Cruise to Somewheresburg

Martin Luther's Crib

This is a place that time has built. This is a story of yearning for far away places and untold riches. Only time will tell where humans will trek to fulfill the quest for cruising. A line has been drawn on the oceans, care to float across it?



Chalet with a View

From my window at the Aquamarin Inn in Papenburg I could just catch a glance of the Joseph Meyer Wharf in the distance over the winter weary trees. This small rural town in northern Germany is the birthplace of the biggest Cruise ships in the world.




Tracking the Beast

Q: Is this the mark of a fuzzy snow bunny or the hoofs of a moose monster? Clue: The deft hunter knows how to track a prey, so i did some googleing before going to P'burg. A: Let's just say you don't need GPS to find this mastodon of maritime trophies, but it helps.




Titan in a Teapot

Royal Caribbean's Newest cruise ship ECLIPSE is like the sleeping condo about to wake up with a splash of Nodic water and some Viking hot prospects. But good things take time and Euros. Built in 10-12 months on a payroll of 3/4 mill per week, the Eclipse is practically a micro-economy. Lawd know you gotta keep the Terry Malloy's of the waterfronts busy.




Barnacle Deck

If you ask me how many men work at the wharf, the answer would be "about half".




It Takes a Mt. Trashmore

Crushing really, the seemingly endless caravan of dumpster-loads of garbage this project has produced is somehow worth it when you walk inside and see where you could live for six days and five nights while island hopping in some of the worlds nicest oceans. Green has always been in.




A Tree Grows in Molecuwetlyn

The FAQ on Miami's Robert Chambers is, how swampy can he go!.




Who Likes Round Things?

The golden arch is a recurring theme though the ships design, it is the thread that stitches together the interiors of the haul, the exterior is a barge welded in a continuous bead of molten steel tempered and painted for the journeys ahead.





... and more round places.



2010 a lounge odyssey

They say the best part of a journey is the middle, maybe so. These spaces are built for people to forget temporarily about the things that tug at our pursuit of happiness.




Den of Denominations

What would a cruise be without the chance to win big at a casino. There where the shake-down is king. Lot's of boatspace is allocated to the one-armed bandits. Like a pachenco parlour pin-ball-wizard our happy travelers will wager their expendable incomes and disembark happy losers.



Live Acts of Poseidon

There is even a theater that is probably bigger that the Adrianne Arsht Center where Fraulien Gaga will play there sometime soon as she is one of the big coffers.




Coming Soon

But for now the theater is empty, the kitchens are empty, the gym, the spa, the library, the glass museum, the morgue and the weapons vault all sit empty.




Food Courting

The dining rooms sit empty, no smells of culinary cornucopias, no clanging of plates, no rumbles and grumbles of over-indulgence. Just the sound of tools over the smell of new.




Above Deck, Kinda

Finally there is an indoor pool, and outdoor pool, a jocking track, a hoops court, a putting green and much much more. Sign up now, why wait till you're old!







Gang of Four

Of all the workmen on the ship, Here is my P'burg crew from left to right: Captain Daniel Arsham, First Officer Alex Mustonen, Navigation Specialist Yadin Dickstein and Systems Specialist John Bianchi.




A Tool for Every Job

Here is what a greman tool-box looks like. Far as I can see the only thing missing is an espresso maker.




Kunstscheize

Miami's Arsham is both the serenity at the eye of a storm and the tempest of the tropics. This install photo shows a wall sculpture of thirty items resembling erosion clustered to suggest loose graphic of a hurricane image.

Worked like a Rauscher Test gem on the UN of workmen, lot's of goober-thumbs-up comments.




World Wall Warp

Sit down, relax, take a load of your feet. Here is another piece from Archam's curtain-cum-bench series; draping frozen in time as if to remind us of those infinite spaces fluttering with undulating light.




X Marks the Spot

At 14 stories above sea level, the smoke stacks of this voluptuous vessel will billow with the steam of sea faring revelers for years to come.




Tight's All Right

Here's the thing, Papenburg is forty kilometers inland up the Ems River. With only inches of clearance, the giant ship is towed out to sea with much fanfare from locals along the narrow passage.



Next XXXL

Back inside the giant garage, craft-workers are building the next beast of the blue, this time for Disney.



Bulkhead Tested

The Eclipse is now somewhere in the north sea performing Sea Trials; that is looking for troubling water, flooding the ballast tanks to tip the boat over and basically taking her on the Scuppers stress test hot-dog joy-ride.



Grobal Warning

With a job well done we set sail back to Amsterdam and noticed another sure sight of global warming, a giraffe in Emsland.



Fresh Squeezed

Eclipse will be in Ft.Lauderdale sometime this fall.
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like swamp.

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Euroswampsterdam

Schiphologic Hub

The airport in Amsterdam puts MIA in the dust. Schiphol is a big air travel hub with flights arriving and departing to and from all corners of the globe. In stark comparison to our swamport, there is little visible presence of TSA style security folk making your travel experience a paranoids nuisance. Renting a car or getting hotel reservations is a breeze. Mulling through the crowds of weary travelers is like a picnic at the United Nations. Glad to be in the old country where the men are kinda queer and the ladies are svelte. After 12 hours in limbo, it's safe to say maybe there is an airport god.




Neverland Revisited

From windmills to tulip-below-me, the Netherlands are a paradise lost in modernity, a grinding mill for the new grains of time. I love how gray weather makes tripping fantastic for this novice outsider. The breakfast buffet at airport inns is a culinary delight.




Venice of the Nord

Like the city of canals in Italy, Amsterdamster is laced with waterways that make for a most picturesque place to be. Like the swamp that we know, it is practically at sea level. The only thing keeping the ocean at bay is an elaborate system of levies and dams that we should only wish had been duplicated in New Orleans prior to Katrina the tropical storm.




Hipsville

This place is really happening, you'all. It is where you can light up a big fat one at a quiet cafe or visit the red light district for a romp and a gawk at the ladies of the night as prostitution is kinda legal, safe and probably taxable.




Bikearific

As if that wasn't enough, this is the city of cycles. Man, I haven't seen so many bikes since critical mass at key biscayne. Bicycles are everywhere as they are a great way to get around. If locals can ride them in the cold and rain then certainly Miamians should be able to do the same in the heat and sweat.




Park Bike Here Free

They got so many bikes, they even have parking garages for those two-wheeled earth friendly contraptions.





Snarkitecture

And there is another thing dotting the urban landscape, Modern architecture wow! they have some outrageously cool buildings to compliment that old world charmscape.



Hey look, there's another one!



... and another one!



Critical Flight Anyone?

Ho yeah, and it's apparently OK to post graffiti as is the custom in most great urban centers.



Exported Brew Meister

What would Europe be without great beer? Here is home to the Heiniken Micro-Brewery... for sure there is also a giant factory in the outskirts of town to export the world-class Heiny.



All Aboard...

Anyways, I'm here to work so it's off to the Deutschland and the shipyard of big dreams Royal Caribbean.

BTW, crossing the border by rented car from Holland into Germany was a total non-event.
It's easier and cheaper than going from NYC to New Jersey.

As traveling would have it, blogging is a bit backed up, but the next installment will be a sneak preview of the newest billion dollar cruise ship Eclipse - built in the the very small town of Papenburg...

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Erosion Deconstructed

Doodle on a Napkin.

Most things man-made are usually done twice, once on paper then again in actuality.
Working with Daniel Arsham has been an exercise in deconstruction. We begin with the end in mind, a concept, then proceed with conviction taking mental steps back to find the path of least resistance. The opportunity to produce artwork for permanent installation at Aventura Mall was exciting. For some time now the folks who manage Aventura embarked on an ambitious plan to infuse the halls of consumerism with fine art. In a effort to enhance the shopping experience for those who would otherwise not take an interest in or have the opportunity to experience first-hand the objects of contemporary art of today, the Mall has become the artist's patron.




Romance with Erosion.

Sculptural art production is rarely simple or easy. It takes allot of doing to achieve a desired result, particularly with the visionary work of young Daniel, one of Miami's own wunderkind.
There is nothing simple about simplicity. When you are good, it looks easy.



Because work can be overwhelming "Minimum Effort and Maximum Effect" is my guiding principal. It was taught by dear mentor Dan Friedman, the father of Radical Modernism.




Burning the Mid-night Cranes.

All the installation work had to be done after the mall was closed. Everything had to look all nicy-nice for the next day of shopping.



The Look is oh-so Snarkitecture.



For more on the recent work of Arsham visit Artlurker.

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Our Brown Knight

Readers want to know more about the Beaucoup Bucks dolled out recently and locally by the prestigious Knight Foundation to a wide range of fine art related individuals and institutions. It is no secret that the recipients are well deserving of the much needed funding that they must now match in order to actually take receipt of said generosity. It gets easier to get more money when a heavy-weight like our very own brown knight, Alberto Ibargüen, has got your back. Funding of the arts is a vehicle for the betterment of the spirit heart and soul of Miami. But giving is nothing new to the Knights. The Knight family, as miami readers may recall, was once the owner of the MiamiHerald. It's a shame that the Herald ran out of knights before it ran out of newsprint. The esteemed Foundation does however continue to support a wide range of non-art related socially relevant and critical services right here in the swamp.
Thanks to the generosity of the Knight family, my dear mother, now retired, worked quietly for 40 years at the Robert T. Knight Activity Center for Adults with Disabilities, ironically located today just around the corner from Daniel Arsham's Studio in Hialeah. Arsham is my pal and client, one of Miami's own rising stars in the art world. We've collaborated on many projects, but two come to mind with regard to the Knight Foundation; The stage set for Merce Cunninham Dance Co. and more recently Beacon/Miami for MAM. If coincidence is fate, then nothing is ever the result of chance. It is hard work and the vision thing.


Maquette for Merce Cunningham set by Arsham


Detail of finished work at my Design District Studio


Performance at the Carnaval/Arsht Center in Miami.
This stage set has been around the world twice and was recently used again at the Kennedy Center in D.C.


People Powered Art by Arsham
Testing the Beacon/Miami Project Downtown for ABMB week.


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Arshamized and Folded

People might think that most young artist types are not morning people, they stay up late to get all creative. It's probably so but Daniel Arsham gets up early and goes to work as professionally as a banker. When we work together, he is my motivational guru and ball buster. Too heads are better than one when pulling ideas out of the ether of serious art.


Drapes and Folds are classic treatment of shape in space where light is captured in an instance.


When things come together it's Mission Accomplished...
this old chair has been Arshamized for your comfort n amusement.


Dance is universoul expression of the body . Old Movie Houses are temples to film and popcorn. Their marquees are the hook that brings you in. For the stage set we made for the Merce Cunningham company performance at the Carnaval (arsht) Center, Arsham sliced n diced architecture into forced prespectives for the dancers.