Architects
Matthew Bialecki / Project Team: Bialecki Architects
"The Pursuit of Happiness: 1609–2009"
In the 400 years since Hudson's voyage of discovery the location of this man's bones may still be a mystery but his legacy is completely apparent. An utterly endless number of towns, counties, bridges, roads, malls, and used car lots stand loudly championing his heritage. But what is the real legacy of this forerunner of western civilization’s expansion into the new world? After 400 years, what has happened to Eden?
What Hudson helped discover were riches far greater than those his fabled Northwest passage could ever yield. A vast continent of resources whose sole purpose soon became exploitation. A different culture collides with an ancient unspoiled world at the dawn of the age of global commerce, mercantile nationalism, industrialization, consumerization. Within 100 years, the cities are established; the new culture is now permanently housed. Within 200 years, the native Americans are eradicated; there was no room for them in the new nation that was being born. In 250 years, the vast arboreal forests of North America are largely gone. The wilderness was conquered: chopped, hewn, burned. In the next 50 years, the 300th anniversary of his voyage, the transformation was largely complete: rivers dammed, roads built, factories churning, cities choking.
What happened to Eden? We burned it. Then we paved it.
We burned it for comfort. We paved it for convenience. We dammed it for efficiency. Even when we tried to get back to nature, as at Byrdcliffe, this dear utopian experiment of non-industrialization, we had to have central heating and indoor plumbing and roads for the cars and carriages. Yes, we can pursue happiness, but we must absolutely minimize the discomforts that might be encountered. At the 400–year anniversary of Mr. Hudson's voyage of exploitation, what has changed? A renewal? A new path? Are we at the brink of a time where we will look back in awestruck horror that we constantly filled endless millions of tanks with oil and gas and then...burned it, unendingly?
Where lies Henry Hudson? His bones and those of his son and crew washed up on a beach and dissolved into the soil that fed a tree that grew straight and tall and proud. It made a mighty sound when our logging companies cut it down for 2x4's...or toilet paper...or firewood. Where lies Henry Hudson? He is floating in the air; he is the CO2 suffocating our planet. We're breathing him.
The pursuit of happiness was a singular obsession in the new world for the last 400 years. The land, our environment was its hapless victim. Will the fuel tanks stay empty? Will the trees grow between them? Can the evocative ruins of our unceasing quest for convenience remind us of a greater commitment? Can we finally bury Hudson's legacy?
Description of the installation
An abandoned road/trail leads to the site which has four to five existing, old, abandoned and rusted steel tanks on it. The tanks are very beautiful...in various stages of decay set into a stunning landscape. Bialecki explains, “Nature is returning to the tank field and the contrast for me is very evocative; ships, tombs, cenotaphs of western industry. The tanks are rotting, the trees are returning, the wounds are healing.”
The perimeter of the site is delineated with a metal rail to preserve and protect the archeological integrity of the place. All of the tanks are altered. One is outfitted with a solar powered piston that will rock the tank slightly, producing a creaking, groaning sound. A bench is accompanied with texts and graphs detailing the rise of CO2 in the last 400 years and a tape loop of a voice reading the United Nations report on climate change.
Bio
As a national leader in the study and interpretation of the American Arts and Crafts movement, Matt Bialecki's contribution to the “AHOY! Where Lies Henry Hudson?” could not be installed in a more perfect site. The Byrdcliffe property is on the national registry because of its pivotal role in the Arts and Crafts Movement in the United States. Bialecki has developed an architectural language that interprets the heritage of the Arts and Crafts movement by directly expressing natural building materials and their unique forms. Founded in 1986 in New York’s Hudson River Valley as Matthew Bialecki Associates, Bialecki Architects (BA) specializes in sustainable building designs inspired by the history and natural environment of the Hudson Valley. The firm continues to develop regional inspirations into a broader philosophy of site–specific, green building designs that emphasize high–performance technologies. Bialecki Architects has incorporated the Arts and Crafts philosophy of self–sufficiency and simplicity into a commitment to green architecture that minimizes energy usage, utilizes natural materials, and attempts, at all levels, to help maintain and improve the environment. Bialecki Architects has also applied the essence of its rural architectural philosophy to the urban environment in a series of New York City residential and commercial architectural spaces. Projects include Maple Grove, New Paltz Railroad Station and Opera House, Fort Defiance, Wallkill Valley Inn, Walsh Farm, and Sam’s Point Conservation Center
