CLIME, 2024, video, 11 min. 42 sec. CLIME brings attention to the vitality and safety of public space, particularly the East River Park in New York City. Erskine + Stein ask, “How do vital public spaces strengthen communities and democracies?” A link to Vimeo is available for residency and screening purposes.

Contact: iguanacollaborative@gmail.com

Directors and Performers: IGUANA Collaborative: Sherry Erskine + Bonnie Sue Stein

Director of Photography and Editor: Sherry Erskine

Producer: Bonnie Sue Stein

Sound Design: John K Erskine

Composers: Jonathan Chen + Tatsu Aoki

Soundtrack: De-Clime 2, Jonathan Chen Orchestra Returns, Asian Improv Records, Inc., mastered by John K Erskine, Jonathan Chen, http://www.jonathanchen.net/bio.html

Additional video: George Hirose, Tree Felled / Love Letters to the Trees (with 1000people1000trees) / Amphitheater.

Synthesis: NASA Data Visualizations, Michael Strain, Producer, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Production and Distribution: http://gohproductions.org

Directors’ Statement:

CLIME focuses on the vitality and safety of public space, particularly the East River Park of New York City.

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy dumped an unprecedented amount of water onto the streets and parks of Manhattan's Lower East Side; an area renowned for its economic and ethnic diversity. It proved to be an eco-nightmare! Central to this flooding was East River Park, built by Robert Moses in the 1930s, with tall groves of Pin Oak and London Plane trees, bespoke playing fields, and green meadows. As the waters receded and nearby power was restored, concerned citizens, community groups, neighborhood organizations, and local politicians banded together to consider solutions to help prevent future flooding. Following numerous meetings, citizen input, and political discourse, the East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) Plan was formulated; with both some approval and some opposition from neighboring communities [who eventually felt left out of the final conversation]. This new plan was described by municipal and federal officials as the "nature as buffer" approach and claims to reduce flood risk caused by ever present coastal storms and predicted sea level rise.

In 2024, as this project advances, the loss of trees and open space has left barren the once verdant riverside space that served this community for decades. Images of workers cutting down the park's trees, documented by East River Park Action and similar Instagram group pages, have instilled confusion and rage among local residents. It is difficult to see through their loss to a post-destructive future of the declared 2026 completion. The main controversy centers on the loss of hundreds of healthy trees, sparking a passionate community movement to preserve what remains. Over 700 mature trees have been clearcut, some over 100 years old. This story - preservation of the land and confronting the ecological disaster - is still unfolding.

Time will tell.

In January 2023, we entered the East River Park to both investigate the reconstruction plan and commemorate the space, documenting where we had played, walked, biked, and picnicked for over 40 years. We observed ongoing tree removal, as energetic joggers, skaters, fishermen, and couples continued to promenade. We had no script. Made no plan. Improvising on-site, we responded with movement and video to what we witnessed and felt in this public space. 

Transformation.

We saw one oak tree named Matilda. She was 80 years old when felled. Other nameless trees remained for now with perseverance, passion, life force. Many of the elements we focused on are now gone, though they live in collective memory. A few stumps are visible and, deep under the barren earth, roots are abandoned. With additional documentary video by George Hirose and music by Jonathan Chen Orchestra, CLIME commemorates the East River Park and its legacy - an historical dream.

While wandering through this once lively park, questions arose …

  1. Who are the gatekeepers of safe public space?

  2. Where are we in this scenario?

  3. How do vital public spaces strengthen communities and democracies?

INSTALLATION PROPOSAL - Diagram above

How can we use performance, video & VR to bring attention to the vitality and safety of public space? IGUANA Collaborative proposes to design and premiere CLIME - a multi-channel looping video installation on mylar wings and projection screen. An 12 minute 4K video titled CLIME will be projected on the main screen. An original soundtrack by Jonathan Chen will be performed live &/or on loop. (De-Clime 2, Jonathan Chen Orchestra Returns, Asian Improv Records). Audio process at the installation by John Erskine. CLIME features Sherry and Bonnie at crossroads on the East River Promenade, appearing as harbingers of change. Pre-recorded or livestream projections on the mylar wings include underwater video from the East River and the transformation of the parkland. In context of the East River Park under demolition, the videos reveal a zone of magnified intensity: sordid binary tension from destructive to creative. Symbolic of these divisive times, the work offers many paths and possibilities. Optional technical feature utilizing 3D software: a computer monitor depicts avatars created of viewers invited to populate the digital space.

CLIME INSTALLATION PROPOSAL STILLS AND AVATAR EXAMPLE - Photos below

FIELD NOTE - 8 January 2023:  We discovered a site of magnified intensity.  A view of three realms - river, earth and sky.  An historic park under demolition.  Above, a full moon atop a transient bridge to other steepled mortal realms. A site of many gates, portals and thresholds.  There are people - energetic joggers, fishermen finding plenty, skaters and jokers, couples promenading - all going one way or the other along a singular path.  Most ignore us.  Beyond, toward the ocean, tug boats and barges push and pull urban waste and commuters in parallel synchronicity.  Behind, dogs bark and growl, cars wiz and honk, sirens blare and fade into the distance.  One year ago, in 2022, at the center of this site stood many 80 year old trees.  Now one of the remaining elder trees is to be cut down tomorrow. The tree named Matilda is surrounded by advocates and mourners. Defenders of the park are livid at its current decrepit condition. Where are we in this scenario? Who are the gatekeepers of safe public spaces? 

Bottom four photos, beginning with the demolition of the amphitheater, from Gothamist, by Nathan Kensinger, Dec. 31, 2021. Photo of tree cutting at night from Artforum: Dec. 17, 2021, photo by Mikiodo, captioned “The city is currently uprooting the park’s 991 trees, many eighty years old.” Map: NYC East Side Coastal Resiliency website CLIME was shot on location in the only area of the park currently open to the public.