The big storm meant that getting a seat in Manhattan would be
harder than usual.

My bike was in no mood to help me find a place to sit.

It seemed as if all things man-made were wearing heavy hats. Still no place
to sit.

The cars were resting comfortably. They had the day off.

More hats.

Where is Dennis these days?

I found a pink blanket.(The woman holding my umbrella took it
home with her.)

A semi-serious photo.

Aliens from Planet Bling opened a store. There was no seating inside.

The number of new-homes sold and the prices they fetch
continues to slide. Sales of new homes fell 2.8 percent from
December’s levels, and the median price of an American
castle dipped to $215,000, which amounts to a 15 percent
decline from year ago levels. I am actually tired of writing
about the continuing dismal saga that is this nation’s housing
market.

I wrote a rather long-winded essay in 2005 called “Living in a
House of Borrowed Gold” that centered on the then nascent,
yet blossoming lending abuses and reckless investment in the
American real estate market. This, in my opinion at the time,
had all of the markings of an asset bubble forming. All of the
ingredients were there: easy credit, low interest rates, little or
no regulatory oversight, and most importantly, a mob psychology
that at its core believed: “it’s different this time, real estate
prices will never fall.”

What people failed to notice was the link between home prices
and income levels and overall inflation. Since the end of World
War II, the prices paid by Americans for their homes increased
in line with wages earned and the rate of inflation.

It seems as if the market peaked in early 2006, and air has been
hissing out of it ever since. Even after steep price declines nationally,
and outright decimation in some of the frothiest markets, homes
are still very expensive relative to income.

I was actually astonished by the extent of abuse of credit by both
lenders and borrowers (remember, it takes two to tango). And, it
turns out that the real estate bubble actually masked a much larger
credit bubble that now includes credit card debt, as well as auto
and student loans.

In short, we, as a nation, soaked for far too long in the muddy
waters of easy money. The cleansing process that lies ahead will
be long and quite abrasive. The important thing to remember,
especially in the silly season of a presidential election, is that a
thorough cleansing is necessary in order to repair the damage
and set ourselves on the right track again.

©Greg Strid 2008

The following is a press release from A.M Richard Fine Art:

Reclaimed a group exhibition curated by David Poppie
A.M. Richard Fine Art • 328 Berry Street, 3rd floor • Brooklyn, NY 11211
http://www.amrichardfineart.com/

Tel: (917) 570-1476 • gallery@amrichardfineart.com
For immediate release:

A.M. Richard Fine Art is pleased to announce:
Reclaimed a group exhibition curated by David Poppie.
Works by Ursula Clark, Matt Evald Johnson, David Poppie, Andrew L. Redington and
Roger Sayre.
February 22 nd -March 22nd, 2008

Opening Reception: Friday February 22nd from 6-9pm
Gallery Hours: weekdays by appointment • Fri - Sun 1-6 pm
Gallery Contact: A.M. Richard (917) 570-1476 or gallery@amrichardfineart.com

Reclaimed features five artists pre-occupied with the notion of recycling. The artists
presented have roots in various disciplines, including photography, sculpture, painting
and furniture design. Ursula Clark, Matt E. Johnson, Andrew L. Redington and Roger
Sayre, were asked to conceive two and three-dimensional work from reclaimed objects
and materials. The artist-used materials, the organic and the mass-produced, were
culled from nature and modern life.

For the past few years, DAVID POPPIE has been working conceptually with objets trouvés.
Mr. Poppie accumulates lost or disposable objects and gives them new significance as
contemplative or utilitarian works of art. In the site-specific work, Sense Field , Mr. Poppie
has created a futuristic window screen out of a collection of discarded (and unrecyclable)
plastic compact-disc jewel cases. Stained-glass, a craft traditional tied to
European medieval liturgical architecture –and just as significant as the language of
music and light transmission is to spiritual meditation- has essentially been re-invented
using disposable 20th century electronic appliance packaging. The work’s dimensions
was determined by a window located in the gallery space. Mr. Poppie has created a
luminous work of art that is pliant to a number of domestic and industrial environments.
Mr. Poppie lives and works in Easthampton, MA.

URSULA CLARK, a Brooklyn-based artist, will be presenting Outcrop, a site-specific
installation. Ms. Clark uses soil, moss, branches, twigs, leaves, rocks and pine cones to
create an idealized natural environment. In this aspect she is reverting an architectural
space to a bucolic landscape –one that may or may not have existed prior to the
building’s construction.
The 18th century in Europe saw the emergence of a new type of furniture, referred to as
metamorphic, for its distinctive characteristic of convertability. ANDREW L.

REDINGTON
creates metamorphic furniture from reclaimed materials such as industrial wood pallets,
household goods and assorted plastics. Constructions of elevated containers may result
in both tangible and impalpable forms i.e. a table or a light source. Mr. Redington lives
and works in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

ROGER SAYRE has conceived a series of wall pieces assembled from discarded doors.
Rescued from an urban dumpster, the doors were dismantled, cut in sections and reconfigured
as visual abstractions. The result is a composition of surprising dynamism and
confounding beauty. Mr. Sayre, as artist and curator, is the recipient of numerous grants.
His work has been exhibited internationally. He lives and works in Jersey City.

In his recent sculptures, “bio-industrial abstractions”, MATT E. JOHNSON, questions the
relationship between primary spatial dimensions. The artist pairs salvaged silverware with
reclaimed industrial metal of various finish and composition. Panelized and distressed
stainless steel, chrome and copper are layered in wave formations with heavily forged
elements tightly bound with delicate utensils. Innate strength and homeostasis perspire
from Mr. Johnson’s sculptural manifestations.

(This material was written by the staff of A.M. Richard Fine Art)

It seems as though xenophobia has an inverse relationship
to the ebb and flow of the stock market. As stocks have
been sinking under the gathering economic gloom, paranoia
about sovereign-wealth funds began to rise. These are funds
that are basically made up of the accumulated savings of
developing nations, such as the oil-rich Persian Gulf states
and emerging Asian economies. They are usually operated
by the governments of these developing countries, and thus
have been causing alarm bells to sound in our nation’s heartland
and its shining capital city.

Just last month, the governments of Singapore, South Korea
and Kuwait, through their sovereign-wealth funds, poured $21
billion into Citibank and Merrill Lynch. The inept management
teams of these two struggling financial giants welcomed this
money with open arms. It seems as though their greedy ways
have left them exposed to tremendous losses on their subprime
mortgage portfolios, and they desperately needed to repair their
battered balance sheets ASAP.

According to the Economist, sovereign-wealth funds have invested
$69 billion in western investment banking giants since the start
of the subprime meltdown last year. It seems that the financial
crisis of 1998 is repeating itself with a very noticeable shift: the
developing world is coming to the rescue of the largest post-
industrial economies. This is how free markets and the capitalist
system are supposed to work. Excess savings are channeled to
where the return appears to be the greatest- there really is no
need for further discussion.

But, this is an election year in Americatown (a term borrowed
from those talented writers of the Simpsons). As the economy
staggers and job growth slows from the effects of a sinking
housing market and a credit crunch, someone must be subjected
to the reckless index finger of blame. To assign condemnation
where it really belongs would make everyone look and feel bad
(which would have one benefit; it would boost anti-depressant
sales and provide a shot in the arm to the pharmaceutical industry).

Many voters bought houses they couldn’t afford; bankers lent
money irresponsibly, and Washington politicians- on both sides
of the aisle- looked the other way. “They’re buying our nation’s
prized assets on the cheap for sinister purposes”, the politicians
will howl as the election draws near. The bottom line is: we
would be doing the same if only we had the means.

© Greg Strid 2008

Thud. That was the sound of January’s dismal payroll
number as it landed in the collective face of overly
optimistic Wall Street economists early Friday morning.

Non-farm payrolls contracted by 17,000 last month, marking
the first decline since the summer of 2003. The “thud” that
was heard around the world’s trading salons was the result
of reality smacking fantasy for a loop. The consensus among
Wall Street economists was for a healthy increase of 85,000
jobs last month.

Total hours worked and wages earned declined as well. Job
growth in the American economy has slowed to just 41,000
over the past three months, down significantly from the average
of 109,000, which marked the first quarter of 2007. The carnage
was widespread, with only the retail, health, education and
leisure sectors adding new positions.

This dismal news is actually welcomed by many who ply the
treacherous financial markets because it increases the chance
of another interest rate cut by our panicky Fed chairman, Ben
Bernanke. But, rate cuts will not cure the effects of a credit
boom and housing bubble that are quickly turning to bust.

This sad employment report signals that the implosion in the
banking industry and housing markets, which was brought on by
reckless lending, is starting to negatively impact job creation
and disposable income. Maybe Wall Street’s economists will have
better luck forecasting next moth’s numbers.

©Greg Strid 2008