apexart Resident Blog

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The apexart Residency Program brings creative professionals from around the world to New York (Inbound) and sends New Yorkers abroad (Outbound) for month long cultural immersions. In lieu of working while away, residents are asked to document their experience on this blog.

To read a particular resident’s posts, click on their name below.
Posts appear chronologically.

Posts tagged with "Roy Samaha"

Sep 8

September 1 2010 Wednesday.

You are flying in JFK and there is an air train from the airport that connects with the subway

system. From the arrivals terminal in JFK follow signs for the air train and take it to Howard Beach.

The fare for the air train is $5 and you pay it upon your arrival in Howard Beach. The fare for the subway is $2.25 so if you buy one metrocard for $7.25 it will cover both your ride on the air train and the subway to the resident apartment.

From the Howard Beach station you can take the A train towards Manhattan to 14th Street. At 14th Street transfer to the L train towards Brooklyn and go 2 stops and exit the subway at 14th Street-Union Square. The resident apartment is on East 15th Street bordering Union Square Park. The whole trip will take about an hour.

Let me know if you need more information!

Best,

J.

I forgot to update the hands on my wrist watch, still indicating time in Beirut. 10:00 a.m.

I walked to the corner of my block, had an expensive burger and two beers.

Met J. who wasn’t sure I was the resident she was expecting.

J. left for an important meeting.

I slept at 7 p.m. until 3 am the next day.

Posted 2 years ago

Roy Samaha, Inbound from Beirut,

Sep 8

September 2 2010

Time in Beirut is still layered on time here in New York.

3 a.m. Woke up very early, no dreams,

don’t like the apartment, decide to turn it around, feels better

5 a.m. go down to Union Square Park searching for hot coffee.

Meet some bums sleeping on benches.

All cadavers.

Looking at the trees trying to locate the first singing birds. Now few people walking on the side walk across the street.

Madison Square Park 7 a.m.

A tall thin man in his mid fifties with blue jeans white socks no shoes and a thin white long robe _ the ones they make you wear at hospitals after an operation_ he is holding a white plastic bag in his left hand

every now and then he lifts his robe and checks on his stomach as if inspecting on his wound

He walks away between the trees

Posted 2 years ago

Roy Samaha, Inbound from Beirut,

Sep 8

September 3

Jet lag is over but still no dreams last night.

11:30am: Circle Line Tour with Julia

Departs from Pier 83 West 42nd Street and 12th Avenue

The receipt for this trip is in your folder. Please bring it with you. Although it says to be there 45 minutes in advance, I have never found that to be true. 20 minutes early should suffice.

Let’s meet at the pier at 11:10 to get in line.

Every one on the boat is taking the same exact picture at the same exact time.
When we landed we all stretched out our bodies like if waking up from sleep

Then walked to Times Square

Posted 2 years ago

Roy Samaha, Inbound from Beirut,

Sep 8

September 4
12 noon: Key to the City **optional**
at Tortilleria Nixtamal
104-05 47th Avenue
at 102nd Street and Nicolls Avenue
Queens, NY

3:00pm: Out door party until 9:00pm

“Warm Up” at M.O.M.A. P.S.1

22-25 Jackson Avenue

at 46^th Avenue

Queens, NY

Posted 2 years ago

Roy Samaha, Inbound from Beirut,

Sep 9

Being a stranger in a big city like New York, (every soul is helplessly trying to keep up with the signals and orders given to her by the transportation and communication machines) one is first intimidated by the rhythm and flow of things, fascinated, marginal and useless… I can see a sad loneliness on their faces and a kind of stress in their jaws.

Yesterday while walking back home I suddenly understood (and it came to me when an old man crossing the street smiled at me and nodded with his head approvingly, it was like drinking slowly hot water) what is it to be really humble, the only way to be in tune with the whole.
A true non grasping feeling of friendship starts flowing in your blood.

I was elevated by that idea: Raw human nature is sublime …

Posted 2 years ago

Roy Samaha, Inbound from Beirut,

Sep 14

September 5

Coney Island afternoon and night

Battery Park in the morning

Posted 2 years ago

Roy Samaha, Inbound from Beirut,

Sep 14

September 6 a day of resonance and no images

Posted 2 years ago

Roy Samaha, Inbound from Beirut,

Sep 14

September 7 spend the day in downtown Church street , Bowery 3rd Avenue …

Posted 2 years ago

Roy Samaha, Inbound from Beirut,

Sep 15

September 8
Go to sleep at 4 am, phone rings at 7:38 am
-hello Juan
-hello no this is not Juan
-oh come on Juan, why are you doing this, why you don’t want to talk?
-I am really sorry but I am not Juan
And then she gets angry and starts to speak for like a minute in Spanish and i don’t understand a word.
-I don’t understand Spanish can you speak in English please?
-you don’t understand Spanish ha?!! OK I speak in English for you. So what happened?!! What are you afraid of?!! Why don’t you want to talk to me anymore?
-I am really sorry lady but I am not Juan I am someone else.
-ok,
Very disappointed and hangs up

I go back to sleep, half an hour later the phone rings again
it is her again with a sad apologetic tone
-Hello Juan
-No
-OK sorry sir bye

That woman had all the sadness one can feel in the world,
her voice coming out from a B rated soap opera. That Juan guy really broke her heart.

I am supposed to be at noon at the Harbor Defense Museum at 230 Sheridan Loop.

Posted 2 years ago

Roy Samaha, Inbound from Beirut,

Sep 15

September 9
Downtown again
too much of everything

Posted 2 years ago

Roy Samaha, Inbound from Beirut,

Sep 18

Septemver 10

Staten Island Museum

Staten Island Buddhist Vihara

Posted 2 years ago

Roy Samaha, Inbound from Beirut,

Sep 19

September 11

Saint Paul’s Chapel facing World Trade Center.

Some other people in Brooklyn already forgotten.

Posted 2 years ago

Roy Samaha, Inbound from Beirut,

Sep 19

September 12

New Amsterdam Market.

Battery Park City Block Party.

Governors Island Art Fair.

The sky is too gloomy to be out in the streets.

Take the bus back.

- Hey man you’re littering

- Littering? Who’s littering?

Then some mumbling from the front of the bus, I don’t understand much, then the shouting starts again

- Where do you think you came from? How do you think you came here in the first place?

- Hey man got some roaches coming out of your jacket!

Some more shouting in the front, the bus is too crouded to see what is really happening

Then a woman comes back to where i am, she was wearing a black wig and said:

_ Stupid… stupid.

and then she mumbles something else in russian while cleaning off her shoes

_ stupid

- Hey sir, got some roaches coming from your jacket!

A young man was shouting at a much older man

And then the bus stops and then every body comes off the bus in a hurry.

I stayed to see if what was being said was true and also not very sure what will happen next.

And actually just where the old guy was sitting some corn chips and on the floor also little cockroaches

running in all direction all over the floor. Contemporary art seems to be one century behind daily life.

Then I saw the bus driver, a big guy, jumping in the bus trying to smash and kill the tiny creatures and another man standing next to me and also starring like me at the scene, suddenly shouts:

- What are you doing? You can’t do anything anymore they are all over the bus just get off the bus!

The bus driver declares the bus out of duty and asks us to get on the other one that just came in.

As all passengers where doing so, he starts shouting to the other driver:

- Don’t let that old guy on your bus! Got some roachs on him just don’t let him in your bus!

And then that same woman with her wig and voice again:

- Stupid … stupid.

And everybody on the streets gets in a crazy trance of jumping and shaking themselves and trying to pull out things off their cloths.

He was here still standing next to the bus eyes wide open not knowing that he had just created all of that madness.

The other bus driver asking him to shake his jacket.

- ain’t got no roaches on me!

- don’t let him in

- stay out.

And the old poor man who smelled like hell stood there in the middle of the road and we all left

I had completely forgotten that I had my camera on me.

Posted 2 years ago

Roy Samaha, Inbound from Beirut,

Sep 19

September 13

100 Center Street, Room 1000 and around

Posted 2 years ago

Roy Samaha, Inbound from Beirut,

Sep 19

September 14 & 15

Chelsea and Williamsburg

Posted 2 years ago

Roy Samaha, Inbound from Beirut,

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