.

Blanchard explained that the “chicken” patties are made from soy protein, wheat gluten and vegetarian spices. But what really sets the sandwich apart is the dressing. “The Caesar dressing gives it the great flavor,” he said, noting that all the dressings are made from scratch at Foodswings using vegan ingredients.

“[The sandwich] is fantastic,” said PETA spokesperson Ashley Byrne. “It tastes and looks like a chicken patty ... I really do think that most people couldn’t taste the difference.”

Many people who are meat eaters try the dishes at Foodswings and keep coming back. “I encourage everybody to try it once even if you’re not vegan,” Blanchard said. “We’re constantly coming up with new recipes. We love food and want to be satisfied by it. We want everybody to enjoy it.”

Customers at Foodswings can choose from a wide variety of options on the menu. There are mock chicken nuggets, mock fish sticks, mock steak, soy salami, soy cheese and soy milk shakes. The “No Turkey Club Hero,” for example, is made of peppered soy turkey slices, crispy soy bacon, romaine lettuce and tomato with soy mayo or mustard on Italian bread.

Blanchard, a vegan himself, used to frequent Foodswings as a customer. A resident of Bay Ridge who is part-owner of the bar Lucky 13 in Park Slope, he had always wanted to open a vegan restaurant, and jumped at the chance when Foodswings was up for sale.

While he has been a vegetarian for 10 years, Blanchard has only been vegan for less than two (he had a difficult time giving up pizza). For him, it’s an ethical issue, and while he doesn’t judge people who choose to eat meat, he says, “it really disgusts me what we do to this planet and how we treat other beings on this planet.”

“The meat industry is taking a devastating toll on the environment,” said Byrne. “Choosing a vegetarian option for one meal will make a tremendous impact on the environment.

“It’s great that places like Foodswings are catering to all the people who are turning away from meat products,” she continued. “It’s a perfect place for people who want the taste and texture of chicken while avoiding the cruelty.”

Visit www.foodswings.net for the menu and hours.

All photos by Mike Plotz

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Mayor Bloomberg Announces Progress in Reducing New York City Emissions

The Eagle received the following press release:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced three developments in the City’s use of alternative fuel vehicles, part of the PlaNYC effort to reduce the amount of carbon emitted by municipal government 30 percent by 2017 and to reduce the entire City’s carbon emissions 30 percent by the year 2030.

The Mayor announced that the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) will use two new hybrid electric diesel collection trucks, a hybrid hydraulic collection truck and a hybrid rack truck, the first in the country designed for heavy-duty applications; that the Parks Department and the Street Conditions Observation Unit (SCOUT) will field test ten all-electric MINI E vehicles on loan from the BMW Group; and that the Administration has launched a study to understand the electric vehicle market in New York City and how that market can be developed.

“Through PlaNYC, our vision for a greener, greater, New York, we’ve been dedicated to reducing pollution and improving the air quality in our City,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “We are encouraging people to leave their cars at home by making mass transit more accessible and attractive, but no matter how much we modernize our public transportation, there will still be trips that have to be made by car. So we want the vehicles driven in New York to be more energy efficient and use cleaner fuels. I am proud to say that City government is leading by example, with the help of good corporate citizens such as the BMW Group.”

DSNY Hybrid Collection Trucks are First in the Nation

The DSNY has added to its fleet three new first-of-a-kind hybrid refuse collection trucks and one diesel-hybrid electric rack truck. The collection vehicles, which will soon be picking up residential garbage in the city, and the rack truck, which is used for lot cleaning, snow operations and for hauling of heavy materials, are the first such vehicles to be used in the country.

These vehicles will reduce truck emissions, decrease fuel consumption and truck noise, and help collect some of the over 11,000 tons of garbage and recycling DSNY picks up every day.

SCOUT Inspectors Drive MINI E Vehicles as Part of the BMW Group’s All-Electric Vehicle Development Program

SCOUT Inspectors, part of the Mayor’s Office of Operations, drive every City street once per month and report conditions that negatively impact quality of life to 311. The SCOUT team will use the MINI E vehicles to complement their current vehicle fleet, which includes the three-wheel Interceptor scooter and city-owned sedans.

The MINI E travels about 100 miles on a single charge and provides the agility and handling of a MINI Cooper. It is powered by a 150 kilowatt electric motor with the equivalent of 201 horsepower. The energy supply comes from a high-performance rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The MINI E SCOUT vehicles are among 450 currently in the U.S., as part of a year-long field test. The City will provide important feedback to the BMW Group about the cars.

The MINI Es will be charged at DSNY garages and Department of Transportation facilities in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx. MINI is installing a special wall box in each facility that can fully recharge a completely drained battery in about two-and-a-half hours.

Electric Vehicle Study

Automotive manufacturers have made it clear that they will be producing electric vehicles in significant numbers in the next five to 10 years. The City has launched a study to understand who would be among the first to buy these vehicles and what the City could do to help accelerate their adoption.

Electric vehicles can contribute to the PlaNYC goal of reducing transportation emissions by 44 percent by 2030.

The study will examine New York City driving and parking patterns. Most New Yorkers do not own a car and even those who own cars may still rely on mass transit for daily commuting purposes. Many New Yorkers also park their cars on the street or in commercial parking garages, rather than in driveways or their private garages. All of these characteristics are important in identifying how to make electric cars a visible option for more New Yorkers.

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Green Brooklyn Conference Details

When the upcoming Green Brooklyn... Green City conference, held by the Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC), was announced, all the details weren't set in stone yet. Here are some updates:

There will be three workshops throughout the day, not four as previously reported. "The State of the Climate" workshop will be from noon - 1 p.m., "Green Your Business" will be from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. and "The Future of Food" will run from 3 - 4 p.m. All workshops take place in the Court Room inside Borough Hall.

CENYC is looking for volunteers for the conference, to assist with day-of logistics and on-the-ground marketing the week before the event. One or two event interns are also needed in the next few weeks to help with the final phase of planning. If you're interested, email Caitlin Shann at cshann@cenyc.org.

A sculpture demonstration by artist Derick Melander will feature him (with a group of volunteers) racing against the clock to create a four thousand pound structure entirely made from carefully folded second-hand clothing,a rranged by color. If Melander and team make their goal, the sculpture will be five feet wide and seven feet tall. Bring your old clothes to contribute! Wearable Collections will collect what's not used.

The upcoming conference will be at Brooklyn Borough Hall on Thursday, September 24, from 12 - 6 p.m. with opening remarks at 11:30 a.m.

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