Cloud Drift by Katarina Jerinic
The Inaugural Gowanus Souvenir Public Art Project
June 21 – September 21, 2017
Cloud Drift was a series of monumental cyanotype-image flags that were flown over the Gowanus Canal the summer of 2017 (June 21-September 21) at each of its pedestrian crossings––on Union, Carroll, Third and Ninth Streets. It is presented in partnership with Gowanus Souvenir Shop. Each flag featured a photograph of the canal's surface with its floating debris, mucky formations and reflections of Brooklyn skies, signs and structures. Over each of the canal's bridges, an upside-down image of the water just below flew in the sky above, transforming a dingy urban landscape into pictures of sublimely cloudy skies. These photographs were printed as 3 x 5-foot cyanotypes on cotton canvas and attached to existing light posts.
Cyanotype is an early photographic process dating from the 1840s, which results in a blue monochromatic image––the reaction of potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium citrate to sunlight and water. This process is conceptually linked to the entire project. It connects the canal’s polluted present to its 19th Century industrial past. It produces a stripped down image in shades of blue and white, the essential colors of idealized skies and waterways. Its nostalgic image technology alludes to a historically romantic view of untouched landscapes as separate from built ones. While relatively stable, cyanotype images are still sensitive to ultra-violet light; by design, the flags’ images will fade over months in the summer sun.
The flags of Cloud Drift an are an outgrowth of––and perhaps a more poetic endpoint for––the photographs Katarina has made of the canal on her regular walks between her Red Hook apartment and Gowanus studio. For passers-by, their presence might suggest a way to navigate murky waters, mark terrain created by the city’s history, signal shifts in the neighborhood, or even just call attention to their surroundings.
Read the full press release here.
Presented by the New York City Department of Transportation's art program in partnership with Gowanus Souvenir Shop.
Additional support provided by Baxter St at CCNY, Puffin Foundation, Gowanus Canal Conservancy, Jacquard Products, Brooklyn Microgrid, and many generous citizens of Brooklyn & beyond. A special thank you to the NYC Department of Design and Construction.
Accompanying programs:
June 21, 6-9
Opening Solstice Party
July 8
Cyanotype workshop with Brooklyn Brainery
SOLD OUT
August 5
Cyanotype workshop with Gowanus Canal Conservancy
Artist-led Tour of Cloud Drift -- by canoe!
Two Dates Only: July 22 and Sept. 16
Tour Katarina Jerinic’s art installation Cloud Drift by canoe on the Gowanus Canal with the artist and the Gowanus Dredgers and join us for a closing party at the boat house afterwards.
Get up close and personal with the canal's murky surface and the "clouds" of Cloud Drift from the safety of a canoe. Cloud Drift is a series of cyanotype image flags flown from light posts on the Gowanus Canal's bridges on Union, Carroll, Third and Ninth Streets. As each flag blows in the wind, images of the canal's surface just below unfurl, transforming its dingy waters into sublimely cloudy skies. On this tour, participants will paddle to Third, Carroll and Union Streets and have the opportunity to see the project and the canal itself from this unusual perspective.
The Gowanus Dredgers is a volunteer organization dedicated to providing waterfront access and education to the public.
Free of charge--registration required.
Canoeing experience not necessary. There will be a short safety presentation at the shoreline, where you will be outfitted with safety gear.
Date 1: Saturday, July 22, 4:30-6 pm (Rain date: Sunday, July 23, 4:30)
Registration Closed
Date 2: Saturday, September 16, 4:30-6 pm (Rain date: Sunday, September 17, 4:30 pm)
On Sept. 16 there will be a beers-at-the-boathouse closing party from 6-7 following the canoe trip. You do not need to sign up for the canoe trip to come party. :)
Registration Closed
If you are interested in purchasing one of Katarina's cyanotypes please click here to preview the available work and email us to arrange a time to see the work in person at the shop.
Were are delighted by the amount of press the project has gotten already.
Watch the teaser video for the project here:
This public project is presented in partnership with the NYC Department of Transportation Arterventions program, with additional community support from the Gowanus Canal Conservancy.
Cloud Drift is funded with support from BAXTER ST at Camera Club of New York, the Puffin Foundation, Microgrid and Jacquard Products, and many generous contributions from individual citizens of Brooklyn and beyond.
Katarina has been updating supporters on her progress of producing the flags. The entries are archived below:
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Posted May 05, 2017
It was a beautiful day in Brooklyn today and I printed my first full-size flag! Here's an action-shot, exposing in the sunshine. Thanks again for your support. -
Posted April 23, 2017
I'm making progress! Both with fundraising and flag production. It's all thanks to you, kind supporters. Here's a picture of one of the flag-sized negatives emerging from the printer this morning. -
Posted April 11, 2017
Thank you again and again to supporters old and new! I am flattered and amazed to be so far along in fundraising. Thank you thank you!
I've started my residency at Baxter St at Camera Club of New York, where I'll be making the flags. I made a few tests over the weekend in the fancy darkrooms at ICP, where I get to work until the end of June. -
Posted April 04, 2017
WOW! Thank you, everyone! You are amazing! Because of your generosity, I'm already almost at my minimum goal of $2500, and well on my way to raising my stretch goal. THANK YOU.
In other news this week, my cyanotype chemistry donation from Jacquard Products has arrived and I started my residency at Baxter St at CCNY where I will make the flags. Production will begin soon!