Obsolete Macintosh Computers Become Works of Art in Gowanus

It’s long been a tradition for Macintosh hobbyists to convert their old, cherished computers into something else — a fish tank, for example. With this idea in mind, Jeff Graber, owner of the Mac Support Store in Gowanus, looked at the pile of obsolete computer equipment in his store and wondered, what could be done with it?

Since the Mac Support Store is part of NYC's Retailer Take-Back Program, the equipment was slated to be recycled. But Graber and Brooklyn curators Michele Jaslow and Spring Hofeldt decided to put out a call for artists to use them to create art pieces.

The result is the show “Programmed,” which opened on Dec. 21 at the Mac Support Store, with a satellite exhibit in the windows of wine shop Red White & Bubbly on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope.

Eight artists contributed 12 pieces to the show, three of whom are Brooklyn-based. “[The artists’] work speaks to the idea of how quickly these electronics become obsolete,” Jaslow said. “What happens to the old, which is relatively not so old.”

The work in the show is diverse; Jaslow described a necklace made out of an iPod and a working lie detector made out of computer parts. Brooklyn artist Noah Fischer created a multimedia installation called “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish,” (left) named for a commencement speech Steve Jobs gave at Stanford in 2005. The expansive piece comprised of stacks and piles of computer parts with blinking lights set to a soundtrack of Jobs’ speech fills the better part of a room. See the video below.

Brooklyn artist Kimberly Simpson’s work (right), a “video reliquary” dedicated to “Saint Obsoleta.” According to her artist statement, it is inspired by the computer parts and by medieval reliquaries which protect a saintly relic. The patron saint of outmoded objects, Saint Obsoleta encourages humans to adopt new technologies in order to replace the old. She also acts as a guide, directing obsolete technologies and outdated electronic items to their final resting place.

Nancy Lunsford, a Park Slope artist and founder of 440 Gallery, contributed pieces based on quilt patterns (top, left). She was surprised when working with the computer parts, she said. “It was much more colorful than I anticipated, much more delicate.”

Using pieces from computers juxtaposed with children’s pacifiers symbolizes how people are “pacified by computers,” Lunsford said.

With her work, Lunsford wanted to emphasize the human-machine connection. “[Computers] are made by human beings, they are used by human beings... they are more human than we think and we are more machine than we think.”

Graber, too, wants viewers to take away from the show a new way to think about their relationship with computers. “I hope it stimulates people to think about and interact with their electronics,” he said, explaining that we spend so much time using the computer when it’s on that “when it’s off, it takes on a whole new meaning.”

What originally inspired Jaslow, she said, is “what happens to these electronics when you’re done with them, [asking] what is their place in our community, what is their place in art... looking at things in a different way.”
But the most important message Graber hopes people take away from “Programmed” is that, “Computers and electronics must be recycled. There are so many toxic elements within computers and electronics.”

“Programmed” features work by Noah Fisher, Liesl Hazelton, Nancy Lunsford, Mario Marchese, Ryan Mcintosh, Patricia Paludanus and Kimberly Simpson. The satellite installation features work by Ryan Seslow.

The show will continue at the Mac Support Store through March 13, with a reception this Friday, Jan. 15, from 6 to 9 p.m., sponsored by Red White & Bubbly, which is open to the public. For more information, click here.



Photos courtesy of Michele Jaslow.

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Brooklyn Collects Second Highest Number of Trees at MulchFest

This past weekend was the 14th annual MulchFest, a citywide event held by the Parks Department where New Yorkers can bring their Christmas trees to locations throughout the five boroughs to be chipped into mulch. This year was the most successful: 23,615 trees were collected from around the city – a 38 percent increase from last year. New Yorkers from Manhattan brought out the most trees of all the boroughs at 10,533, followed closely by Brooklyn’s 7,477. For more information, click here. 

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Bloomberg Releases PlaNYC Study of Future of Electric Vehicles in NYC

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced the results of a study of what the city government and other sectors can do to foster the use of electric vehicles and what factors would lead New Yorkers to drive them.

Developed in partnership with McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, the study found ways to facilitate adoption of this technology in the short-term. Transportation emissions currently account for 22 percent of New York City’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

The study found that there is a potentially large group of New Yorkers in all five boroughs who are willing to change their behavior to accommodate electric vehicles and become “early adopters.” Market research projects that by 2015, up to 16 percent of all new vehicles purchased by New Yorkers could be electric.

The study found that early adopters are willing to change their habits to adapt to an electric vehicle, including switching from an on-street parking space to a parking garage that has a charging station (see New York's first — in Brooklyn — here). The research also found that consumers’ attitudes, rather than their driving or parking behaviors, are strong indications of their willingness to adopt electric vehicles.

Early adopters also understand that electric vehicles will cost more than a comparable gasoline-powered vehicle — and they appear willing to pay that premium for the benefits that electric vehicles will offer them. This suggests that in the short-term tax incentives may not be necessary to attract additional demand.

Manufacturers have announced more than a dozen highway-capable electric vehicle models for introduction between 2010 and 2012, in limited global production. Because the demand of early adopters is projected to outstrip the available supply of electric vehicles to the New York market for the next five years, the study suggests targeting early adopters and delaying a focus on the “average driver” for several years.

Ways to help early adopters enter the electric vehicle market include providing clear information on the benefits and challenges of using an electric vehicle and developing a convenient and easy-to-understand process to install charging equipment.

The study also found that the projected level of adoption of electric vehicles will not unduly tax the electrical grid as long as most chargers are configured to allow charging to take place during off-peak hours.

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Fifth Annual Memorial Bike Ride Honors Brooklyn Cyclists Killed

On Jan. 4, according to Gothamist, a small group of bicyclists participated in the fifth annual memorial bike ride for cyclist-related deaths in 2009, of which there were an estimated 10. The gathering rode across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens to sites of fatalities, which are indicated by white-painted “Ghost Bikes.”

Gothamist has photos of Ghost Bikes in Brooklyn, and reported that the ride culminated in a dedication of an eleventh Ghost Bike at Greenpoint Reformed Church. This bike honors unknown cyclists and walkers killed by motor vehicles

The memorial rides are intended to give a message. “We have to change the ‘Wild West’ atmosphere of our streets,” said Wiley Norvell, spokesman for bicycle advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, after last year’s ride.

The Ghost Bikes, Norvell explained, are “personal memorials that call attention to the cost our streets inflict on us.” Each one is personalized by families of cyclists who have been killed, and are a “perpetual reminder.”

The goal is to bring the number of deaths down to zero, he continued, explaining that right now, streets are designed for cars. "It would be different if safety were a priority."

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Turn Your Christmas Tree Into Compost or Mulch at Locations in Brooklyn

As usual, the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) will hold its annual holiday tree curbside collection and recycling program this year. Starting Monday Jan 4 and continuing through Friday, Jan 15 you can put your tree out by the curb — having removed all its ornaments, and not in a bag — and it will be pick up, chipped and made into compost.

Compost will then be spread over the city’s parks, community gardens and ball fields. Last year, 122,235 trees were collected by DSNY.

“Providing collection and recycling options for residents is environmentally valuable and benefits our neighborhoods,” said Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty. “Compost is a natural fertilizer and is an excellent soil enrichment that promotes the healthy growth of plants and grass.”

With a little extra effort — and maybe the use of a car — trees can also be brought to one of 16 locations throughout the borough (there are more throughout the rest of the city) to participate in the 14th annual MulchFest held by the Parks Department.

On Saturday, Jan 9 and Sunday, Jan 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., bring your tree to be mulched at one of the designated parks, which are indicated as either chipping sites or drop-off sites. At chipping sites, you are encouraged to bring plastic bags; you can take home free mulch for your own garden.

“Chipping machines” turn dead trees into mulch, which is used in tree pits and horticultural areas, conserving warmth and soil moisture during wintertime, and preventing weed growth.

There are more than 80 parks participating in this year’s MulchFest. Chipping sites in Brooklyn are Added Value Community Farm at 305 Van Brunt St.; Cobble Hill Park at Verandah Place and Clinton Street; Fort Greene Park at Washington Park and Willoughby Avenue; Hattie Carthan Garde at Lafayette Avenue and Clifton Place; Marine Park at Avenue U and 33rd Street; McCarren Park at Driggs Avenue and Lorimer Street; Owl’s Head Park at Third Street at Prospect Park West; and Prospect Park Circle at Parkside Avenue and PRospect Park Southwest.

Drop-off sites in Brooklyn are Coffey Park at Dwight Street and Verona Street; Green-Wood Cemetery at 25th Street and Fourth Avenue; Lincoln Terrace Park at Buffalo Avenue between East New York Avenue and Eastern Parkway; Maria Hernandez Park between Knickerbocker Avenue and Suydam Street; McGolrick Park at Moniter Street and Driggs Avenue; Prospect Heights Community Garden at 252-256 St. Marks Ave.; and Sunset Park at 44th St and Sixth Avenue.

Click here for more information about curbside collection, and here for more information on MulchFest. To volunteer during either day, visit milliontrees.org.

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Rudolph, Eco-Conscious

Happy holidays.

Courtesy of Cagle Cartoons

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Recycling Outreach in Brooklyn

I’m sure many of you, while dutifully putting your paper recyclables in the green bins, and metal, glass and plastic recyclables in the blue bins, have often wondered: When the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) picks these up, do they really go to a recycling center?

According to David Hurd, director of the Office of Recycling Outreach and Education (OROE) at the Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC) — which is not a city agency — they do.

“So many New Yorkers want to believe that the Department of Sanitation is actually not recycling the recyclables that they pick up,” he said. “That’s absolutely false.”

In some cases, people are recycling less or not recycling at all. So, through OROE, “What we try to do is basically get people to understand the program,” he explained. “To debunk the classic myth.”

CENYC, which is almost 40 years old, created OROE in 2006. Five outreach coordinators tackle each borough by community district, using a Residential Waste Characterization Study conducted by DSNY to target the districts that have low recycling diversion rates first.

Brooklyn’s recycling outreach coordinator, Jae Watkins, says of her approach, “I try to find active community groups in the districts.” At their meetings she does a presentation with samples, “a collection of things that are both recyclable and not recyclable. I clear up the confusion about the program.”

Much confusion is generated from what DSNY does and does not collect. Plastic bottles are the only type of plastic that can be recycled; yogurt and takeout containers are not recyclable. Milk cartons seem like they should go out with paper and cardboard, but they actually get recycled with plastics and metals. Also, household items that are at least 50 percent metal — pots and pans, irons, toasters and wire hangers — can be recycled.

Watkins mostly speaks to building owners, giving them tips about ways to make recycling easier in their buildings, such as making sure their bins are in places that are well-lit and clean.

Of the neighborhoods Watkins has tackled so far, she said, “I started out in the Williamsburg/Greenpoint area a couple of years ago and then I moved to Bed-Stuy, and then Bushwick, and now I’m working in the CB 2 area, Fort Greene.”

Once she’s established herself in a community district, Watkins says she remains a resource for recycling questions and requests. She gets calls every once in a while from building owners who are looking for more ways to educate their tenants, such as getting signs in languages other than English.

“A lot of people, they have all these questions but they don’t know who to ask,” Watkins said.

Though she has covered a lot of ground in her three years at CENYC, Watkins still has a ways to go. “It takes six months to really get in good in a community district, and there are 18,” she said.

“What I think makes us effective is that staff really does try to completely absorb the neighborhood,” Hurd said. “Not only do we use data from the Department of Sanitation study, but we also use demographic data from the Department of City Planning to identify larger target population groups.”

OROE also identifies the other opportunities that exist in neighborhoods, such as composting, appliance repair shops, or shoe repair shops, Hurd explained, to make objects last longer rather than be thrown out.

“We’re trying to get people to remember that whole concept, that garbage is a choice that we make,” he continued. “There are a lot of things that are perfectly good but we decide that they are no longer good for us. We try to talk about changing that mentality where we can.”

For more information about recycling, visit www.cenyc.org.

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