Here is an initial experiment in extending “The Colors of Berlin” into a sound/video piece. Presented September 15 at the 2007 Conflux Festival.

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Video editing: Jesse Shapins

Design: Celia Di Pauli, Pedro Recarey, Philipp Schwarz and Jesse Shapins

Sound design and recording: Kara Oehler

Photography: Pedro Recarey and Jesse Shapins

I just was tipped off to another project engaging the colors and the city called “Colors of New York City.” A group of artists throughout the five boroughs are working together on the project that describes itself as:

An Exhibit and Performance Depicting the Colored Harmonies of a City: The event is a meditation on the meaning of “color,” revolving around four puns on the notion of color – skin, objects, emotions and media. Rather than address directly the changing perceptions of race, skin color is explored as an instance (among many) of color in today’s cities. The exhibit promotes a dynamic understanding of color and of race through photographs, audio recordings, films and poetry.

The performance forces artists (and audiences!) to explore their homes, their communities, their neigborhoods and to document the COLORS found there. The inquiry includes the following New York City hoods: Bensonhurst, Flushing, Fort Green, Harlem, South Bronx, Staten Island and Washington Heights. It also delves into racist conceptions of “beauty” through an examination of “ethnic hair” in New York City.

The opening and performance is on Wednesday night at Chashama, 217 East 42nd Street, from 5 - 9 pm. I will definitely check it out.

Di Fara Pizzeria has slowly risen to the top of the city’s best pizza lists. It’s an unassuming, tiny storefront in the middle of Midwood, Brooklyn, right off the Avenue J stop on the Q train. Not in the heart of the tourist city, to say the least. Dom has been running the shop since the 60s and with two co-workers he individually prepares each pizza. He’s never in a hurry and the whole experience is vaguely like enforced meditation. Below is a video of the beautiful Italian juice maker that rests on the counter, in front of the radio blaring opera and Dom’s stack of fresh basil and olive oil.