Documenting ChangeWilliamsburg/Greenpoint: The Disappeared and the Endangered at Art 101 (Block Magazine)

Documenting Change
Williamsburg/Greenpoint: The Disappeared and the Endangered at Art 101
By Dakota Kim

Many have called Williamsburg a microcosm of New York - its many waves of immigration, its sheer diversity of history. In "Williamsburg/Greenpoint: The Disappeared and The Endangered," an exhibit of twelve local photographers at Art 101 Gallery, these different threads came together to illustrate the stark beauty of industrial architecture, a vibrant street life, and private scenes of a changing neighborhood.

An intimate space in size and atmosphere, Art 101 lends itself to accidental shoulder bumping and discussion of the work crowding its walls and the recent changes in the neighborhood. All the better in this exhibit, where community awareness is the intended result, said curator Nancy Wechter.

"As a photographer, I came to Williamsburg in 1984 for the space and light, and stayed because of the people," said Wechter. "With this exhibit, I want the community to come together in discussion so that we can really remember our history, identify what we care about, and learn to preserve it."

In one of the exhibit's most striking photographs by Joyce George, two middle-aged women sit side-by-side on the Grand Street waterfront in their bathing suits, lounging and smiling into the sun and breeze, Manhattan visible but a world away.

In a stunning multi-panel panoramic photograph, "Documenting the Transition: Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal I 1994-98," Peter Gillespie exhibits the industrial landscape changes from Owl's Head Park to the end of Newton Creek.

"Though not explicitly political, the photos do inform the recent community organization work I've done to try to promote and nurture the thriving but fragile industrial and artisanal sector that is now threatened, not by global forces, but by ill-conceived public policy," said Gillespie, who serves as the executive director of the local non-profit community group Neighbors Against Garbage.

Photographer Regina Monfort spent nine years photographing the Southside Latino community in a project entitled "Beyond Grand Street." In her images, families, children and couples interact together in energetic and tender moments, making the strong bonds of community evident.

"[These images] stand as an homage to the timeless beauty of a neighborhood and its people," said photographer Regina Monfort. "The very people I photographed over the years are the ones threatened to be erased from the local map."

Like Wechter, gallery owner and painter Ellen Rand came to Williamsburg in 1982 for the kind of light that artists in sky-scraped Manhattan often find completely unattainable.

"I still feel like there's a real community here – we're very lucky to live in a place that's so alive, and it's something worth documenting and preserving," said Rand.

The exhibit shows the importance of the physical landscape in creating a social atmosphere and a community. In photograph after photograph, Williamsburg residents are at their happiest in architectural surroundings that are not sleek and polished, but instead affordable and conducive to community interaction. An impromptu block party, a stoop, a bodega or a playground often provides as much interaction as an official community center. When these de facto spaces are lost or made hostile by architectural changes, the social fabric is rended, separating members of the same community.

"With beautiful old industrial buildings going away and forty-story towers appearing, a certain relaxation and ease as well as the working class and the artists are starting to go away," said Wechter. "The roots of the neighborhood, people who have lived here for years and years and who have very emotional ties to the neighborhood, can no longer afford the rents. We need to document this and do our best to stop it."

"Center Stage: Boylesque" (Block Magazine; January 31, 2006)

Center Stage: Boylesque
Male Burlesque Artists Roam (Twirl, Trapeze and Strip) through Williamsburg
By A. Dakota Kim

Galapagos on a Monday night is packed, with standing room only for most of the devoted audience. They know what to expect, as burlesque has become the pain quotidian for our urban generation: a voluptuous Marilyn Monroe or Bettie Page look-alike, of course, touting glittery pasties, feathered fans - and maybe a sex toy or fake pistol, if the number ventures on the edgy side.

The red velvet curtain opens to reveal ... a man. An attractive man, clad in a black leather jacket and tight jeans, flashing us a mischievous smile, but, nonetheless - a man. I thought this was supposed to be a burlesque night, a boy says jeeringly to his pals in a thick Jersey accent.
Little does he know.

The man's name is Mario Queen of the Circus, and he's about to knock those Jersey boys off their Dockers. In a thick Italian accent, Mario charms the audience with slapstick one-liners while juggling five balls in dizzyingly different directions. The crowd cheers enthusiastically, and by the end of the night this Williamsburg native has become a local burlesque star.

A Brief History of the Art

Contrary to our modern perception of burlesque as simply striptease, the original definition in the 1800s was much broader, combining musical theater that mocked upper class conventions by showcasing women and men in drag with variety acts by male comedians. By its heyday in the early 1900s, the success of commercialization had made scantily-clad women the central lure of burlesque, and many of the male comedians who had worked the burlesque circuits had graduated to the higher-class ranks of vaudeville.

Neo-burlesque is moving back toward its original definition as traditional striptease acts are hosted by old-fashioned vaudevillian hosts like Murray Hill and The Don and accompanied by talented variety acts like the sword swallowing of Keith Bindlestiff and the fire eating of Tyler Fyre.

Local Lore

Williamsburg has become a reliable destination for new burlesque, with a free weekly show at Galapagos, Bindlestiff Cirkus revues at Union Pool, special burlesque performances at venues like Northsix, the Lucky Cat and the Tainted Lady Lounge, and vibrant street performances and loft parties such as those sponsored by Rubulad.

“Boylesque,” as burlesque veteran and boylesque coach Dirty Martini calls male burlesque, has a long tradition of queer and transgender performance. From legendary stars like Tigger and Scotty the Blue Bunny, to new burlesque favorites Bradford Scobie, Roky Roulette and Seth the Zog, boylesque plays host to a wide spectrum of fluid gender and sexual identities and exposes audiences to realistic male forms in a live context.

“At first, there were no male burlesque performers,” said Galapagos Artistic Director Travis Chamberlain. “Pretty soon, Scotty and Tigger came to our attention, and once they paved the way, others soon followed. The men who are really serious about pursuing burlesque as an art have now taken center stage.”

Tricks of the Trade

On a burlesque night, besides watching female performers like Miss Saturn spin a dozen hula hoops simultaneously or the Wau Wau Sisters twirl around one another on the trapeze, lucky audiences may be treated to the likes of a deadpan Magic Brian doing card tricks and biting the head off a rubber chicken; Scotty, a 7-foot tall gay blue bunny, teasing the audience about being too straight; AJ Silver, a lassoing cowboy, stripping it all off except for chaps and a cowboy hat strategically placed; or Tigger, a professional movement actor, performing acrobatic feats in drag.

“Burlesque has more gender fluidity in it than almost any other performance art,” said Rose Wood, a transgender performer whose avant-garde burlesque acts challenge static gender identities. “These audiences are being exposed to a raw, personal transgender and queer experience.”

While more mainstream audiences might not be ready to see such unconventional displays of sexuality and gender performed by male bodies that are hardly picture-perfect, relatively young and liberal Williamsburg residents have embraced this highly comedic and challenging form where bodily perfection is not necessary for an electrifyingly entertaining performance.

“Burlesque in general is a very body-positive industry no matter what size or shape you are,” said burlesque host The Don. “In my case, it’s short, fat, hairy and male, and I’m still cheered and appreciated for what I do.”