P'unk Avenue Window

It is both ironic and apropos that a web firm should have a poor or non-existent website. Punkave.com was a place-holder for the first two years and a static site barely displaying our work for the third. After the twentieth inquiry of, “do you guys make websites?” we decided to devote billable hours to making a legitimate site.

It’s very simple. It says our name, it has contact information, it states what we do, and it shows our work. What more could we want? (full disclosure: Geoff wants ‘about’ information and bios, but first things first!)

I will keep this brief, that is our way. We hope you enjoy the new site.

On April 1, 2005 we registered punkave.com.

In honor of our 3rd birthday, please join us for some cake (or mini cannoli) and some beer/drinks.

April 1, 2008, 6pm

P’unk Avenue
1168 E. Passyunk Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19147

The other day our good friend, Mike Fleming, did yoga with us and then set up some lights and took pictures of us in the studio. We have been meaning to post them here, but before we had a chance our team has grown again.

You can now find Tom Boutell hanging out with us during the week. Tom created the original WWW FAQ, which continues to be a frequently-consulted “how-to” resource for web developers. Tom was the originator of the gd library, as well as the PNG image file format. At RealNetworks (then Progressive Networks), Tom was instrumental in the creation of RealAudio 1.0, the first streaming audio solution for the web. He has recently written a number of Facebook applications and has expertise in social media programming.

The coolest part of this story is that Tom is someone we have been hanging out with for years at Benna’s Cafe since he lives only a couple of blocks from the studio. We have been thinking about adding another developer to our team for a couple of weeks. When I ran into Tom last Wednesday at Benna’s when I was hanging out with my kids, he mentioned he was looking for work. By Thursday night at 10pm, Tom agreed to join the team!

Chalk another one up for Jane Jacobs’s belief in the value of spontaneous interactions in the city.

Let us take a deep breath, hold it, and dive into the last month.

John Benson joined us as a half-time employee, his other half spent professing to UArts students and producing interactive projects with EGwrk.

We consumed a few dozen cannoli (Termini being the prevailing producer, Polito’s and Ianelli’s closely trailing).

Earlier this week we received our new letterpressed business cards from Chad of One Heart Press in San Fransisco. Chad and Geoff were classmates in grad school and partners in Trolley Studio, a predecessor to P’unk Avenue.

Geoff fought an epic week-long battle with data storage and (ultimately) won. With the assistance of Chris Matta and SuperDuper his computer is going back to Apple today, his new one on the way.

Last night I discovered our upstairs tenent Collin’s collection of classical music, next week will bring a wonderful mix of Rachmaninoff, Shostakovitch, and Schoenberg.

Today we practiced Kundalini yoga, which culminated in a ten minute crab walk around the studio and meditative air punching.

Annnnnnd exhale.

Recently the Business section of the Philadelphia Inquirer featured Independents Hall. In simplest terms, it is a coworking space. My partner Alex Hillman and I consider community to be an important component in this project.

Community is a word that is thrown about quite often and so it has lost some of its impact. Let me try to define a piece of it that is important to me in this endeavor.

I see Independents Hall as a “better incubator.” The current incubator model, that I am aware of, gives space and resources to a group of people trying to grow a business idea. By the time they get in an incubator, they often have a business plan written up. Sometimes they have funding. In general, though, they have an idea that they want to turn into a business. Most incubator spaces require that you have a plan for a business, or they will not let you lease a space.

To be a member of Independents Hall, you do not have to have a business plan or even an idea for a business. Jane Jacobs’s notion of the city sidewalk as a place where you happen upon people, and out of these chance occurrences, new ideas and opportunities arise is closer metaphor for Independents Hall.

Incubation of new ideas and opportunities is meant to happen organically at Independents Hall.

Robert Fulford noted that “Jacobs came down firmly on the side of spontaneous inventiveness of individuals, as against abstract plans imposed by governments and corporations,” Spontaneous inventiveness is something that artists are very much in tune with in their problem solving process.

As an artist, this is the approach I used in planning the space with Alex. This spirit also pervades daily existence in the space. Artists know that you don’t need to solve every problem in advance. You don’t have to have a plan for everything. Instead, you need to place yourself in inspiring circumstances and then trust yourself that you will know what do when the opportunity arises.

Community creates a supportive environment for people to take chances, to innovate and to make positive changes in our world. When I talk about community and Independents Hall, that is what I mean.

Geoff: I think I want an iphone.
Alex: as long as your get them for us.
Rick: whatever dude.

(three days later)

Geoff: I went to the AT&T store after dropping Lila at school. They didn’t even have iphones out, the guy was all like, ‘uh, someone tried to steal one’. Lame.
Rick: whatever dude.
Alex: you’re nuts.

(two hours later)

Steve Jobs: iPhones now $399
Geoff: let’s go to the Apple store in Marlton.
Alex: alright.
Rick: whatever dude.

(two hours later)

Rick: Ihavetopeesobadarewealmostthereohmygod.
Geoff: relax, that’s the shopping center.
Apple Employee: how may I help you gentlemen.
Chorus: we would like five iphones please.
Apple Employee: certainly.

This past friday the great guys at Philly TIP had me on their show.

I really enjoyed the experience. I discussed the origins of the name P’unk Avenue, what we do, our neighborhood and some other cool stuff.

Take a listen and let me know what you think.

I wanted to thank Ken, Bart and Alex for having me on.

It is always nice when someone notices that you are trying to do a good thing.

This week Sam Tremble of the Philadelphia City Paper wrote about our role in the emerging Second Friday Art thing in our neighborhood.

Sam attended many of the openings last month and really enjoyed it.

Hope you can make it if you are in town.

Rosi Dispensa: The Pittsburgh Series
An abstract look at the steel mills along route 837 in Pittsburgh, PA.
P’unk Avenue
1168 E. Passyunk Avenue, Philadelphia 19147
Closing: Friday, June 8 2007, 6 - 9 PM

The P’unk Ave crew is teaming up with fellow artist Katie Murken to create an installation at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education.

Originally, Katie wanted to hire me to help her with an animation in Director; however, I suggested that instead it could be a collaboration with the P’unk Ave team… and she could save the fee.

Slated to open in April or May, it has evolved into a text-message (SMS) narrative experience with “stations” demarcated by clusters of manipulated gourds. The content of the narratives is in development right now, but will reference the Schuylkill Center’s environs and history, for sure.

While on the site, people will be receiving text messages and participating through their responses. All of this will be documented on a website which opens the possibility for continuing the dialogue well after they leave.

We are really excited about this project and we hope you come. We will post more info as it becomes available.

In the meantime, feel free to check out some camera phone pics of our research outing to the Schuylkill Center.

Last friday, our master carpenter, Justin, installed one of our new windows in the studio. This one faces Federal Street and runs practically floor to ceiling when you are inside the studio.

We have a really cool view that unfolds throughout the day.

Yesterday around noon, a fire truck pulled up on E. Passyunk and stopped so that it was framed perfectly in the window.

It ended up staying there for awhile and was quickly joined with ambulances, news trucks, police and the fire commisioner.

It almost felt like we put the window in just in time to frame this scene. In the end it turned out that our neighbors directly behind us on Darien Street were overcome with carbon monoxide poisoning. It made me feel helpless when I found out that they had been suffering for days but waited until their son came down from New York since they don’t speak english before doing anything.

I see these neighbors almost every day since I live next store to the studio. They are a very very sweet elderly Chinese couple. They love touching my infant son’s face and smiling and waving to my 4 year old daughter every time they see them. And my daughter enjoys seeing them, as well.

If they had been able to talk to us, we would have helped them. I know we could have made a difference. However, our language barrier separates us.

I still don’t know how they are doing, and even now I don’t know how to contact them to say that I care about them and would like to help.

When you live and work close together in a city like Philadelphia, you watch life and death unfold in ways that are hidden from a sanitized suburban view. It reminds me of all of the skulls that you see on buildings in London to remind people that death might not be far away – memento mori.

In those times, people lived much shorter (and more brutal) lives and so these reminders actually served as encouragements to live…not fear.

Today we tend to close ourselves off from the world and pretend that we are not going to die. We try to remove these reminders from our view.

I really hope that our sweet elderly neighbors pull through so that I can give them a big hug next time I see them. I am sure that my daughter will want to do the same.

But, no matter what, I appreciate the opportunity to live in a place where life unfolds.

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