Dumbo NYC

Dumbo is full of art galleries, shows, and installations, but there’s also art on the streets, and not just graffiti on empty warehouse walls. This is art created by talented and famous artists who create art for arts sake. There are meticulously created metalwork by Revs, paperwork by Swoon, mosaic tiles by Space Invaders, or paintings by Elbowtoe and Neckface.

But there are no opening shows at galleries. The art just appears on the streets and over time, if they survive the weather or cleptomaniacs, they become part of the environment. There’s an ephemeral nature of street art which makes it interesting to look out for new street art. One form of art takes the shape of wooden boards. They’re bolted onto street signs. I contacted two prolific artists who have boards in Dumbo, Plasma Slugs and Gore B. Gore B wanted anonymity and is “important to the work”. His work is followed in a Flickr group.

Plasma Slugs is another artist who installs boards and sticker art in the neighborhood. Plasma Slugs is a happy looking character who had the following message for us:

I speak for my creator, I am Plasma. I am a form of liquid blob that constantly moves. The paintings and stickers you see up on the street poles and other hidden areas is a still life, almost like a photo of us in our own insane environment. The Slug with rings around it is a portion of my fuel, my food, and the only thing I have to guard that I leave around in my trail so that I would find my way back. We work together in large numbers within our colony each of us individually here for only a moment. We are identified by class names, each of us here for a reason in our own section of work. Each pole we are found on is like a command post or head quarter for our colony. This way we can be found everywhere and know everything in the streets of New York City. The reason for our smile is simple: we have nothing to not smile about. In our whole life span, which lasts for a blink of an eye, we know nothing but smiling because regardless of how fast we move or how short we live compared to the average human, we know that our overall existence will only grow day by day as we reproduce.

You can see many more Gore B and Plasma Slugs in SoHo, East Village, Gowanus Canal, Williamsburg, and Brooklyn Heights. There’s fun is finding them, taking photos, and sharing them with others who keep an eye out for them. There’ll be more, so keep an eye out.

 Dumbo wooden boards, May 2007

{Plasma Slugs Flickr page}
{www.streetsy.com}
{Gore B Flickr group}
{Space Invader in Dumbo area, DumboNYC}