Summer/Fall 2012 Download PDF - The Studio Museum in Harlem

Museum21HarlemPostcardsSummer 2012Moyra DaveyBorn 1958, Toronto, CanadaLives and works in New York, NYLauren HalseyBorn 1987, Los Angeles, CALives and works in Los Angeles, CACritter, 2012Summa Evreethang, 2012For twelve years I’ve lived in an apartment overlookingTrinity Cemetery. I watch it change from twig-brown andsnow-dusted in winter, to delicate green in spring, andfinally to a burst of dense emerald puffs of foliage bysummer. When the trees are bare, you can see how thecemetery is laid out in a spiral formation cut into a mound,a little like Bruegel’s The Tower of Babel. By summer, thisstructural view is obliterated by the intense proliferationof vegetation, and if you walk there on a hot day you mightmistake this tiny patch of land for jungle, so thick is thetangle of vines and ivy, so deafening the chants of cicadasand crows. Trinity, dense with avian life, is also home tomany hawks. John James Audubon, the bird-man, is buriedhere, as is Ralph Ellison. That day, thinking of Harlem’s richliterary history, I sought out his grave.Commodity culture in Harlem is rich with merchantsand artisans selling a vivid assortment of incense, oils, art,jewelry, clothing and mix CDs. Some merchants sell “Bestof” CDs alongside personalized soundtracks that embodythe moods of barbeques, lovemaking and catching theHoly Ghost. Song lists become recipes to attain the idealizedexperiences of the titles, for a dollar: “Don’t Say Goodnight,”“The Glory of Black Gospel,” “Turn Off the Lights,Mix II,” “Let’s Party.” An older man near 125th Street andFrederick Douglass Boulevard tiled his mixes atop a picnictable. I bought twenty. He became fixated on all twentyas a collective, smiled and promised me a good night.