"Things Happen" UPDATED (And what that has to do with Art)
An otherwise lovely neighborhood marred by overhead wires
In yesterday's chapter, we left our intrepid heroine and her city in the throes of yet another blackout -- partial blackout, at any rate.
After the subways were halted on several lines, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was evacuated and parts of the South Bronx and most of the Upper East Side were without power (those are social designations, as well as a geographical ones -- and how ironic that the one thing that brings the rich and poor together in my fair city is electricity, or the lack thereof) what does Con Ed have to say?
"Things Happen."
Honest. In the New York Times today:
But Con Ed’s chief executive, Kevin Burke, said he could not explain what had gone wrong, nor could he provide any assurance that similar problems would not occur this summer. Still, he said that the problem was not caused by heavy usage on an unusually hot day — the second day in a row of 90-degree temperatures.
“There will be additional thunderstorms and trees will fall down,” Mr. Burke said at a news conference yesterday evening. He added: “I think the customers have a lot of confidence in us. They understand that problems could occur.”
Gee. Well, I hate to be the one to break the news to him but most of us are starting to approach the point where we don't understand.
Last summer a huge portion of Queens and Westchester were without power for more than a week. In my Woodlawn neighborhood, we lose power for two or three minutes on average twice a week and not always during hot weather -- it happens all through spring, fall and even during the winter! On St. Patrick's Day of this year, we lost power in half of our building -- some outlets worked and some didn't -- because of a rain storm.
I can't help but wonder what Con Ed is doing with all those rate increases they get regularly. It certainly doesn't seem to be upgrading the system, or replacing outdated equipment. Our neighborhood is chock full of overhead wires -- wires, wires everywhere! It looks like 1907 out there, instead of 2007:
Wires on 238th Street
Wires on Katonah Avenue
I can't help but wonder if the Queens and Westchester neighborhoods have the same conditions.
Now, you may be saying, Get to it, Black, what does this have to do with Art? Well, as you might suppose, nothing -- directly. But it does affect the creation of Art. When an artist must waste extra hours and money trying to get home at the end of a long day, when that's added to the already high levels of stress caused by a day job, urban living, commuting, and heat and humidity, it takes its toll on creativity and the energy required to feed creativity and make Art. Creativity comes from within, but it also feeds off the energy around you. When everyone around you is as tired, stressed, and as fed up as you are -- it sends creativity and artwork into a deep dark place, curled up, grouchy and hiding.
It might not come out until Fall.
Technorati Tags: creating art, blackouts, New York City Blackouts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Con Ed is the Devil's Tool
