Made By Hand Film Series Features 3rd Ward Teacher Megan Paska In 'The Beekeeper'

A still from The Beekeeper.

In November we heard that the Made by Hand documentary series was working on a short film about our very own Rooftop Beekeeping and Chickens in the City teacher Megan Paska, known far and wide for her many outstanding endeavors as the Brooklyn Homesteader. We've been eagerly awaiting the film ever since, and it's finally here—and predictably, it's amazing.

The Beekeeper, the third film in the Made by Hand series, focuses on Paska's working maintaining apiaries across Brooklyn. It features breathtaking shots of rooftop farms, the NYC skyline and her fascinating beekeeping work. Along with her inspiring narrative and music that strikes just the right vibe, this one's as pure and delightful as the Brooklyn honey that she harvests.

Watch it below, but be warned: once you do, it's going to be hard to resist signing up for an upcoming session of Paska's Beekeeping 101.

-- John Ruscher

TEACHER SHOW // Iviva Olenick Embroiders a Love Letter to Our Borough

Coney IslandFor those of us with any textile experience, embroidery seems like the most detail oriented art for only the most patient people. Iviva Olenick is one of those people. In addition to teaching 3rd Ward's Extraordinary Embroidery class, Olenick is a pioneer in narrative embroidery, much of which is featured on her blog, Were I So Besotted. We love Olenick's textile storytelling, and we think you should see it in-person.

So heed our words:

"The Brooklyn Love Exchange: A Portrait of Brooklyn Romance," featuring Olenick's work is on view at the Muriel Guepin Gallery in Cobble Hill until November 13.

Olenick says the exhibit is a sort of "love map" of Brooklyn inspired by her own ex-boyfriends and love stories collected from interviews with other Brooklynites. Also on view is "FiberGraf," a collaboration with graffiti artist Jon Baker. Baker tags, Olenick stitches; work that seems like a BK love story in its own rite. So if you have a new guy or gal you want to impress, swing by this weekend and fall in love with Olenick's totally unique vision of New York.

Here's one more while we're at it:

Beschert Taxi--Layla Schlack

TONIGHT + FRIDAY // 3rd Ward Instructor Phillip Stearns' Multiple Exhibitions

Entity I, from "Subliminal Machines"It's safe to say Phillip Stearns--electronics artist and our own renewable power sources teacher extraordinaire--is on something of a roll. Stearns has an exhibition opening tonight, Nov. 3rd followed by an entirely different one tomorrow. 

Tonight's installation "Subliminal Machines" opens over at Rabbithole in DUMBO. It takes a look at circuits as live organisms via an interactive light and sound installation, digital imagery created by short-circuiting a camera and audio-visual compositions.

As part of his artist statement, Stearns claims "By making electronics physical, I invert the paradigm of miniaturization which constantly seeks to embed ever powerful computational devices in increasingly smaller spaces, choosing to explode the physical attributes of the circuits to give them a bodily presence." He'll be giving a talk about the installation November 18, 7-9 p.m. The show will be up until November 28. 

One of Stearns's pieces from "Algorithmic Unconscious"

If that gets you charged up, check out Stearns' work in Friday, Nov. 4th's "Algorithmic Unconscious," a collaborative project debuting at Williamsburg's Devotion Gallery. The show studies the overlap of noise in electronic machines, random fluctuations of sound, the interactions of humans and machines and how messing with a system's algorithms can create dischord. In other words, a fine example of Glitch art. This one's also open until November 28. 

We obviously love to support our own, but Stearns' new work looks (and we're sure, we'll sound) amazing, so we hope to see you out there too.

--Layla Schlack.

ESSENTIAL EVENT // Bring To Light: Nuit Blanche Illuminates Greenpoint This Saturday

Last year New York joined more than 120 cities around the world that have presented "nuit blanche" festivals, which were first started in Paris and quickly spread across Europe and beyond. Literally meaning "white night," these festivals stay open late into the night feature light-based art installations, performances and exhibitions. New York's festival, called Bring To Light: Nuit Blanche, was initiated last year by 3rd Ward teacher Michael Zick Doherty and DoTank, and though it isn't as big as some (St. Peterburg's White Nights Festival featured a Rolling Stones concert in 2007), it's still a must-see event.

This year's festival, which is happening this Saturday, October 1, will feature more than 50 light, sound, projection, performance and new media projects along Greenpoint's industrial waterfront.

The projects include the public video art project Commercial Break, which was originally commissioned for the Venice Biennale; SWINGS, an interactive video sculpture by artist Amanda Long; Sidus Link, a mobile app that allows users to virtually brighten New York City's night sky, and The Perception of Moving Targets, a collection of short films directed by Weston Currie and scored by Portland experimental musician Grouper.

Bright To Light: Nuit Blanche runs from 6pm until 1am, with all events happening around Franklin Street and Milton Street in Greenpoint. For more information and the full schedule check out the festival's website.

-- John Ruscher