Nicolina ART

At the Sing for Hope Gala! Celebrating 88 painted pianos that...

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:30:14 -0400

At the Sing for Hope Gala! Celebrating 88 painted pianos that will soon hit NY streets, parks and squares this June. Happy and honored to be part of this spectacular public art project~

Top of the Cosmic Double Golden Rainbow Dragon Piano~

Wed, 15 May 2013 22:29:23 -0400

Top of the Cosmic Double Golden Rainbow Dragon Piano~

Perola painting the double golden rainbow dragons for our Cosmic...

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:29:09 -0400

Perola painting the double golden rainbow dragons for our Cosmic Double Golden Rainbow Dragon Piano. Tomorrow we finish!

Making gem-stoned mandalas with the girls at the Lower East Side...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:53:37 -0400

Making gem-stoned mandalas with the girls at the Lower East Side Girls Club~ #The Free Art Society #Lower East Side Girls Club

Profile in EV Grieve

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 16:03:37 -0400

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.

By James Maher

Name: Nicolina Johnson
Occupation: Street Artist
Location: Portal Zero (Outside the Bean), 3rd Street and 2nd Avenue
Time: 6 p.m. on Monday, April 15

I grew up in Seattle. When I was young I drew all over my parents’ house and all over the walls. I would take a permanent market down the hallway and onto their lampshades and into the bottom of their shoes. They finally were like, “You cannot do this anymore. Please don’t draw anywhere in the house. You can have your room to draw in.” And so I covered every square inch with detailed drawings and poems and secret codes. Even when I was like seven years old I made a little symbol and I put it all around the neighborhood. It was a weird beginning to street art.

I moved to New York in 2002 and to the East Village in 2003. I wanted to see the whole world but didn’t have a lot of money. I just had enough to go to one place and New York was the one place you could go where the whole world was. I wanted culture.

I was a waitress for many years working at the Kitchen Club in SoHo and at a sushi restaurant. I worked a lot of really bad jobs and I eventually got fired from the Kitchen Club. I was devastated and didn’t know what I was going to do with my life until I came to the realization that if I didn’t try art at that point, then there was nothing I could do. I said I would do whatever it took just to make my living painting or making art somehow.

So I started doing face painting in Central Park for kids and six months after that I painted my first window — at Umberto’s Clam House in Little Italy. That was the beginning of Paint The Town. It started spreading down the block and so I put a portfolio together. Now we have over 40 clients all over the City.

Art spreads like a happy virus. If you paint one guy’s shop, then the guy across the street wants it. We just did a project last year in Rio de Janeiro where we painted one boat in a harbor of 60 and then the guy next to us was like, “Hey can you paint my boat?” We ended up painting 58 fishing boats and working with 45 different artists. It was a floating gallery.

I do a project called the Hearts of the World for the Lower Eastside Girls Club. They were the first ones to give me a chance and now it’s been all over the world. It’s a collaborative project with kids from around the world, basically asking them to paint what’s in their hearts inside the panel of the stylized anatomical heart. I silkscreen the outline for them and then they can paint in whatever they want.

Recently I did it at an orphanage for blind people in Beijing. I had no idea what to expect and so I outlined the hearts with yarn so they could feel the edges. And one of the children, who was around 7, painted the whole heart blue and I asked him what he was painting and he said he was painting the sky. And then he painted a yellow sun and a green forrest and white clouds. And then he painted over everything in black. And I said, “What are you Painting?” and he looked up at me with these cloudy eyes and a big smile on his face and he said, “I paint the darkness.” I asked him why he painted the darkness and he said, “The darkness is very beautiful. There are many color lights in the darkness.” He painted all of the things he couldn’t see and then he covered it up in the darkness.

I’ve painted on boats, on pedicabs in Central Park, a Tap Tap in Haiti, which are these big, brightly colored taxi-buses, I painted a tour boat in Chile, an Ascensor, which is like a cable car, a few trucks, a piano in Tompkins Square, a canoe. I love to paint moving objects because it will travel to different places and lots of people will see it. It also brings in another level of life and action. I’ve always wanted to paint an airplane. So if anyone has one…

Portal Zero is an introduction to a new project that I’m doing in the East Village with Perola Bonfanti. It was a test to see how many people would use the QR code and to see people’s perception of it. Way more people than we thought used it. Within just a couple of months we had a few hundred people scan it. The official opening is in July. You have to start at Portal Zero outside of the Bean [on East Third Street and Second Avenue]. You scan the QR code and then either answer a question or complete a task and then you can pass through the Portal to the next one.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Pass it forward~

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 03:50:12 -0400

Pass it forward~

Today Perola and I painted a mural of Jane Jacobs for the Lower...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 03:43:17 -0400

Today Perola and I painted a mural of Jane Jacobs for the Lower East Side Girls Club in NYC. The mural is part of a project called Women Who Changed the World. You can see it in the Community garden on 1st st (btwn 1 & 2nd Ave)

My first photo on Instagram! Watercolored world map for the new...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:53:54 -0400

My first photo on Instagram!
Watercolored world map for the new Hearts of the World website (in progress).

The Third-Annual NYC Undercover, You-Might-Be-Arrested, Clandestine Errantry Trespassing Adventure Party - Part 1

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Soon I am heading back to New York after spending 3 months traveling abroad in Mexico, Cuba, Haiti and Brazil. Spring is by far my favorite season to be in NYC. The streets come alive with happy people liberated from their coats after freezing their asses off all winter. This spring I am most excited about the 13 Portals experience which will take place in the East Village over Spring/Summer/andFall. In the meantime, I’ll tell you a story about a party we threw one spring.

To protect the innocent and/or the guilty, the following may or may not be true~

My friend Nathan Austin, who is one of the sharpest and slickest cats I know, told me of an empty storage room that sits atop a tower on the Williamsburg Bridge. We went that night at 2am climbing over a small gate and then a tall gate and then over a tricky door at the center of the bridge under the towers on the Manhattan side. From there it was a majestic climb up seven flights of stairs overlooking the sparkling East River along the glowing Manhattan skyline. At the top was a manhole secured with a chain and padlock, cracked just enough for us to squeeze through.

The Williamsburg Bridge. The storage room I am speaking of is at the top of the tower pictured in the foreground. (Photo courtesy of AmericasLibrary.gov)

The space was spectacular. I was freaking out.. The cables of the bridge run through the middle of it and a catwalk connects an identical room on the other side of the bridge tower. This place was magical. Nathan had the smashing and gutsy idea to do a secret party there. I imagined that. 30 people. Get them over the fences, the door, up through the manhole. To share a moment in that space with 30 people all experiencing it for the first time would be pretty sweet.

Looking out the tiny windows of the storage room with a view down Delancey street (Photo by Tod Seelie)

So we decided to go for it. We picked a date, I made a little poster, we called it the Third Annual New York Under-Covered Errantry Clandestine You-Might-Get-Arrested Trespassing Adventure Party. We told the 30 RSVPS to head down to this Mexican Restaurant on Grand Street at 1 am to ask the bartender for a 1,000 year old egg.

If you were going you would wander down to Grand and Suffolk and you would ask Bobby at La Flaca’s for this egg and he would tell you, “Well, Were fresh outta 1,000 year-old eggs, but here, have a fortune cookie.”

You would crack open your fortune and find the message,

You soon will be on top of world

You will met a agent

Follow the rainbow

Upon stepping outside, you would notice the stringy beginnings of a very long rainbow. And so you follow it~

To be continued…

The long stringy rainbow leading to the bridge

The Third-Annual NYC Undercover, You-Might-Be-Arrested, Clandestine Errantry Trespassing Adventure Party - Part 2

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:22:00 -0400

…Continued (Photos by Tod Seelie)

So you follow the rainbow down the street, around the corner, across the road, around the block, down the way, and finally up the ramp of the Williamsburg Bridge, where Agent Blu awaits. Slowly, one by one, 29 others join you at the top of the ramp where you stay until agent Blue sends you over to Agent Verde, (Nathan) who waits, posted mid-bridge across from the gates under the towers. Agent Indigo stands around the corner keeping an eye on the bridge traffic as Verde gets you over the fence to Agent Naranja. You are led to a corner just out of the view of the bridge traffic before Naranja sends you up the many flights of stairs to Agent Rojo (me). I get the privilege of welcoming you to the party.

The room is candle-lit and enlivened with the sounds of harmonium and Indian drum. After everyone arrives to the room safely Nathan follows. The last to come up, he closes the manhole behind him. Now we are virtually undetectable. We serve chocolate covered strawberries and a special ginger concoction while people sit on the floor in silence, whispers and conversation. Indian music fills the room with a peaceful presence.

But not every one made it that night. We had five different performances that were supposed to take place up there far above the East River and each one canceled on us the day of. Out of our crowd of 30 all made it to the top except one girl who bailed upon discovering where we were going. The NY Times photographer who came along for the ride was the very last besides Nathan to go up. He waited nervously until the end, not sure if he wanted to commit.

Finally he did. He wrote this about the experience in his article about photographer Todd Seelie which came out shortly after the party.

In the windy darkness of a recent spring morning, 30 people of an arty, mostly Brooklynite persuasion gathered after midnight for an illicit get-together in a maintenance shed, high atop the Williamsburg Bridge. Billed as the “Third-Annual NYC Undercover, You-Might-Be-Arrested, Clandestine Errantry Trespassing Adventure Party,” the event attracted members of a distinct, risk-taking subset of the New York art world — heights-loving writers, courageous painters, a devil-may-care guitarist, a guy lugging bongos and the Williamsburg photographer, Tod Seelie — all of whom had been quietly invited to the late-night affair by its pseudonymous organizers, Agent Verde and Agent Rojo.

After scrambling over a 10-foot-high security fence, the partygoers climbed a steel staircase — the lights of Manhattan glimmering below — as part of a vertiginous, invigorating trip that culminated in a catwalk, a ladder and finally a narrow hatchway, leading up to a low-ceilinged room of riveted metal plates. There, for more than an hour, the group made music and unauthorized public art. Light was provided by votive candles and flashlights. Mr. Seelie, a bald man sporting tattoos and a Fu Manchu mustache, camera at his eye, stood taking pictures in the middle of the room.

“When a trip takes this much effort,” he said, “there’s usually something worthwhile at the end.”

Looking down the cables onto Delancey Street

After about an hour in the tower we reopened the manhole and instructed everyone to filter back down. Some guy from the bike path spotted our crowd descending the stairs and ran to the emergency phone mid-bridge to call the Police on us. Pulses racing, we made it down the ramp and onto Delancey street just as the police zoomed onto the bridge, lights flashing.

……And no one got arrested.

Check out Nathan’s new project WanderLust. Together he and his partner Ida C. Benedetto will take you places you never imagined. If you like adventure, sign up for their invites. You don’t want to miss their next one, believe me.

THE RAINBOW BRIDGE

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:38:00 -0400

To protect the innocent and/or the guilty, the following may or may not be true~

The Art Explosion cracked open a door in my mind. It showed me that with many people you could make large-scale art on the street in a very small amount of time. Flash Art!

(Photo by Dan Nguyen)

I ride my bicycle everywhere I can in New York. One of my favorite paths is over the Williamsburg Bridge. I like the way you have to work to get to the top. Then you are rewarded with a most spectacular view of the Manhattan skyline on one side and the majestic Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges on the other. You can see the boats in the East River below and colorful people of all kinds pass you on bikes, skateboards and feet. The dialogue of graffiti scrawled all over the ground is as entertaining as it is unsightly. And then, when you pass the peak you get the freedom of coasting all the way down the other side with the wind in your hair and the thrill in your gut.

While flying down the ramp over the years I often imagined a rainbow there below my wheels, a long rainbow that went from the top of the ramp all the way to the bottom and splattered out on the sidewalk below. I thought it would be an awesome thing for people to ride down this rainbow on their way to and from whatever … the idea stuck in my mind.

To paint a rainbow down the ramp would take a team of daring people. People who were agile and quick and unafraid of the repercussions of getting caught. The action seemed much riskier than the Art Explosion because it was on the bridge. But the idea continued to roll around in my mind over time and it evolved into a more modest, more practical 80 ft. rainbow flowing out of a cosmic heart. I slowly started gathering the rainbow ninjas. I recruited them by color over the course of a year or so. So and so agreed to paint the green stripe, another friend wanted to paint purple, etc.

All in all there were about 25 of us: 6 to paint the rainbow, 6 to paint the heart, a handful of lookouts and a small video crew, courtesy of my friend Nathan Austin who filmed the process.

Weeks in advance I purchased 6 battery powered turbo rollers. These contraptions made the whole thing possible. The battery propelled the paint through the roller and the extra was stored in the handle. They allowed us to roll out a wide line of paint 80 ft without needing to refill the roller, saving us a lot of time and the hassle and mess of pouring paint into trays. They worked great.

A practice run on a friends rooftop in Brooklyn to check for kinks and test our timing.

The day of, I spent the afternoon in Tompkins Square park preparing the heart stencil. Later on everyone met up at my place on 2nd st and prepared for the rainbow intervention. We filled the rollers, packed up the stencils and went over strategy one last time.

I remember being pretty damned nervous. We could not get caught. It wasn’t an option. I wasn’t worried about going to jail. I have always thought that would be an interesting adventure on it’s own. I was mostly afraid of getting my otherwise innocent friends busted. I roped them into this after all.

We loaded up the back of a friend’s truck with the rollers and rolls of vinyl stencils. He sped ahead to meet us at the bridge. The rest of us took off on bikes with backpacks full of spray paint. The lookouts went first, posed as couples on corners and at the entrances of the ramps on both sides of the bridge. Once the bridge was assured empty we zeroed in on the ramp. Everything “GO!”

Rainbow ninjas in the night (Photo by Nathan Austin)

Adrenaline raced through my body, all the city sounds seemed distant except the sound of my breathing and the “Chhhhhhh” of the spaypaint. The dim, yellow street lights lit our canvas and we began painting in the heart as another six of us took off down the ramp in staggered succession; each one painting an 80 ft long stripe of color.

We were completely finished in 11 minutes. No snags, no hold ups, no police, no problems. It was bewilderingly smooth. My heart beating fast, we packed away the evidence and hopped back on our bicycles, disappearing into the fiery orange sky of the burgeoning dawn. All 25 reappeared one by one at Kellogg’s Diner in Brooklyn where we partook in a glorious victory breakfast.

Spirits were soaring. Waffles never tasted so good.

The “Universal Heart” and the 80 ft. rainbow (Photo by Dan Nguyen)

Almost three years later, the rainbow is still there on the walking path of the Brooklyn side of the Williamsburg Bridge. I fly down it with nostalgia and a smile every time I go to Brooklyn.

A few weeks after this project followed another action on the bridge. This time a party, a collaboration between my good friend Nathan Austin and I. It was The Third Annual New York Under-Cover Clandestine Errantry You-Might-Get-Arrested Trespassing Adventure Party.

To be continued~

My art in Viaje Mais Magazine

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:38:00 -0400

I was thrilled to randomly find this beautiful image of the cable car I painted in Valparaiso Chile in Viaje Mais Magazine. I picked up the magazine because it featured an article about Chile and this image was on the first page for the article.

The famous cable car also appeared on the front page of a National Geographic article for Valparaiso this year!

I hope to visit Valparaiso Chile again soon!

The Dark Side of Portal 5

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Portal 5 in the 13 Portals project is Expression. The 5 symbolizes the beginning of the game; man playing and experimenting with the material world, the fool’s journey. It is the machine, language, knowledge, and expression. And it is taking Perola and I a long time to finish, mostly due to the fact that I recently whitewashed my initial painting and started over. My painting was too dark.

When I was a child of about 5 or 6 years old there was a ritual in my house of watching the news every evening before dinner. At 5pm, like clockwork, the war in Iraq exploded into our living room with its tanks, bombs, missiles, Saddam Hussein, terror and death. It affected me deeply, shattering my sense of reality and security. It was my first glimpse into the horrific side of this world. And I was horrified. Every day when the news came on I would crawl under the coffee table with my little brother, bringing along our favorite toys and we would play under there, in our own little bubble trying to shut out the sounds of violence from the television.

Life went on and I went on acting in a very similar sort of way, hiding under the metaphorical coffee table from the evils of the world. I didn’t want to watch the news, I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to accept these truths into my reality. I couldn’t understand how such malevolence could exist in a world of such miracles and beauty. It ripped open my heart to hear about the tragedies of war, torture, and cruelty in both modern times and in the world’s history. I’d sooner remain ignorant than deal with that pain and reality. I was like an ostrich with my head in the sand.

This is a luxury I can no longer take. I’ve realized recently the dire importance of educating myself intensively about the problems of the world in order to have a chance at changing it for the better— in which ever way I can.

And so lately I have had an unquenchable thirst for catching up. I’ve been spending my mornings reading about political problems, world history, environmental issues and evil corporations such as Monsanto. At times its been very difficult for me. My jaw often drops from the atrocities I find. The unthinkable actions of modern day political prison camps, human sex trafficking, violence and war, layers over layers of political corruption… the list is long. My stomach clenches in queasiness and disbelief, my heart feels like its ripping into a million pieces and my tears fall, stinging my eyes as I learn more about the details of the tragedies I once avoided.

Facing the music, no matter how awful, has catalyzed the process of thinking deeply about how I can help to improve the world. I have a lot of ideas and I think the biggest tools we have are technology and the image.

But this is another story, back to Portal 5.

So channeled my frustration about these things into my work, into the Portal.

I painted a cotton gin, representing industry and the exploitation of the common man by the elites. The gin is depicted with sharp teeth and is pulling the clothing of the Joker into its trap. It exploits the fool who stands above the machine on a spinning gear. Snatching the cosmic fabric of the fool, the cotton gin strips out tainted, patented seeds (a reference to Monsanto) and propels the rest of the cotton through its inner gears, transforming it into stacks of money. The machine contains an eye and out of the eye comes a waterfall of tears, watering the seeds of destruction and corruption. I took the last few US dollars that I had with me(I am in Brazil) and sliced them up and glued them onto the canvas. I cut up an old Hamlet book and pasted the pages throughout the background.

Portal 5 in progress

The painting was in process and Perola and I were sitting across from the canvas, studying our work as we often do. Perola noticed the newly painted tears and sharp teeth and asked me about them. I told her what they represented as she listened intently. She hesitated a few times, thinking, and then said to me in a sensitive tone, “I think it is really important that we bring the best of each Portal.” My painting had taken a trip to the dark side, but I argued that since the fool had endless directions and possibility that it was good to depict both dark and light in the painting. I stated my case, firmly believing it and then I stopped for a moment to ponder and with a pang of aggravation, I realized she was right.

If we want these Portals to be transportive and mystical we need to bring out the holiest parts of ourselves and the highest aspects of the symbols associated with each number. My rant on the condition of the world didn’t belong here. I cringed. The realization meant painting over days of work. I loathe painting over work. It feels like such a loss of time. But it was the only way. I replaced the cotton gin with an intricate golden clock mechanism with a myriad of gears. It sits on a cosmic chess board which leads into an endless labyrinth. I will post some photos of the new version soon. in the meantime I am off on my own journey back to New York City. Portal 5 will have to be finished there. I’ve been away for over three months and I return a deeper human being. I am ready for Spring in New York and ready to bring the Portals to the streets!

“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.”—

From The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.

Art Explosion

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:05:29 -0400

Art Explosion was developed by the Free Art Society and I in 2010 and involved blasting one city block with concentrated, site specific street art overnight and then, after slipping away into obscurity, returning at 7 in the morning to flood the same block with interactive performance art and public spectacle.

The idea stemmed from mural vision, a condition I’ve diagnosed myself with, in which my mind naturally and regularly super-imposes imagined murals and paintings onto blank spaces that i come across in my day to day existence. Essentially I see frames everywhere or the potential for art anywhere. Art Explosion evolved from a vision I had walking down my street in the East Village. I was living on 2nd st. between Ave A and B at the time and the block possessed great potential to be “art-ed.” I imagined the wonder it would create to fill one block on one street with art and to have it appear over night. How many people would notice? How would it affect them?

We in the Free Art Society discussed the idea and then decided to put it to action. First came the process of gathering the artists. We managed to enroll over 60 different artists to each make a piece for the street. We met several times over the next months to brainstorm strategy and solidify ideas for the artwork.

Then the appointed night arrived. We all met up at a warehouse in Brooklyn, the only place we knew that was large enough to handle all of us. In the end about 40 showed up. We waited until the peaceful hour of 4:00am, the drowsiest hour of the night. I was nervous but wouldn’t show it. I was also thrilled and excited.

Putting up one of the larger installations later that morning

(Photo by Rachel Esterday)

We took the subway to the Lower East Side and our lookouts checked out the street and called us in. We were split into four groups and we came in like an army, an art army from four different directions. Everyone did their thing, put up their art and then helped the others finish. We were done within 15 minutes and then fled in the four directions we’d come from to meet up minutes later at Remedy diner on Houston Street for a victory breakfast.

Thrill

Rush

Adrenaline

Transformation

Eggs, sunny side up please.

We hung out there until 7, sharing pancakes, eggs, stories and laughs. When the clock struck 7 we returned to the block. People were just coming out of their apartments to go to work. It was Monday. The wind was crazy and the sky was grey.

The street, however was full of color. Dreamcatchers and poems hung from the trees, paintings were glued into empty advertising frames, and attached to lamp posts.

People walked out of their houses and looked around curiously at their freshly altered enviroment. The artists lined the streets, some with interactive installations, some dancing, passing out flowers, making art out of leaves on the ground, playing accordion, reciting poetry to the passers by. One of my favorite elements of the performance side of Art Explosion was something we called the Compliment Gauntlet. Eight of us stood in a line on the sidewalk. 4 on each side and as people passed between us we bombarded them with compliments. “Nice hair, Great Smile! You look like you have a winning personality.” Then we gave them a daisy and a doughnut and they were off to work.

I have never seen so many smiles on an cold and windy Monday morning.

Here is a little video from that day.

The Art Explosion opened a door in my head. It taught me that with many people you could make big art on the street in a very small amount of time. I called it FLASH ART.

From The Art Explosion came the possibility of The Rainbow Bridge… next post…

Portal 5 and the Joker

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:32:00 -0400

Portal 5, Expression. The Joker.

Perola and I have begun painting Portal 5 of the 13 Portals project. The number 5 represents expression, language, technology, and the Fool from the Tarot, (The Joker) who experiments and toys with reality. At first for Portal 5 Perola and I were thinking about painting a big machine. When Perola suggested painting the Joker in the center of the Portal I was delighted with the idea. Maybe it is because I can relate a lot to the Joker.

Perola’s sketch for the Joker. Reference taken from a photo of our genius friend Zel Nonnemberg, a filmmaker, and visual artist.

We begin Portal 5, collaging books and even money onto the fabric. This Portal is sure to have some tricks behind it. Look closer.

I have always loved jokes, pranks and magic tricks. As a child, my first victim was my brother. We were always together. Sometimes in perfect adventurous harmony and sometimes in all-out-battle against each other. This always involved pranks or some kind of sibling sabotage. One of us would often end up locked out of the house, locked into a closet, drenched in water, unknowingly covered in colorful marker or in the most extreme case, running to the bathroom due to dangerously delicious chocolate Exlax s’mores.

The joking continued at school and especially in various summer camps, where, with proper retaliation from my foes the pranks were raised to new levels. One summer at Interlochen (School/Camp for the Fine Arts) I led my cabin crew in a revenge attack against our counselor after she removed and hid the doors to our bathroom stalls. She laughed and laughed as we spent hours looking for those doors. For that prank, the price would be high. We gathered one night to plot our counterblow.

We had it all planned. She would return late that Friday night after going out and upon return would encounter a linear chain of unfortunate events. First we switched the door knob with the cabin next to ours so that her key wouldn’t work to unlock the door.

We predicted that her next move would be to try to climb in the window, which we left cracked. Just inside the window we tied together a mass of strings creating a large web that would prove challenging to penetrate. The web was full of booby traps. We tied some of the strings to cups of water which we perched carefully on top of the rafters. She would make it inside, but not without getting wet! Once inside the cabin we assumed her next step would be to try to sleep so we removed her mattress and hid it on top of the exposed beams in the main room of the cabin. We made a dummy out of stuffed clothes and put it on top of the mattress so that when she went to pull it down the dummy would fall off as if it were a person sleeping on top of the mattress. Our final move was the collective setting of all our alarm clocks. We timed them to go off 10 minutes apart starting at 2:30 am and hid them throughout her room. It was an evil plan. And we clearly had too much time on our hands.

I remember staying up late waiting for our counselor to return. The butterflies in my stomach fluttered with teenage adrenaline as I peered out of the window from the top bunk of my bunk bed waiting to catch a glimpse of her approaching. I was so excited for the chain of events to unfold. In the end the joke was on us. She came home at 2am, drunk and tired, tried the door, saw the webs of string in the window and being as exhausted as she was, wisely decided to go sleep at a friends cabin.

As time has gone by I have become more successful at developing more constructive pranks or perhaps more fittingly, “art actions.”

There are a few that come to mind that involve art on the street.

The first, called Art Explosion was developed by the Free Art Society and I. It involved blasting one city block in the East Village with concentrated, site specific street art overnight, and then, after slipping away into obscurity, returning at 7 in the morning to flood the same block with interactive performance art and public spectacle.

My next post is about the first Free Art Society “Flash Art” project:

The ART EXPLOSION.

The 13 Portals Facebook Page

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Perola Bonfanti and I have created a page for our 13 Portal project on Facebook. ”Like” us to find out when the project officially launches~

Check it out here!

13 Portals is an interactive street art experience to be discovered in abandoned doorways on the sidewalks of New York City’s East Village this Summer, 2013. New York based artist, Nicolina & Brazilian artist Pérola M. Bonfanti seek to unite street art, technology and alchemy in these hand painted portals.

The project welcomes and invites open participation by all. Its objective is to “pass” through the series of 13 portals beginning by scanning a unique QR code on each piece. Once the code is scanned the participant will be prompted to answer a question, or complete a task, each with escalating difficulty or complexity. Once each task is accomplished, the subsequent portal’s location is revealed, and the participant directed to it. Each portal must be visited and cracked in order, before the participant can pass through the 13th, and final portal. Once all 13 portals have been completed, the shroud of mystery behind the works will be lifted, and the 13 portals’ esoteric secrets unlocked.

Portals 0 and 1 were revealed on December 17, 2012 and are currently available for viewing and scanning. They serve as an introduction to the project which will officially launch Summer 2013 in the East Village.

Portal 0 is waiting to be discovered on 3rd street, just east of 2 Ave, (next to The Bean Coffee Shop.)

Portal 3 of The 13 Portals

Top 10 Things to in Rio Part 8

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:21:00 -0400

Take the Fort! is # 10 on my list of Top 10 “Road Less Traveled” things to do in Rio because Forte Tamandaré, found on a tiny island at the mouth of Guanabara Bay is the most obscure and interesting location that I know of in the wonderful city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Forte Tamandaré on ilha da Laje (Slab Island) (Photo courtesy of Google)

If you venture out of Guanabara bay on a boat you are sure to notice a strange island about the size of half of a city block. On the island, perched in perfect position to defend the city of Rio against outside attack is an abandoned Fort from the late 1600’s. Out of all of the places I have visited, this island is one of the most magical locations I have set foot upon.

Translating to “Slab, or Stone island,” The land was used as a Military lookout until 1997 when it was abandoned.

Now the island is virtually forgotten and after asking many Cariocas (people native to Rio) about the fort it became clear to me that very few (only the fishermen knew out of all the people I asked) seem to know it exists. We discovered it when we took one of the painted boats from the FlutuArte project out to sea for a Churrasco (Brazilian BBQ). We asked our boat captain what was up with the unique looking island and he told us that it was an old jail. I was so intrigued. “An abandoned jail?! Can we go there?!” I asked him. “Yeah! Let’s go there!” said Perola (who I had just met that day and is now my creative partner in The 13 Portals Project) without hesitation. Roberto, the captain agreed to take us and pulled the boat up under the strange old bridge that jutted out from the fort. Like an adept little monkey Perola jumped onto the roof of the boat and climbed quickly up the rope ladder which was dangling precariously in the wind.

“What the heck is that?” The discovery of Forte Tamandaré

Climbing up the rope ladder on the crumbling bridge of Forte Tamandaré

The entrance to the fort

Go at your own risk. This place is worth it if you are up for a little adventure. You will have to get a boat, which is simple, just contact Joao Silva (021- 96215211) or one of the other fishermen at Quadrado da Urca in Rio. Joao offers boat tours and will be happy to take you for a little cash. It’s only twenty minutes out from the Quadrado (home to FlutuArte). You will have to climb a rope ladder that dangles precariously in the wind, and you will have to venture upon land that, though abandoned, is still technically Military property. There is some risk involved, but I’ve been twice before and we never had an issue visiting the island. We were there for hours. Once you are on the island you have the whole fort to investigate. Bring a flashlight. There are virtually no windows. Disappear down long dark hallways, explore the untold stories empty jail cells, discover the TNT room, many nooks, crannies, and other surprises as well as a giant rusty metal staircase that towers up the center chamber leading you to the gun machinery and out to the top of the fort through the holes around the cannons. On top of the island you will find breathtaking panoramic views of the Guanabara Bay, the mountains, the city of Rio and Niteroi across the water.

Looking out through the tunnel around one of the cannons from inside the machine room

The best way to leave the island in my opinion is via bridge jump. Hold hands with your friends, hold your breath and plunge into the cool waters of Guanabara Bay.

Rio is a magical place.

And the list is complete. My compilation of outsider, “Road Less Traveled” Things to do in Rio is inspired by my uncle, Rick Steves, a globe trotter, writer, TV personality and activist who has encouraged masses of travelers all over the world to get outside of “the box” of tourist norms and experience life, culture and community in a deeper way. Since I was a child I observed him paving his own way, fueled by passion and entrepreneurship and now, as an adult I find myself even more inspired by his work, writing and life. I am ever grateful to him for being a stellar example of someone who “follows their bliss” and for encouraging me to document my adventures and projects.

Ever-curious Rick back in his early days travel

Rick Steves (Photo courtesy of Curator magazine)

Check out Rick’s travel blog and Facebook posts which offer his unique perspective on a wide range of topics from travel tips to politics. I will be keeping a close eye on it this spring when he ventures off the beaten path to Egypt to learn more about the culture, enjoy the gorgeous landscape and connect with the Arab Spring.

Up next, a closer look at the 13 Portals project…

Top 10 Things to do in Rio Part 7

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:31:31 -0400

As libererating as it is to be standing before the Cristo Rendentor statue at 6am with no tourists around and as close as you might feel to God sitting on top of Pedra da Gavea I can tell you that #9 on my list of Top 10 “Road Less Traveled” Things to do in Rio, will probably change your life more than all of the other entries combined. Going to an Ayahuasca ceremony at Arca da Montanha Azul is # 9 on the list and is one of the most profound experiences I’ve had, not only in Rio, but in life.

In New York City, where I live most of the year, Ayahuasca is not so easy to find. There are Shaman who come in and out of town with the sacred medicine but you have to know the right people to hear about the happenings. There is one place I know of that does pretty regular healing and transformational ceremonies, which is the Golden Drum in Brooklyn NY. But again, the medicine is difficult to find and when you do find it there are usually expensive fees upward of $100/$200 to attend a ceremony.

Ayahuasca being prepared

At Arca da Montanha Azul they ask for a suggested $25R (about $13 U.S.). Their ceremonies are accompanied by a live band that plays indigenous music through the night; lots of drums and percussion, a wooden flute, chanting and singing. Everyone dresses in white and people dance in circles all night. The shaman speaks on and off over the hours, imparting seeds of wisdom to help guide you through your journey. When you go up to receive the bitter mixture of sacred plants they offer you three sizes of the brew, small, med and large and ask you, “How deep do you want to go?”

Ayahuasca brew. (photo courtesy of projectlifemastery.com)

I have less than three weeks left in Rio and another ceremony is on my agenda before I head back to NYC. Last year after I went to an all night ceremony at Arca da Montanha Azul I wrote: “Ayahuasca puts you face to face with yourself in the most honest, reality-based confrontation. Illusion melts away. The sacred medicine removes the veil of protective deception revealing unbiased reality. It can be jarring. I recommend it. Our world would be greatly improved if every person could experience the shift in consciousness it provides. Vastly different from modern medicine, ayahuasca deals with the root of the problems not the symptoms.” Read More

If you can get there, Go. If you can’t get to Rio try to dig up an Ayahuasca ceremony wherever you are. Start talking about it and asking for it and it is sure to find you eventually if you don’t find it first.

Ayahuasca inspired artwork at Arca da Montanha Azul. There is a desk with paper and lots of colored pencils in the center and everyone is encouraged to write or draw while experiencing the effects of the sacred plant.

(The Ark of the Blue Mountain) is a spiritual center in Rio de Janeiro whose mission is to know, protect, save, preserve, promote, deepen and broaden the understanding of different religions and sacred traditions, in constant dialogue, enriching each other in the task of combating prejudice and religious intolerance. They have weekly ayahuasca sessions and I recommend it to anyone who wants to evolve themselves and learn more about who they really are. You can request a schedule of events by sending them a message.

Top 10 Things to do in Rio Part 6

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:28:00 -0400

#8 of my Top 10 “Road Less Traveled” Things to do in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is visiting the Escada de Selaron.

Lapa is Rio’s Quintessential party spot. Droves of tourists from all over the world as well as packs of locals flock to Lapa on Friday and Saturday nights to drink, party and dance, bumping and grinding late into the night. Vendors selling hotdogs, corn on the cob, caiparainas and pop corn, pepper the sidewalks and the scene is packed with a diverse, but predictable crowd made up of bearded backpackers, tanned hippies in yoga pants with dreadlocked hair, pretty surfer boys in Havaianas on the prowl, girls of every shape and size squeezed into skinny jeans or skin tight, spandex dresses with push-up bras, tottering drunkenly, dangerously over the uneven cobblestoned streets in brightly colored stiletto heels. Security is never far. They linger on the sidewalks of nearly every corner, waiting for booze fueled fights to break out or for that opportune moment when a hotdog cart sets up in a no-vending zone.

A crazy Lapa street party

However, just around the corner from the sticky streets that sit at the base of the famous arches is a special, enchanting place filled with color that attracts the more bohemian crowd of Rio. This is the Escada de Selaron, a gorgeous staircase made from mosaiced tiles from all around the world. Here on these stairs people strum guitars and gather around to sing and sway late into the night hypnotized by sound and the magical atmosphere.

Escada Selaron stretching up over 400 feet.

Selaron’s signature “Pregnant African Woman” painted on tile at the edge of the stairs.

Selaron beginning the stairs in 1990. (Photo courtesy of EyesOnBrazil.com)

Jorge Selaron, born in Chile began his masterpiece in 1990 and declared it to be “a tribute to the Brazilian people.” The staircase, comprised of 215 steps, thousands of tiles and mirrors as well as ingenious planters made from old bathtubs that house vibrant tropical plants, creates an atmosphere that attracts spirited musicians, entranced lovers, lots of artists and art enthusiasts.

In the hand-done sign at the bottom of the staircase, painted once in Portuguese and again in English, Selaron tells his story. Shortly after tiling the entire staircase in blues, green and yellows (the colors of the Brazilian flag). Selaron discovered a little shop that specialized in Italian tiles. He was mesmerized by the unique pieces and was compelled to buy them. He returned to his work of art with a large amount of the tiles and found no room left in the staircase in which to put them. He began the new work of digging out old tiles and replacing them with the new ones. The staircase became an ever-changing, ongoing work. People started sending him and giving him tiles that came from all around the world and Selaron continued to remove the original pieces and insert the new tiles in their place. He wrote, “I will only complete this crazy original dream on the last day of my life.”

Last year when I was in Rio I saw Selaron as he could usually be found, toiling away on the stairs, or painting tiles or little canvases for people to buy. He was such a character with his big handlebar mustache and twinkling eyes. He was never far from those stairs.

Upon visiting the stairs again for the first time this year I noticed a sign that hung at the entrance. It read that Seleron passed away early this January. My heart sank with a sense of loss. I never knew him, but when you know an artists work, its as if you know him or her. You have experienced part of their spirit. Selaron’s essence is reflected in every shiny piece of tile in his beautiful staircase. Selaron was a true artist, his life fully dedicated and immersed in his work, a “crazy passion” as he called it. Now, all the correct tiles are in place and the staircase of Selaron is finally complete.

Top 10 Things to do in Rio Part 5

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:59:00 -0500

If you have ever been to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil you have noticed the giant rock with the flat top, shaped something like a rectangle from afar. This is Pedra da Gavea and climbing it is #7 of my Top 10 “Off the Beaten Trail” Things To do in Rio. The view from the peak is something you can never forget

Pedra da Gavea

Corcovado in the foreground and the flat Pedra da Gavea in the distance

Pedra (Rock) da (of) Gavea (top sail) was named Rock of top sail by the first Portuguese explorers in 1502. A top sail is highest sail on a ship and the best place for a sailor to sit to survey the horizon. Pedra da Gavea is higher than even Corcavado, the mountain on which stands the statue of the Christ and the top of this giant rock you can see the most spectacular views of the Altantic Ocean, you can see the tops of other giant mountains that divide the neighborhoods of Rio, not to mention beaches, lagoons, and even the beatuiful Serra dos Orgãos mountain range over 40 miles away in Petropolis.

The mysterious face on the mountain, likely caused by erosion although many claim that the indigenous carved it long ago.

No fees or permits are required to climb. I reccomend scaling the rock with a few friends or a group in the afternoon before the night of a full moon and then staying the night up there. The moon casts the most beautiful light on the water and on everything you see. Scaling the monolith takes 3-4 hours and unless you are going with seasoned climbers you should get a guide as there are many different ways to the top and the easiest is still pretty challenging. Some routes are for serious climbers only. If you need a guide, you can contact Montcamp, they specialize in all kinds of climbing.

The view from the top

Stay the night, Gaze up at billions of shimmering stars and contemplate your existence. It’s a nice spot for that.