« A New Flower Shop for Fort Greene Christie's Makes a Winning Bid for Red Hook »

June 10, 2009

No Love for Manhattan from Bushwick Artists

“Manhattan,” says Iris Lasson, a sculptor. “The strange place across the water.”

“I don’t like going there unless I have to pick up a check,” says Doyle.

Arielle Bier stirs a pot of soup. “I go to Manhattan, and money falls out of my pockets,” she says.

— New York Magazine




Posted by Brownstoner at 10:14 AM | Comments (39)
Categories: Manhattan

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/10117

Comments

“I don’t like going there unless I have to pick up a check,” says Doyle.

No comment necessary.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at June 10, 2009 10:19 AM

translation:

waaaaah i can't afford manhattan and double waaaaaah my allowance from mommy and daddy can't afford manhattan.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at June 10, 2009 10:21 AM

rob, they can't even afford Bed Stuy.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at June 10, 2009 10:23 AM

I posted some apartments for rent recently in Greenpoint. I was struck by how many people were calling that were currently renting in Bushwick and seemed desperate to get out of the neighborhood for various reasons (unsafe, unclean, noisey). A couple from BedStuy also but more from Bushwick.

Posted by: dosteov at June 10, 2009 10:28 AM

Bier should darn her pockets, surely she can afford that.

Posted by: dittoburg at June 10, 2009 10:28 AM

I did like the idea of naming a sewer treatment plant after George W. Bush.

Article reminded me of the movie Waterworld. I guess one could argue about whether or not what they are attempting is art, but to each his own. They aren't hurting anyone.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at June 10, 2009 10:31 AM

Obviously these people are total wankers. I have more of an issue with these lame "journalists" that use these people to stir up some sense of outrage. They're easy targets, but the tone of the article makes the writer sound like just as big a jagoff.

Posted by: CG_ups at June 10, 2009 10:33 AM

ps. since when does bike riding equate with dumpster diving or being an anarchist?

Posted by: CG_ups at June 10, 2009 10:33 AM

what a waste of time. come on.

Posted by: joe_the_bummer at June 10, 2009 10:34 AM

I would truly rather read about someone searching for the right doorknob.

Posted by: joe_the_bummer at June 10, 2009 10:35 AM

I agree, joe.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at June 10, 2009 10:37 AM

Let us pray for the miraculous recovery of the auto industry so all these people go back to Michigan and Ohio, become middle managers and bore their children with their "wild time" in NYC.

Posted by: Grumpy at June 10, 2009 10:54 AM

the article is from New York magazine. why even bother.
(but is this no different from years ago -when cool thing to say from the cool set was I never go above 14th street or get a nose bleed). Not that people really said it - but supposedly they said these thing.

Posted by: Petebklyn at June 10, 2009 10:57 AM

Oh Art World. You did it again. Whats old is new again. I've seen this story a thousand times. Yea you guys are anarchists but your represented by Jeffrey Dietch. WOW, so radical. So Free. So very Upper Middle Class. And Swoon is a fking stupid name. And complaining about trust fund kids is boring. The art world has been full of trust fund kids for centuries. Get over it, its what makes the art world function.

Posted by: billyboomer at June 10, 2009 10:59 AM

what is the point of your pullquote other that to stir up sh*t? The article has nothing to do with that.

Posted by: MAT at June 10, 2009 10:59 AM

I remember NY Magazine article about Williamsburg in 1992 or so. It was titled the New Bohemia or something like that. Funny stuff.

Posted by: billyboomer at June 10, 2009 11:01 AM

All this I'm-a-bohemian business started in the late 1700s/ early 1800s. At least Thomas Chatterton had the decency to kill himself.

Posted by: dittoburg at June 10, 2009 11:03 AM

"what is the point of your pullquote other that to stir up sh*t? The article has nothing to do with that. "

Seriously - those quotes have very little to do with the actual article - which is pretty interesting.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at June 10, 2009 11:03 AM


Why do so many artists eat soup?

Posted by: East New York at June 10, 2009 11:04 AM

Annnnnd sh*t stirring commences. "Go back to Ohio", 'its the new yorker why bother', 'omg I've sen this before artists are laaaame'. Good job.

Posted by: MAT at June 10, 2009 11:04 AM

well before they would have said "I NEVER GO ABOVE 14th STREET!"

now its "I JUST STAY OUT OF MANHATTAN!"

same shit

Posted by: Santa at June 10, 2009 11:07 AM

I agree the article was interesting but the pretentious attitude displayed by author and artists is extremely maddening. First of all, the caption on the opening photo says this merry band of artists are "from the deepest Bushwick" and the article gives one the feeling that these "artists" are some self-righteous pioneers civilizing the hostile natives. And I don't care how poor you claim to be, but if you and your buddies are zipping off to Slovenia and Italy for two weeks, and you had the resources to "motorcycle across India" for a period of time, you ain't that poor.

But probably the part that aggravated me the most was when they were scavenging for "trash" in Slovenia. Turns out, first they tried to STEAL materials from an abandoned warehouse, barely eluding the police, and then they tried to STEAL materials from people who were using the materials as some sort of dog park. That's NOT trash! It's owned by other people and is not available for your stupid paddle boats.

Posted by: TD at June 10, 2009 11:27 AM

i thought this article was pretty cool, and the lifestyles of the artists, though not for me, sounds intriguing and adventurous. not sure why there's so much hate and "go-back-to-the-midwest" over broke-artists being broke-artists. if you readers get so upset about other people doing their own thing, i think it's YOU who has the problem, not the people in question.

@ENY - there are many vegetarian varieties of soup, it can be eaten straight from the can, and it's usually cheap. that would be my guess as to why it's a preferred meal of the vagrant artist.

Posted by: sweetser at June 10, 2009 11:31 AM

Eh, I went to college with these people. Well, okay, not these exact same ones, but ones just exactly like these exact same ones. If you're living life like it's some kind of dystopian steampunk fantasy, you might as well be in your mom's basement playing WoW. There is remarkably little difference.

It's possible I am a wee bit bitter though.

Posted by: Heather at June 10, 2009 11:55 AM

I dont understand why people get worked up about this kind of stuff. People like this with this attitude have been living in new york for 150 years.

Posted by: Santa at June 10, 2009 12:16 PM

i did attend the open studios this last weekend in bushwick. place was packed. also, the renegade arts fair in McCarren was packed, so northern brooklyn is popular brownstoners! anyway,i didn't have a chance to see a lot of studios, but the work in the Bushwick gallery Ad Hoc (which is actually pretty well known), was terrific.

there are good artists and bad, but don't pretend that there are not good. some are extremely good.

also, for anyone interested, the 3rd Ward has events all the time, and is a seriously very cool space. they had a great Christmas arts and crafts fair. They also have an open drinking and drawing night where they supply the model every other week.

Posted by: wine lover at June 10, 2009 12:17 PM

there's an opening on friday in bushwick that is all about sexting!!! (sex text messaging)! freeeeee alcohol


*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at June 10, 2009 12:21 PM

Thinking you're cool for not having money is just as uncool as thinking you're cool for having money.

Get over yourselves.

Posted by: TownhouseLady at June 10, 2009 12:26 PM

"there are good artists and bad, but don't pretend that there are not good. some are extremely good."

Hey Jizz Lover go fuck yourself!!!

The What

Someday this war is gonna end...

Posted by: Return of The What at June 10, 2009 12:39 PM

When did it become de rigeur for artists to have pretentious made up names?

Posted by: woodys at June 10, 2009 12:42 PM

Ha ha ha ha running off to City Hall to get a marriage license....

Posted by: mopar at June 10, 2009 1:10 PM

and you still let the what post here? Why?

Posted by: MAT at June 10, 2009 1:15 PM

actually it's NY mag who tags these artists as hailing from bushwick, and even then they mention Greenpoint and Gowanus as well. and what's with taking a few quotes from an article that has very little to do with some imagined bushwick-vs-manhattan shouting match and making it the focus? fish in a barrel. you can do better than that!

Posted by: Jimmy Legs at June 10, 2009 1:21 PM

**********
and you still let the what post here? Why?
**********

For entertainment value. It's a bare-assed-monkey-dancing-for-nickels kinda thing. Or would that be the case with Rob? Ah well, two monkeys - twice as entertaining!

Posted by: heck_of_a_job_brownie at June 10, 2009 1:25 PM

hey! that wasnt very nice :-/

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at June 10, 2009 2:42 PM

Rob's posts make The What sound like the voice of reason.

Posted by: cambridgeplaceholder at June 10, 2009 3:09 PM

Hey, those quotes were darn funny.

Posted by: mopar at June 10, 2009 6:00 PM

LOL Art is so bourgeois!

Seriously though Manhattan does suck. I mean, unless you're in a fraternity

Posted by: Billiamsburg at June 10, 2009 8:32 PM

For entertainment value. It's a bare-assed-monkey-dancing-for-nickels kinda thing. Or would that be the case with Rob? Ah well, two monkeys - twice as entertaining!

Posted by: heck_of_a_job_brownie at June 10, 2009 1:25 PM

Thanks Rob for pointing me in the right direction!

You know something guys? I feels like last year just before the meltdown. The Flock of Retards was in Male Alpha Retard Mode laughing at me prediction of the crash of '08. Remember "Keep Fucking Around"??? The first ever Brownstoner party went off while the whole economic world was imploding! After this historic event it got very quiet and the Assfucks started to chill.

Now we have a new round of Dumb Mother Fuckers with just a little tinge of Covert Race/Class Warfare but this time it's very fucking different.

I'm on record with a new prediction-- Five months from now the Global Economic Machine is going to explode into pieces. The end of the Douchification of the City of New York will come to a fucking halt! Then you can take your sorry pussy asses back where you came from.

Don't worry guys the end is very near... Five months Ssshhhhhh.......

The What

Someday this war is gonna end...

Posted by: Return of The What at June 11, 2009 1:51 AM

Post a comment

Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.

Latest Restaurant Additions