FIELDNOTES FROM THE GOWANUS

This blog is a collection of projects, documentation, writing and other ephemera from a visual research workshop led by The Canary Project and commissioned by Commissioned by the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center (SJDC) in conjunction with the exhibition U-n-f-o-l-d: A Cultural Response to Climate Change.
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• Bland Hoke, Non-aqueous phase liquids

  
  

  

  
  

  Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (2011)
  Bland Hoke
  Cardboard and steel
  18” x 10” x 36”

  The EPA has designated the Gowanus Canal a superfund site. What exactly does this mean, and what are the ramifications for the surrounding community? Reflecting on the myriad charts, graphs and scientific visualisations of the various pollutants embedded within the Gowanus, I decided to visualize one of the intriguing toxic acronyms - NAPL’s. In photos of core samples, non-aqueous phase liquids resemble jello-like sections of earth, a reminder of 3 manufactured gas plants that operated on the Gowanus. This substance, among a laundry list of others, is visible caressing the surface of the Gowanus as a thin sheen - anonymous blobs jettisoned from underground reservoirs.