Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

A couple of photos sent me by Steven Fisher showcasing fire escapes
among their own shadows inspired me to start looking anew for these
appendages to many older buildings. The two above are by Steve.

I used to believe that fire escapes were designed to be in the back
of buildings hiding from the public. Designed only to allow an alternate
escape from the building in case a fire arose.

However, it’s obvious this isn’t true. Older buildings have
no shame in baring their exoskeletal escape route.

The brownstone just about features the fire escape as a design feature.

Smaller buildings use smaller fire escapes and
they’re shaped for these buildings.

(L) Other buildings have long fire escapes that stretch over
several attached buildings.
(R) Some buldings have tiny shapes that cover small spaces.

Yet, other buildings don’t have fire escapes. They just
offer “patios” that, essentially, LOOK LIKE fire escapes.

Plenty of patios.

The structure, itself, takes on different shapes as designers
tried to cope with these required exits.

Even some thinner offered a style.

Fire escapes were a brilliant idea, but they don’t look very nice.
If they offer an exeunt for escapees, they also offer a way in for burglars.

Hence the introduction of the gate guard which prevents intruders
from entering, but that also it makes it difficult for a fast exit.

You can’t win.

The image above right shows the building in December 2009.
To the left, we see the building on February 22, 2009.

Here’s the building today. Zoom.
The sign for the cel phone is completely covered.

Well, perhaps they’ve worked TOO quickly.
This past week a man fell off a scaffold and died.
The building inspector then found some 15 violations, and
construction was shut down until that was corrected.

In the South Bronx, I came across this stained glass window
in the exit to the SUBWAY.

Credit goes to Romare Beardon, Benoit Gilsoul and Helmut Schardt.

Finally, the Bleecker St. subway station is undergoing some construction work.
Just off to the side of the construction is this beautiful and old mosaic.
I’m a bit nervous that it may disappear, but I’m hoping that it’s too
beautiful for even the dullest executive to eliminate.

Last year, Mayor Bloomberg’s administration decided that several areas of
street traffic should be closed and turned into a sit-down area with tables.
IN THE MIDDLE OF FOUR LANES OF TRAFFIC!
The two middle lanes were turned into a rest area where people
could sit their weary bones and watch traffic swirl about them.

I shot these pictures early morning. Tables and chairs had to be set up,
and someone does this daily. A guy was in the background sweeping
the area at 6:30am Saturday when I took the pictures.

You can’t see it vivdly in my photos, so I’ve done a quick aerial map.

Left: You can see that three lanes of traffic on Broadway crossed and
ran into three lanes of traffic from Fifth Avenue.
Right: After the “Fun and Games Area” has been added to the center of this
traffic center, cars are reduced to four lanes total – including lots of busses.

Now you can sit watching the swirling traffick, swallowing plenty of exhaust fumes
while you look across to Madison Square Park a distant 20 feet away.
What sense makes this!?!

Rocks like these line both sides of the triangle so that any careening car
won’t crash through the seated folk resting.

The lovely foliage adds to the experience.

A similar area was done in Times Square!
This summer, the cars will be turned away from these areas, and the streets
will become a pedestrian mall. No cars on 42nd Street and Broadway!
Try walking with the other thousands of people enjoying a delightful
hot summer evening in the middle of the street – Times Square.
Try getting a cab after the theater.

Finally, for today, could someone tell me what the hell this is!

In an area surrounded by enormous posters painted or draped onto
the sides of buildings on Houston Street, this one has this.

Are these clips or hangars or what?

Somehow, to me, this picture looks as though it could have been shot
in the 40s. Or a Currier and Ives lithograph. In reality, it’s the by product
of a school holiday in NY. The first in 5 years. I can’t help but ask:
Why aren’t these kids home watching tv or playing video games?

There are times when some simple change reminds us that
there is a grace in Nature always in front of our eyes.
The berries at the bottom of the picture are so truly hopeful.

Christmas yet to come.

Even something as mundane as cable wire feels the effects of the day.

Studio cat, Robbie, enjoys the snow by finding a way to watch it
without standing in it. He’s on a gate guard outside my window.
By the way, the pics are now out of focus because I’m shooting them.

Within a day, the mounds of white snow show the effects of the
pollution around us.

Duane Ullrich, a friend who worked on Raggedy Ann, used to say that
New York was the only place that had black snow. It’s probably not the
ONLY place, but it sure is one of them.

In the old days, it was the subway system that was overloaded with writing and drawings. Today, there are few specimen that can be found underground. Here’s the only bit I saw
at the popular Bleecker St. station – a trash can scratched.

In this new world of graffiti, it seems that it’s essential for the writing
to be completely illegible. Even the simplest of scribblings is incoherent.

Word to the wise: if you want your artwork to be noticed, don’t
write on top of print. Your illegible scribbling becomes even more so.
As a matter of fact, through all the mess, I now notice only that a
shoe repair shop is selling batteries. I wonder if they’re cheap?

Construction sites and gate guards are the obvious canvases
for the erstwhile but illegible correspondents.

A good example of the articluate. When confused, cross it out.

Menu board at a Spanish Restaurant with something added.
Is that GOOD or GODD or who knows?

Oh wait, that’s not graffiti !

This one might be some sort of code.
ZOOT! B$ Y.O.K!
A Twitterer without a computer or a celphone.

Mail boxes. When you don’t have anything to write or draw
make sure you’re using silver paint so it looks better.
For some reason, these brown boxes are targeted more often than the blue.

The mailbox (a Federal offence) has been the target of this person
who has earmarked quite a few places in the city.
Sort of a Taki183 for 2009.

I guess the most noted of current Graffiti artists is Banksy, but I think
he’s been too mainstream recently to really be considered a graffiti artist.

This picture shows the 29th Street crossing.

Another angle – on 29th Street looking toward Park.

In another month, you won’t be able to see this sign painted on the
building next door. Did the advertiser get his money’s worth?

This enormous crane gives an idea of how tall the building will
ultimately be. Another blockage to the view the Empire State Building.

They’ve constructed a walkway around the building.

This tunnel moves you across 29th St. (under the base of the crane.)

This tunnel takes you down Park Ave. under lots of
crashing, stomping and other scary noises.

Lisa Crafts inking a cel from the film. The cel comes from the,
first scenes of the film, so I actually did this one, myself.

(left) Lisa consults with the exposure sheets for a scene.
(right) This is one of the many backgrounds that Bridget painted.

Steve Dovas is coloring a scene that I actually did in the early days of
the film. The scene was done on a 3 field (very small artwork) looking
for the images to distort a bit when they were blown up. It’s one of my
favorite parts of the film.

Steve and Lisa sat alongside each other in that studio on
38th St & Fifth Ave. It was a great space.

A closer photo of Lisa at work on the Bellman.

Steve posing with some early artwork from the film.
I don’t know if these pictures were ever used for anything, but
I love all three of these guys and enjoy sharing these early pictures.