Wednesday, December 26, 2007
More Views of "The Cave" at 120 Saint Marks Place ...
Mike Matel , the founder of the "Cave" , sleeping
Belt-buckle by Jim Power
Eddie in his space at the "Cave" and below playing the steel saw
Lisa Renko's space
Jim ,Noah and Jesse Jane
Noah Ryder and his creations ,the 2 views below
Jennifer and Jerry and Jerry painting
Again we post something of 120 St. Marks Place and again it is a group of pictures of the "Cave" taken a bit more than 2 years ago .
We are not suggesting by showing so many pictures of life at the "Cave" that the "Cave" should have remained forever un-touched at 120 Saint Marks Place . After-all 120 St. Marks Place was not a legally occuppied building and it was a bit unsafe as a structure . There were some very serious structural problems with this building .
We are just trying to show some of the loss of diversity in activities in the East Village due to the irresponsible , wild-west sort of development activity now radically changing the neighborhood forever .
A few months before Benjamin Shaoul vacated 120 St. Marks Place ending the "Cave" , some of the members of the "Cave" left for SOHO and a new communal situation known as "Green House " at 75 Green Street . We will continue this story soon with a series of posts of that adventure here at NMNL .
Sunday, December 16, 2007
120 St. Marks Place : "The Cave" Artist's Commune ...
Jim Power and Biker Bill Walker
Paintings by : On the left Mike Matel and on the right by Maze
Jerry with 40 oz. malt liquor
Painted interior
Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer
Mike Matel
Jery Faust
Painted interior and supplies
Myles Emery and Shelby Voice's space
Jerry painting
Jerry painting
Jerry painting
Eddie's space
Eddie's space
Eddie's space
Painted wall
Jim Power's space
Jesse Jane
Jim's space
Jim incognito
Rear of the "Cave"
Without getting into the right-or-wrong-of-it-all or the for-better-or-worse-of-it-all we'll just say tonight that the East Village is changing and has changed irreversably . The "Cave" artist commune was the last of the illegal East Village squats and it has now been gone for nearly 2 years . The building at 120 St. Marks Place that the "Cave" occupied has been demolished and replaced by a new building of which we have posted many times here at NMNL .
Most recently we posted again of this new 120 St. Marks Place building 5 posts ago on 12 December . Tonight we just ammended that post ( PLEASE RETURN TO THIS PREVIOUS 12 DEC. POST AND READ THE ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY ) adding more damning comentary to the story of the new 120 St. Marks Place .
The "Cave" commune was started 5 years or so ago by Mike Matel , Demetrius and Maze . Many were soon to join the commune including Eddie ,Myles Emory and Shelby Voice , Jerry Faust , Noah Ryder ,Lisa Renko and of course Jim "Mosaic Man " Power and super-star dog Jesse Jane .
It is difficult to say whether the "Cave" was more a drinking and drugging society or more a society of artists . Probably it is fairly represented as all of the above . Many an evening was nothing but a ribald drunken frenzy . But along with all the dissipative behavior some painting and sculpture was done ... things were created and sometimes actually sold .
Here we present a selection of veiws of the "Cave" and some of it's members and their work .
Friday, July 14, 2006
Sunday afternoon with Shelby and Myles .
Above: House-sitting ,painting and living today
Above:the CaveBelow: 75 Green Street
Last Sunday I visited Shelby and Myles at the apartment where they are house-sitting until the middle of August . They both are former residents of the Cave at 120 St. Marks Place where they had one small quiet room with northern light in which to live and work . They of course know Jim Power and like Jim have had difficulty finding a permanent place to live and work .
Where they live now is spacious , well endowed with natural light and affords all the necessary comforts of a home. The apartment is large with much wall surface and affords plenty of space to both paint and display paintings . Paintings can be seen everywhere . This paradise east of Tompkins Square Park is to be short lived though since Shelby and Myles will soon be homeless again.
Since they lived at the Cave , they have lived several different places including in the street .For a while they lived in SOHO at 75 Green Street, another artist commune . 75 Green Street was started by another former Cave fellow ,Gerry Faust, and is one very large room, a whole floor of a building , that serves as space for artist to work and also for some to live . The rough, undeveloped and unheated space is also a gallery and sometimes a space for very big parties . For some time both young artists painted , displayed and sold paintings right where they also lived on Green Street. But that all ended for them and so they moved on as they will again soon have to do.
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