Friday night we went to a block party off Music Street in St. Roch (8th Ward), which is considered to be a “bad” neighborhood. It was a surreal experience because the location of the party was between two houses across the street from each other. One of the homes was converted into a rather modern-looking artist studio. The interior walls were exposed brick and the floors were polished cement. There was a bar on the left of the entryway just before a few steps up to the main level. The main level was just a huge room with a bed in one corner and a patch cut out of the cement in the center, where the earth was exposed and a lone tree stood in a woven planter. To the right of the entry was an enclosed room, which was not open for viewing. Behind it, just before the back door of the house, was the bathroom. The bathroom was a popular topic of conversation because of its glass door, which was frosted in the center and along the edges, leaving the perfect crystal-clear rectangular frame for you to peep inside and watch whatever business someone could be conducting in there. The floor of the shower was a large, chunky wooden grid. There was a clawfoot tub set lengthwise against the back wall. The toilet and bidet were on the left and the sink was on the right. As with the rest of the studio, there were a couple of art pieces strategically placed. One of the bathroom pieces was a porcelain head on the floor next to the sink. Odd…
The artist studio belongs to Kirsha Kaechele. She is the founder of KK Projects – Life is Art Foundation (http://www.kkprojects.org/). Although Kirsha herself seems to be involved in many things at once, this KK Projects foundation has the look and feel of art exhibits housed in derelict and deteriorating houses abandoned by their previous owners after being damaged by Katrina. Local and International artists are invited to work in these houses as they are for a three month installation, during and after which time the houses are allowed to continue to naturally deteriorate – a maturation of the art piece as a whole you could say. Upon seeing a couple of these “gallery homes”, I said, ‘Hmm, this one must be in the finishing stages.’ My boss pointed at an overturned empty beer bottle lying on the floor and said, “What do you think this symbolizes?”
‘The emptiness left behind after attempts to fill an emotional void with chemical dependence.’ I shrugged. At the time, the Sazerac in my hand tasted pretty good. Unfortunately, it didn’t continue that way through the night. The Sazerac is evil! The pouring of this cocktail was so dramatic with its special steps in the proper order and whatnot. Then I took a sip and it tasted just like Jaigermeister. This block party was full of that kind of irony.
The house across the street blew me away. It was referred to as “The Safe House”. In the heart of a questionable neighborhood, you know exactly what I thought, right? Well, this house is literally a safe, complete with a round steel door with dials and knobs on the outside. The house itself is just an art spectacle. What I found really amazing was inside. Lining the walls of the house were hand-drawn 100-dollar bills. This is the FUNDRED project (http://fundred.org/). The goal is to have the equivalent of $300M in Fundred Dollar Bills to present to politicians in Washington D.C. in trade for the real thing. The money the organization hopes to receive will be spent to remove the lead from New Orleans. The dark red areas on the map are the higher concentrations ( a map which I will insert when Blogger eventually allows me upload it). - Let me insert a side note here than we also met with a representative of the New Orleans Food & Farm Network earlier in the week who had given us some interesting information about the findings of an experiment where university students removed lead from the soil in a vacant lot using sunflowers. That lot is now suitable for farming and is slated to be the next urban garden project in the Central City neighborhood. - Mel Chin, the creator of the project, expressed his concern to me that people may ignore this project because it has such a specific area that benefits from the desired outcome. “We have to start somewhere.” Indeed, Mel, we do have to start somewhere. So why not New Orleans, right? If I ever saw a place that needed a helping hand, this was it. Seriously…
The best part of FUNDRED is that they aren’t just asking for your money. I mean, sure they’d love some money. I mean, this kind of thing doesn’t happen for free, but you can make a difference by just creating your very own Fundred Dollar Bill (go to www.schoolartsonline.com to download the template). The Fundred Dollar Bill project has a WVO biodiesel armored truck that will travel to predetermined stops across the US spreading the Fundred message and collecting Fundred Dollar Bills from schools where students have been collecting and filtering vegetable oil in anticipation of their arrival. Not only do the kids get a chance to help the communities in NOLA, but they also learn about renewable fuel in the process. Check and check! Although I am not a fan of being cornered and hearing somebody drone on and on about their nonprofit organization (sorry, Mel), this is really one of my favorites so far. The highlight of Mel’s lecture was when one of the neighborhood kids (who are welcome to hang out in the house every day and often choose to become representatives of the cause) came by and asked where he could find a chair for his grandmother to sit on. The New Orleans slang that came out of Mel’s mouth (yes, he’s Chinese as one would assume by the last name Chin). I stood there patiently waiting for him to continue his presentation as if nothing out of place had transpired, but my subconscious mind went, ‘What the hell just happened? What did he say?’ It was awesome. I was already sold on the program, but I liked him so much more after that.
What I found as the most unsettling contrast was how much of an upscale feel the block party had to it. There were attendees there from the local neighborhood, but there was this palpable air of separation. In the car on the way back to the house from the party, we criticized Kirsha for having such a luxurious home (not luxury in the traditional sense, but as far as living in a style befitting a studio artist) in the middle of a poverty-stricken neighborhood. However (and my boss brought this up during our last group meeting), she could have lived in that fashion anywhere. She chose to make a house from an abandoned house and include the locals in what she is trying to accomplish. The neighbors didn’t want her there when she moved in. She won them over with her kindness and genuine concern for their wellbeing. Whether she was born into money or lived a charmed life really is irrelevant. It’s funny how those of us who do nothing have the nerve to judge those who are doing something. It’s just something to think about…
In case you wanted to know more about Kirsha, who has had an absolutely fascinating life so far, take a look at this interview: http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/kirsha-kaechele/. To talk to her briefly in person, you really would never guess that all of that experience and thoughtfulness lies under the surface. Also, her scant way of dressing is a bit of a distraction. I was like come on, at least put on a bra to hold them up. Sheesh!
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