Guest Artist, Site 2: Hiroyuki Someya

Hiro.

Guest Artist, Site 1: Juice

Juice.

Chene Street Installation 2, Day 1

After some searching, the second storefront was found, just a few blocks away. Van Dyke's pastry shop, on the corner of Chene Street and Palmer:





We showed up at noon, and immediately began cleaning. Hiro, a friend from Alfred University, showed up (now a grad student at Cranbrook University) to help with this installation.



Once "cleaned", the installation began...







Decisions, decisions...



This time around, it was decided to use more found objects from the abandoned business...











The Yes Farm crew showed up to help as well.



Finished.

Farnsworth, where we live

That's the house where Krysta Jane and Ben live. That's the stoop where we sit at night. Upstairs we live with Monte and Erin, newbaby Nai, and their two dogs Ozzie and Gauguin. Behind that house lives a pig, some chickens and a few dogs. Vegetables grow, too.

The One Minutes

For the past week, Krysta Jane and Ben have had two new roommates, Katherine and Hagen, filmmakers from Amsterdam and Germany, respectively. Their project is to gather footage from Detroit to create a portrait of this American city. However, the catch is that the documentary must be 24 minutes long, where each minute represents a specific hourly activity characteristic of Detroit. They are working through 555, with backing from Expodium, and have asked Detroit artists to participate.

Check out their the project's website:
www.theoneminutes.org

Chene Street Installation 1, Day 4

When we returned several days later, we happily discovered that not much had been rearranged since our last visit...



There was, however, a new tenant.



We decided to rearrange the windows ourselves, placing all the surviving cakes into a single window. We set to work...



and left it like this:

Chene Street Installation 1, Day 2

We went back the following morning to find the arrangement had been changed: cakes were broken, turned upside down, several were missing, and the candles had been stolen and/or burned.



Within minutes, a man came by with a plastic bag. He apologized for "the idiots" in the neighborhood... then opened the bag. Inside the bag were the stolen cakes.



Juice returned... followed by Ana Marie... and several other community members returning home from church. We discussed the project, the neighborhood and Detroit in general, then took some pictures.

Chene Street Installation 1, Day 1

Taylor Dry Cleaners, the interior.



Monte cleans the glass off the sidewalk.



Jane discusses the window plan with a curious neighbor...



More discussion, this time with KT and Juice...



...while Ethan supervises.



Krysta manhandles a 20 lbs cake.



Done, for now...

The YES Farm

The Yes Farm is a group or artists and urban farmers committed to living and creating in Detroit. They believe the arts play an important role in the community and work to bring art into the lives of the people and places around them. Another side of their work involves growing food and contributing to the greening of Detroit. They hope to contribute something positive to the community through art and agriculture. contact them at: theyesfarm@gmail.com, or view the blog at theyesfarm.blogspot.com...

Jumbo's

On the way home from the studio, just blocks from the Avalon, is Jumbo's, a friendly bar with outdoor seating and a pool table. It's another convenient stop, halfway between studio and home, on the long ride.

The Hub

When Ben's back tire got flat, his wheel ran off the rim and the spokes got bent, he went to the Hub, Detroit's local bike shop and cooperative, and quite possibly the friendliest bike shop in the whole United States (and Ben says this with confidence). In exchange for a new tire and inner tube he volunteered his time upstairs, in their Back Alley Bike program, which builds bikes from scrap parts for the neighborhood kids and adults.

Check out The Hub:

TheHubofDetroit.org

3611 Cass Ave
Detroit MI 48201
(313) 879-5073

email:
shop@thehubofdetroit.org

The Avalon

Almost every morning, The Avalon sponsors Krysta Jane and Ben's coffee time. Halfway between studio and home, it's a convenient stop on the morning bike ride.

7 Mile: In the Studio

This is Ben's studio space, where he works and occasionally sleeps...




The drawing...



Details from the drawing...


(Jefferies Street, about 2 miles from studio)


(Michigan Ave, about 1 mile from the studio)

555

555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studios is a volunteer artist-run arts organization providing affordable studios and workspace, gallery space, exhibition programs, arts education programs, and an artist in residency program.

555arts.org

Preparing the Cakes

Cupcake Twins, in the studio:

7 Mile: The Drawing

Experience Detroit as you never have before: flat and hung on a wall.

To get to the studio, Krysta Jane and Ben must ride their bicycles through 7 miles of Detroit. Ben is going to draw that ride, each and every building, over an approximate 50 feet of paper.

After the Detroit Now! opening, the drawing will be made into a limited edition artist book.

Chene Street Cement Cakes

For the next 3 months, Krysta Jane will be decorating abandoned store front windows along Chene Street in Detroit, Michigan, with beautifully frosted cakes. Cement cakes. Delicious bricks.

The classic American bakery returns to the American dream.

Funky Sour Cream

Funky Sour Cream. Weird name, huh? That's okay.

We three are Krysta Jane and Ben. Born and raised in various regions of the beautiful state of New York, we have come together under the watchful wing of 555, a Detroit-based gallery and studio.

This is our blog, our life, and our work. Enjoy.