Precipitation
It’s raining today in NYC. I’m sitting on the couch in the soft light of late afternoon, listening to the drizzle. I’ve been thinking a lot about water since I came back to this city about a month ago. Canals, storm drains, decommissioned water towers- infrastructure for controlling water surrounds us in urban environments. And here in New York, we also sit at the apex of many rivers- the Hudson being the most remarkable and well-known of them. A few weeks ago, I googled “Hudson River Watershed” and came up with this image:
I love how the watershed (the area of land drained by the Hudson and its tributaries) has little regard for city limits or state lines. It’s an ancient and ever-changing structure that as humans we participate in, but do not control. This image grabbed me in such a way that I started researching the watershed. I quickly stumbled into a complex web of issues (political, environmental, aesthetic, historical) that are tied to the Hudson, and I was hooked. I’m working on my masters thesis right now, and everything I’ve made so far (drawings, sculptures, sketches) relates to the concept of the watershed and our relationship to it as New Yorkers and city dwellers.
Below: me looking down on the Hudson and the town of Cold Spring. Much more “research” of this kind to follow! (thanks Dan)
