Come Along With Me: Escher Exhibit, Industry City, Brooklyn
This past weekend some friends and I finally got to do something we’ve been wanting to do all summer, but were never all available on a Saturday – and this was a visit to Brooklyn’s new(ish) Industry City in Sunset Park…and the MC Escher exhibit.
Industry City used to be just dilapidated, mostly unused warehouse space along the waterfront of Sunset Park in south Brooklyn. Back in the day, ships would carry product/materials to Brooklyn’s waterfront area so it was mostly covered piers and warehouses for offloading and storage. Over time, this part of commerce has diminished, and with it, the need for so much storage space. Piers, so exposed to the elements and water, eventually crumbled or were disassembled…and giant warehouses were abandoned. There’s little to no residential space in these areas, so destruction and crime were rampant. But now, with space in the “cool” parts of Brooklyn becoming so so expensive, developers are looking for new frontiers…and they found it in South Brooklyn.
Someone had the genius to buy up like 5 blocks of these old warehouses, renovate them, and turn them into trendy retail and community space. The buildings house shops, studios, galleries, food courts – all with magnificent high ceilings and giant windows creating incredible light-filled spaces. The outdoor spaces between the buildings have cafes, walkways, green spaces, a concert stage, art and seating. We browsed The Brooklyn Flea, had lunch, and partook of some photo opps in the many scenic spots.
But wait! There’s…
While just browsing the different sights and sounds (and snacks) of Industry City was fun for the day, the main attraction for us was the MC Escher exhibit. As I shared in my last post, a lot of people know the works of Escher from wall calendar pictures of never-ending staircases and other optical illusion type drawings. But there was so much more to his work and life.
He lived from 1898 to 1972. That is an amazing period of time to have experienced! Many say his work was more mathematical than artistic because of his frequent use of geometric shapes and exploring the concept of infinity in one dimension. The exhibit was so interesting because I never knew of his other kinds of work.
He frequently used tessellation in his work – which means repeating shapes without any overlaps or empty gaps. In the center of the image below you see the repeating shapes of white geese…and the space between them is repeating images of black geese.
And red bulldogs…and the opposing white bulldogs. I can’t draw ONE bulldog, ha!
Do you see Evil Black Bats? Or White Angels??
Tessellated flooring!
I love this one, almost like a botanical print, but see how everything fits in together almost like puzzle pieces?
I wonder if something like this….
…inspired someone like Keith Haring?
He created woodblocks, painstakingly carving out detailed images….and lithographs from the woodblocks.
And the most fun were the interactive features of the exhibition.
From this…
to this!
In this drawing he showed a keen control of perspective…
Then we got to play with real life forced perspective.
No perspective here, I was just pooped. We walked almost 3 miles that day. That’s a lot for fat old me!
Some final words from Mr. Escher.
One of the buildings in Industry City painted in a pop art comic book style.
After Escher and some lunch, we headed to Red Hook – another waterfront area in Brooklyn. We found a nice view of lower Manhattan – The Financial District – from a park.
And we ended up at Steve’s Key Lime Pie where I had one last treat before heading home.
It was a good day. I love exploring different neighborhoods and finding new things to see and do. Brooklyn is just an endless bounty of goodness for me. I hope you enjoyed “going along with me” and seeing some new places yourself.
I’ve been struggling for fashion-related content again with the very hot humid weather and so many rainy days. I like doing posts like this…as I like seeing where you live and what you do! I’m thinking about doing a feature like this a couple times a month-ish. Since I’m not doing Sentence-a-Day anymore, this might be a nice replacement. Thoughts??
What I Wore:
- Asos army green curve-bottom tee. Comparable here and here in plus sizes and here and here in straight sizes.
- Gloria Vanderbilt Amanda jeans, size 22W short, Scottsdale wash
- Adidas Cloudfoam trainers, perfect for walking 2.9 miles, up and down stairs and through sketchy industrial areas. This year’s model here
Thanks to my friend Linda and That Other Friend Who Shall Remain Nameless for the pictures of me.
This post contains affiliate links, which means that I may receive a small commission if you click on them and/or buy something as a result of clicking that link.
IrisOriginals
Love going exploring with you. Such interesting places to see. Doubt I could keep up with you – but it’s easier from my loveseat 🙂
Iris
http://www.IrisOriginalsRamblings.com
Fashion Schlub
It’s easier from MY loveseat! Ha 🙂
Debbie from Illinois
Yes, please share your adventures with us! Looks like a great day. 😀😀😀
Fashion Schlub
Was a lot of fun! Which is good, cuz we were SUPPOSED to go to Asbury Park, NJ, which is a much bigger trip (3ish hours each way) and I was the one who put the kibosh on it cuz the weather just seemed too iffy to drive that far. I would have felt like crapola if the day had not turned out fun after all. But it did! Yay!
Sarah
We’re doing Asbury Park this weekend for my birthday! 👍🏼👍🏼
Fashion Schlub
Fun! Hope you have a great time!
Susan Marinelli
Loved the Escher exhibit. I am one of those people who remember the endless staircases. Had no idea he was THAT talented. Loving the tessellation, in particular the angel/bat juxtaposition, as well as his sublime quote, or as you refer to it his final word. Heh. Your photo of Lower Manhattan is beautiful, as are most of your photos. I do miss seeing the Twin Towers. I think you should continue this series, I love it when you go places.
Fashion Schlub
Thanks, Susan! I was very interested to see much more variety in his work than I had realized. Lots of nature themes, and the woodcuts were amazing, so intricate!
I miss seeing the twin towers, too. I love when I come across an old picture, I always feel like it just looks RIGHT.
Sarah
What a cool place!! I definitely want to visit. I loved this post and I think you look fantastic, exploring fun stuff definitely suits you. Great post. ❤️❤️
Tina von Tinaspinkfriday
Thank you so much! If I ever come to NY I must visit Brooklyn:)
Fashion Schlub
Absolutely! And let me know so I can come in and meet you!
Ashley
The rain and humidity can seriously put a damper on the ol’ blog shoots, right? I’m right there with ya, lady! And this was such a fun day- so cool this part of town was renovated and is now a huge entertainment district!
-Ashley
Le Stylo Rouge
Fashion Schlub
I’m SUPPOSED to have a shoot tomorrow, no rain in sight, high in the low 70s, hopefully low humidity – so have my fingers crossed! What do you do when weather keeps you from shooting??
Ashley
So I will often batch shoot during nice weather- shoot 3-5 outfits at a time. This gives me a nice little cache of content. Otherwise- like for the most recent shoot when it was super humid- I just kinda grin and bear it, lol.
Julia @ When The Girls Rule
Wow this is such a pretty place now. Any idea why they have those metal “planters” on the sides of the buildings with the seating? Next Super Storm? I totally would love to see this kind of post again! Especially the city since it’s so foreign to where I live. I should do some more blog posts showing off my area. I always forget that people from other parts of the world might find it interesting!
Fashion Schlub
The giant planters just help bring some “green” into the urban setting. They have all sorts of events there in those empty courtyard spaces – concerts, yoga classes, dances, etc…and people always like seating, so. That’s the only explanation I have.
I’m headed into a different part of Brooklyn today so will hopefully have more tales to tell. Every neighborhood in Brooklyn is so different, I think people who have never been visualize it all looking pretty much the same. Like how so many people, when they hear “New York,” they envision New York City, but Manhattan (the “city”) is a very small part of NY. I think I’ll do a post explaining about the different landscapes and flavors of NY. It’s REALLY diverse.
And I would love to see more of your area! And I still want a home and property tour of YOUR place!
Karen
I will dearly love to see any of your adventures in the city or outside of it. I am one who is fascinated by New York City and all of it’s neighborhoods. I only visited once for three days and was so glad that it is the city that never sleeps because I didn’t either and had to be dragged back to the airport. I told my friend who I was travelling with that I wanted to call my husband and say, “send money. I’m not coming home”. I came home. 🙁
bettyewp
Oh gosh, three days. I wouldn’t even know what to do if I only had three days! I can barely settle on things for one day even knowing I can go back in again and again cuz it’s just all so good!