The authenticity and energy and "beauty in unexpected places" of Everyday Urbanscapes

Dan Adams (above departing Chelsea's Pearl Street Gallery Monday), took some of our best working-waterfront blogposts out from behind the computer screen, blew them up and hung them front and center in the window of his work in progress, the "Landing Salt" exhibition now showing at 100 Pearl Street, Chelsea. The young man we call the Eastern Salt Imaginator discovered the Chelsea salt piles 3 1/2 years ago during a Harvard Design School course, "Listening to the City," taught by Professor of Architecture Margaret Crawford, co-author of Everyday Urbanism. Her subject is one of three mutually contentious paradigms in contemporary urbanism, the other two being New Urbanism and Post Urbanism. In the words of Doug Kelbaugh, who wrote the book's introduction:

[Everyday Urbanism] "is nonutopian because it celebrates and builds on everyday, ordinary life and reality, with little pretense about the possibility of a tidy or ideal built environment. Indeed, as John Kaliski and others in Everyday Urbanism point out, the city and its designers must be open to and incorporate 'the elements that remain elusive: ephemerality, cacophony, multiplicity and simultaneity.'"

Nonutopian. Right up our alley. Ephemerality, cacophony, multiplicity and simultaneity. Right up Eastern Salt's alley.

When we arrived at the gallery around 5 o'clock Tuesday evening for the "opening event," a gorgeous bouquet of ivory roses from our greatest blogfan, the Goomp himself, was waiting for us. Tuck Willis photo.

Dan stood up and gave a whirlwind guided tour to the assembled guests of all things salt — photographs and paintings, of course, but also his own totally awesome computer-generated diagrams and charts and other explanatory material tracing the history and methods of extracting the salt of the earth. That's our stuff hanging in the window behind the artist, pretty in white. The maroon bag isn't a bag in the purse sense but in the bag sense, a lightweight but super-strong partitioned wine-toting bag the folks at Hannaford's give you to carry your bubbly home in. In our case we carried our silver party shoes, camera, business cards, house keys and such. Teresa Hummel photo.

"OMIGOD! You are so beautiful in your outfit!!!" imailed our sis as we deconstructed "The Outfit," first fashionable ensemble we'd bought in years, a personal milestone made possible by our loss of 40-plus pounds since jumping onto the Cold Turkey Cookbook bandwagon just over a year ago:

She: The maroon "evening bag" is the perfect complement. And THOSE SHOES!!! But, was there a swatch of turquoise at your waist, or is it just my eyes?"

We: Your eyes. It looks like a swatch and acts like a swatch but is my little t-shirt peeking out from behind the jacket.

It took over two hours and the tender ministrations of three different Macy's employees to locate the perfect pair of white lined linen pants — no pockets, concealed side zipper and lightly elasticized waist — and matching top with puffed sleeves and two oversized fabric-covered buttons just below the lapels.

A specially commissioned tiny replica of Eastern Salt's signature Manitowok crane and bucket — with moving parts! — a painting whose vibrant color and energetic brushwork capture Kelbaugh's "ephemerality, cacophony, multiplicity and simultaneity" and Dan Adams's photographs of the original "Chelsea Projections" light show animate the gallery walls. Teresa Hummel photo.

A closer look at the detailing of that little linen jacket as we engage in conversation with sub rosa blogfriend Jill of The Business of Life. Update: We liked Jill's casting of several of her conversational partners as archetypes: "It was a pleasure to be able to talk to the Manager, the Teacher and the Politician." Teresa of Technicalities was there, too, taking a lot of pictures — including this one — with her fancy new SLR digital camera. Our old green shirt, shorter than today's trendy tees, was the perfect length to fill the gap created by the jacket's unorthodox buttoning scheme.

"And when I looked, the salt had turned to gold" was sis-in-law Ellen's favorite. Ours too. What a treat to have her and brother Ben with us on our special night. Ditto that other Ellen of Grove Street in Chelsea. Our own sis couldn't make it but touched our hearts and minds with a sentimental gift of gardenias, the kind girls used to wear on their wrist to the prom. Teresa Hummel photo.

Dan said wonderful things about our work. We share a fascination with the authenticity and energy and "beauty in unexpected places" of those Everyday Urbanscapes. He's talking about maybe using that felicitous phrase to rename the whole show.

VIPs left to right: Paul Lamb, dock manager of the Eastern Salt working waterfront, our man Dan, company president and charming hostess Shelagh Mahoney and her daughter Molly. Teresa Hummel photo.

Teresa caught Chelsea City Manager Jay Ash checking out some of our work. Cool, huh?

Update: Here's Teresa's take of the evening's festivities. Thanks again, doll, for being there with us and taking all those pictures!

Update II:  Be sure to check out Carol Ward's excellent comments re the dueling utopian and nonutopian Urbanisms. This, re New Urbanism, is a gem:

There can be no beauty in unexpected places, because there are no unexpected places!

It called to mind the humanizing individual remodelings of the rows of virtually identical Levittown houses. Something there is that doesn't like to be fit into a one-size-fits-all template.

Comments

[Teresa]

LOL - I kept mine to the photos of photos... not knowing which you would like to display. I'm glad you liked a few of them. :-) I just got my post up now! It was such fun!

[goomp]

It is great to see you looking so beautiful and enjoying the recognition of your work.

[pam]

Congratulations on the exhibition, Sissy! You look every bit the artist you are; love the outfit! :)

[Gayle Miller]

It's nice to have your beautiful self revealed at last. Now when I read your marvelous prose, I can also envision your beautiful face as well!

Ah, that goomp - what a thoughtful guy!

Glad the evening went so well. You definitely deserve any and all accolades available.

[Laura Lee Donoho]

The Sissy Willis fantastic. Definitely beautiful! Wish I could have been there.

[Carol Ward]

Now I am really annoyed I got caught in traffic. What a wonderful evening – one would never know that outside the heavens had opened up. Again, congratulations. And your outfit was superb. Thanks to Teresa and Tuck for the pics.

One of the interesting things about blog posts (and the world) is that different people are struck by different things. I was not familiar with the construct of New Urbanism v Post Urbanism v Everyday Urbanism, but clicked through your links. The other half is an urban designer/ landscape architect, so I am definitely familiar with New Urbanism.* I hadn’t specifically thought of it as the prettified incarnation of Utopianism, but oh, how true. Several years ago he (and I) wrote an essay that was incorporated into a book on Reston Town Center, a project he has been involved with for twenty years.

“The town center coming into being represents a series of decisions by several owners, working in tandem with planners and designers. "Over several decades, with each new set of proposed plans, key questions arose: How far do you take the making of a plan? How much structure is too much? What is the balance between a framework for order and an allowance for creativity to blossom within that order? This is a summary of the individuals, the precedents that influenced their thinking, and the decisions they made, EVOLVING FROM CERTAINTY TO FLEXIBILITY.“ (my emphasis)

That is the problem with New Urbanism: everything is certain, with no allowance for the flexibility that is necessary for the unexpected. There can be no beauty in unexpected places, because there are no unexpected places!

Thanks for helping me make that connection.

*Not a great thing, in his opinion.

[Sissy Willis]

Thank you all dear relatives and friends for your kind comments and warm support of what my sis and I always refer to as "me and my show" (AKA MAMS).

Be sure to check out Carol Ward's excellent comments re the dueling utopian and nonutopian Urbanisms. This, re New Urbanism, is a gem:

"There can be no beauty in unexpected places, because there are no unexpected places!"

It called to mind the humaniziing individual remodelings of the rows of virtually identical Levittown houses. Something there is that doesn't like to be fit into a one-size-fits-all template.

[hnav]

Wow Wow Wow !

So sorry I was unable to make it.

Congratulations !

So wonderful to see such talent honored.

Three cheers indeed.

What a thrill.

[Solomon]

Congrats, Sissy! Love the bag. ;)