IRUBNY CELEBRATES ITS 5TH ANNIVERSARY

On the Weekend of June 4Th and 5Th at the Washington Square Outdoor Art show, you'll get an opportunity to join Carol Caputo in celebrating the 5Th anniversary of this city-wide art project. This unique and exciting urban experience gave thousands of New Yorkers a chance to get in touch with their neighborhoods in a creative new way. It's simple, fun and exciting. Come and see what happens when you put a piece of paper on any surface and rub off the surprising textures and images found all around the Washington Square area. This is your change to add you artwork to the thousands of rubbings we've collected so far. They will be featured in a soon to be published, table top book.

Get a copy of documentary films short, IRUBNY, discovering the urban language experience. A story about how one artist passion touched an entire city... one block at a time.

IRUBNY will be located on the North side of Washington Square Park.

For more information about this event go to www.wsaoae.org

www.irubny.com

IRUBNY PREVIEW FILM NOV 11, 2010

AT THE SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS AUDITORIUM

209 EAST 23RD STREET, NYC

“5 years in the making”

IRUBNY

A film about one artist’s passion and how

it touched an entire city…one block at a time.

Over 4,862 people join Carol Caputo in one of the largest city-wide art initiatives.

A touching story filled with urban texture that begins in Union Square and rapidly spreads to every zip code in New York City. This unique film shows how a simple creative idea can change the way people interact with their surroundings. Shot on the streets of New York - IRUBNY defines the topography and texture that is the urban language experience.

18 min

Director/Editor, Lauren DeFilippo

Producer, Carol Caputo and Friends

Music, Miles Dalto

A State of Becoming

All energy evolves. There is no us, there is no it, just the dance of molecules. So when I touch an object I’m adding my energy to the history of the universe. I don’t believe anything really belongs to us. We are all connected to everything. My art is inspired by this concept. Drawings are always becoming. They have a life of their own. A sketch is just a journey of evolution that changes minute by minute. It is the story of my energy engaged. A story defined in line and time. Art embodies this spirit. When I am creating I am part of the earth and the stars. My actions effect every living thing.

The Book of Rubs

Mystery Heart

While walking down Avenue A one a bright sunny Sunday, I stopped for an espresso at a local café. I wasn’t planning to work that morning so I just sat quietly sipping my delicious coffee. On my way uptown I couldn’t help focusing on the pavement. I guess It’s an occupational hazard for me, or just an obsession. In any case, I noticed something interesting across the street in an empty lot. I had to take a closer look. I rummaged through my bag for a crayon and a piece of paper in the event that I had to take an impression. As I moved closer to the shinny subject it appeared rather uninteresting. I proceeded to make an impression anyway. I don’t know what specifically attracted me to this wall surface but I felt compelled to touch it. I placed the paper over the textured shape and rubbed with my crayon. Now most of the time when I find a surface and make a rubbing, I have an idea of what will appear on my paper. But this drawing didn’t even resemble what I rubbed. It was obviously a heart shape…but what did it mean? How did this happen? What was the message? Whatever it was it made me feel alive and connected to everything around me.

Museum Mile Solomon B. Guggenheim

IRUBNY celebrates it's third year at the Museum Mile event on 5th Ave. Mayor Bloomberg proclaimed June 9 Museum Mile Day...and IRUBNY was there to give the neighborhood a good rub.  With crayons in hand, crowds created textural impressions of the immediate area, then proudly exhibited them on our 6' tower in front of the Museum. We had an amazing turnout this year and collected over 265 rubbings.

Heard on the street---

 “I love this project…makes me feel connect to the city”.

 “IRUBNY is clever and anyone can relate to this simple activity”.

 “It’s great to do something that is just for the fun of it”.

 “If you ask me, I think we need to have more events like this that bring people together.”

 “New York is a big city but people still want to feel like a community.”

Have you rubbed your neighborhood?  www.irubny.com

If you love New York, you'll rub New York!

Rubbing has become addictive not only for me but for all the people who have experienced the IRUBNY Community Art Initiative. A celebration of where we live. But, most of us walk down the street every day feeling disconnected to our community and our environment. Rushing to work and home again we don't notice the beauty of our own neighborhoods. Certainly, New York City is crowded and noisy and it's often overwhelming to live here-- but if we look closely around our neighborhoods, we can find unique textural details that define our specific urban landscape. As an urban scanner for many years, I still am excited by the tall buildings and the broken pavement under my feet. Concealed in the rubble of this urban ciaos there is a pulse and magic that makes me feel connected to the past and the present.  Deep in the concrete, these rough surfaces and broken lines are waiting to be reclaimed -- all we have to do is rub it to create the urban language. IRUBNY is a creative celebration of our place and ourselves. Let's connect this summer !

IRUBNY began in May 2006, we have collected over 2,000 interesting rubbings from people all over the city. This summer IRUBNY is collaborating with the Museum of Art and Design. Everyone can participate on May 30st and May 31st. and Aug 29 and 30Th at MAD. for more information .www.mad.org/calender
On June 9 at 6PM, all the museums will be open and free. 

Crayons and paper provided.
For the third year in a row, IRUBNY we will be in front of the 

Solomon B. Guggenheim Museum.
For more ways to participate go to www.irubny.com

Blanked Out

I don’t want to know what’s happening. Not because I have my head in the sand--although that would be interesting, but I want to be free of manic influences that are exploding all around me. In my ears, in my eyes, pushing me to see what I don’t want to
see and hear what I don’t want to listen to. What’s going on ? Where’s the surprise, the magic, the what’s going to happen next ? Give me a blank anything and let me draw, write or sing and dance on it. The unheard of yet, and the not seen before--- that’s what excites me. I don’t want something new I want something ever changing and evolving. Life is not cement but a ever changing river of possibilities.

Get Lost

The only way to get to know New York City is to get lost. And for a native that can be a challenge. I take public transportation because it’s cheap and fast. On Sundays, I often explore the city with subway trips to various destinations like Coney Island or the Bronx Zoo. But on the long journey to foreign neighborhoods, when my creative juices begin to flow I get a sudden urge to jump off the train at the next stop. Standing disoriented on the platform, I look for the exit. I climb the stairs out of the darkness and into the light. The busy streets are filled with colored faces and rich smells. This blur of unfamiliar images jars my imagination to the point of pure excitement. Exploring neighborhoods gives me a sense of the old and the new. My work thrives on the unknown. In fact, I draw and photograph only what I need so as not to recognized them later. It doesn’t matter where I am as long as I never been there before. I take out my pad and camera and start to explore the area. As soon as I become comfortable I know it’s time to move on.

In the Moment

The challenge in a busy city is to be able to be present in the moment. So much is going on that our senses are on overload. Sounds collide like millions of rivers with no wear to go. Is there one sound, a word or a melody I can recognize? I weave through the mass of peoples like a choreographer searching for the right steps. I dance along twisting and turning trying to avoiding oversized backpacks, cumbersome dollies and flying mustard. I look for calm in a graceful crack beneath the concrete pressed against the core of the pavement. I breathe----

End of the day

The fast forward speed of the city slows me down. I feel every crack of the pavement under my feet. I sing in my head. There is no beginning to the rain.Newspapers fly in the air with the grace of dandelions. Mocha lattes, and raging music propel from the backs of heads. I am still in my purpose as life moves through me and the night becomes new on the block where I live. In the elevator I reach for the keys to apt 6B.

Comfort Zone

One day, on 2nd Ave, while I was kneeling on the ground, creating a drawing, someone pushed into me. Annoyed, I gave the man a dirty look as he hurried down the street. I tried to reposition the paper onto the surface again and again. As I struggled with the problem, I noticed that the lines began to connect and overlap with each other. Drawings emerged from the pavement like a moving stream of scratches and textures. A rush of adrenalin took over as I filled several sheets of paper in an attempt to connect the dots of my misguided images. Later in my studio, while examining my interesting new rubbings, I realized that there are no accidents in life. Obviously I needed someone to push me out of my comfort zone.

Street dreaming

I look up and see slices of sky between the tall buildings of glass and cement. It is warmer than yesterday, and I did not have my coffee yet. There are no alarms, or engine noises at this moment, which is strange. A bus passes me by and I wait for another. I don’t know whether to go uptown or downtown today. I am too familiar with the city's places. Thinking always leads to dreaming, and dreaming, and dreaming. Awaken by the sounds of hissing and bumping, my bus takes me through a jungle where time is mine to kill.

The state of becoming

All energy evolves. There is no us, there is no it, just the dance of molecules. So when I touch an object I’m adding my energy to the history of the universe. I don’t believe anything really belongs to us. We are all connected to everything. My art is inspired by this concept. Drawings are always becoming. They have a life of their own. A sketch is just a journey of evolution that changes minute by minute. It is the story of my energy engaged. A story defined in line and time. Art embodies this spirit. When I am creating I am part of the earth and the stars and I’m suspended in state of becoming.

Between the spaces

All life is pure energy. Harvesting it is impossible. But I try. I like the feeling I get from touching objects because they have an indwelling spirit that connects me to the morality and mortality of the universe. I find tranquilly and joy between the places and subjects I encounter. They in turn reveal themselves in unusual and mysterious ways. What draws me in is the ever changing possibilities the emerge without warning. What I'm saying is that I don't control my work it controls me. The joy of being in the moment is reward itself. Creating is being myself. And that is when it happens--- In that tiny space of a moment a form, a line, a texture becomes art.

The spirit moves me

There are days when you feel that the world is out of control and you've lost all sense of reality. Today was one of those days. The sky was pale gray with no particular weather eminent. I look at the cracks on the pavement my head down. I didn't know what street I was on or what the time of day. I search for inspiration and there was none. I turned the corner and took out my pad and crayon. I wanted to go home and forget today. I rubbed mindlessly and let the spirit move me.

The Rubbing Diaries

There is magic under my feet, a wealth of visual excitement commanding my attention. On the street and in doorways, people cover my subjects. I wait anxiously. Soon it will be my turn to touch and stroke the premises. Boldly I rub the cracks and crevices of street remnants. They tell me a story as I take position of their reference. My eyes are clicking. I search for amusement and folly. I search for meaning. People scramble and miss all the juice. I savor every impression as they are revealed to me. This is the talk of the streets. And I am the only one listening.

What is a rubbing ?

The word 'Frottage' is derived from the french verb frotter, meaning to rub. The term is most often used to discribe the process of rubbing on paper over a textured surface so that the underlying pattern comes through. Frottage is perfect for depicting the rough textures of rock, stone, wood and metal. In addition, it provides a quick, spontaneous way of creating surface interest in drawings and paintings. With frottage, the patterns created are absolutely unpredictable and that is what I love about rubbing.

Why I Rub

Why I rub

When I walk down the streets of NYC, millions of images inspire me.
The buildings, cars and trash, are a disorderly, jumble of stimuli. My focus is to capture the soft images and graceful shapes lock in the cold, ridged cement and steel.
I am a modern archeologist gathering impressions for my own selfish research. My journey is a capsule of bits and pieces of time and memory in texture. These marks and surfaces are the hieroglyphics of my city language---a palette alive in many shades of gray.
Touch is everything in my work. I apply pressure as I work, to create tonal interest and add primary colors to stimulate and accentuate these impressions. I create as I go, letting the environment interface and surprise me. It draws me in as I draw it out. I look high and low and wish I could fly.
As I walk from one neighborhood to another, I look for surfaces and material hidden underfoot and in private doorways. I see an amputated old chair, it cries out from under a cardboard box. I cover it with my paper and stroke and stroke the surface with my large graphite crayon. It’s new purpose, evolves into a series of beautiful flowing lines and rich tones. Later, I see a crushed metal crate lying alone in it’s altered state. I cover it with my paper and massage the pattern subtly to reveal its pleasure-- like kissing a stone you love to touch. Sometimes, I turn the corner of a street, and see an interesting relief on a building too high to reach. I ache to have it. This time I take my camera, and capture it for my database.

These intimate relationships and techniques play an important part of the random journeys that chronicles my art process. Rubbing is the art of stroking and giving value to the creative process ---a life long rosary of wishes, dreams and magic. Art is a journey, and I have a one-way ticket to secret places and spaces. Each trip giving birth to unexpected drawings or paintings. Fine lines turn into dancing rhythm that morphs into tonal song that breath when I do. I scratch, rub and nurture the surface of my life and my work.