Group Show: Brutal Destruction, at pinkcomma gallery, Boston, MA

My Orange County Government Center 'transformation' images are included in an exhibition opening this week in Boston, MA. I have mixed emotions — I'm thrilled to be included in this exhibition but sad that the general attitude toward brutalism is almost universal destruction. As this show highlights, there are many excellent examples of the architectural style that should have been saved or more carefully redesigned.

If you are in Boston, please check out the exhibition. Full info below:

Brutal Destruction

Thursday, April 12, from 6:00 until 8:00 pm

pinkcomma gallery
46 Waltham Street, Courtyard One, Boston, MA 02118

An exhibition documenting the ongoing destruction of significant works of concrete architecture, and the issues raised by their demolition and alteration. 

The exhibition is curated by Chris Grimley, over,under.

Photographs by:
Matthew Carbone: Mechanic Theatre, Baltimore, MD
Harlan Erskine: Orange County Government Center, Goshen, NY
Jason Hood: Birmingham Public Library, UK
Rey Lopez: Third Church of Christ, Washington, D.C.
David Schalliol: Prentice Women's Hospital, Chicago, IL
David Torke: Shoreline Apartments, Buffalo, NY
Oliver Wainwright: Robin Hood Gardens, UK

pinkcomma is a division of over,under.
The gallery receives support from the Boston Society of Architects and NADAAA.

Sugar Decay — The Domino Sugar Factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn waits for its next act.

Since I moved to Brooklyn, The Domino Sugar Factory has been a consistent companion. Crossing the Williamsburg Bridge on a windy day, I could smell the sugar. It was always there, a reminder of where I was—not just because of the size of the factory, but the sugar permeated the neighborhood with a rotting reminder of its industrial past. Currently the factory building is home to a monumental installation by artist Kara Walker. Produced by Creative Time, the piece entitled, A Subtlety or the Marvelous Sugar Baby an Homage to the unpaid and overworked Artisans who have refined our Sweet tastes from the cane fields to the Kitchens of the New World on the Occasion of the demolition of the Domino Sugar Refining Plant. I encourage everyone to see it.

A few years ago, I shot an editorial piece for The L Magazine and got to know the factory better. At the time, the factory was poised for demolition. The plans never materialized and the complex was sold to Two-Trees, a company based in Dumbo Brooklyn.

Recently, Two-Trees invited a group of photographers into the factory to document the property before they transform the complex into a new neighborhood. I was fortunate to be included among that group. I made a lot of images and here is the initial batch.

UPDATE: see part II of the set here or the whole collection (so far) in the project gallery: Sugar Decay.

View Looking North, Raw Sugar Warehouse, Domino Sugar Factory

Inside the Sugar Bin, Raw Sugar Warehouse, Domino Sugar Factory

Vintage Raw Sugar, Raw Sugar Warehouse, Domino Sugar Factory

Molasses Drippings, Raw Sugar Warehouse, Domino Sugar Factory

Rusted Sugar Wall, Raw Sugar Warehouse, Domino Sugar Factory

Wash House Control Panel, Raw Sugar Wash House, Domino Sugar Factory

Pair of Roberts Centrifugal Machines, Second Floor, Raw Sugar Wash House, Domino Sugar Factory

Roberts Centrifugal Machine, Second Floor, Raw Sugar Wash House, Domino Sugar Factory

Roberts Centrifugal Machine Control Panel, Second Floor, Raw Sugar Wash House, Domino Sugar Factory

Dad Mug, Refinery Building, Domino Sugar Factory

Sifters Leading Down to Sorting Pipes, Sugar Sorting Room, Domino Sugar Factory

Bridge, Heading Toward Bin Structure, Domino Sugar Factory

Bell System 520 Telephone Set, Bin Structure, Domino Sugar Factory

Looking North West toward Manhattan, Bin Structure, Domino Sugar Factory

Boiler House, View from the Bin Structure Looking North, Domino Sugar Factory

New Year/New Beginning/New Website!

When a new year rolls around its a great opportunity to you look around to see what can be improved. With fresh eyes new things can be revealed. This January, I took a hard look at my website and decided something needed to change.

I handcrafted my site in 2005. I'm not a html coder by trade but I hacked it together and it worked. Every few years I would tweak it—html to php one year, larger images the next but I never really changed the original design or altered the code to fit the changing technological landscape. These days with multiple devices, browsers and operating systems I decided to let the experts deal with the code and I upgraded to Squarespace.

After a few weeks of designing, copy fitting and image editing the site is here.
Some of the new features include:

—Large dynamic images that work across different screen sizes,
     Check out huge images from all my projects including:
     imaginary wars, black sun project and ten convenient stores.
     Also, check out the large images for I'm a PC, Midtown Past Midnight or an editorial
     on the Domino Sugar Factory.

—Image galleries now have index pages so you can see the whole project at once.

—Newly added galleries for Grind–Broadway, Applegate Farms and a
     new dedicated portraits section.

—New logo design.

—Cleaned up blog.

enjoy!