Phong H. Bui (pictured above)
Publisher of The Brooklyn Rail, Greenpoint
How long have you lived in Greenpoint?
Since 1993, when I got a summer sublet from an ad in The Village Voice. The person on the lease decided not to come back, so I’ve lived here forever.
What do you think of the biennial exhibition, “Trees Never End and Houses Never End”?
It’s a very, very immersive curation. I celebrate this idea of the collective. It brings people together. Artists’ freedom is so important. The exhibition embraces the slowness of culture. It takes time to make a painting, write a poem, choreograph a dance, even organize a show like Sky High has. And that slowness of culture is a tool against the speed of technology. By the way, all tyrants love speed. They love to create fear through technologies with the radio, with the television, whatever. If they can use it, they do it. And our job is to do the opposite. You know what I mean?
Marivie Koch
Gallery marketing manager, Bedford-Stuyvesant
Ken Shung
Photographer, Chelsea
How has the field of photography changed over the years?
It used to be a skill that was considered professional. And you had to learn all this technique and math. Now, you just close your eyes and put your finger on a piece of glass and the picture is amazing. I hate to say it, but today you don’t need math.
Dan Colen with Days and Mickey Colen
Founder of Sky High Farm, Pine Plains
Phil Haynes
Director of farm operations at Sky High Farm, Valatie
Yasmina Cabrera
Herbalist, Fordham
How did you get into plant medicine?
I have a very vivid memory of having a cut or a burn when I was a kid, and my grandmother would be like, “Let’s go to the garden, grab some of the aloe, and we’ll treat you.” And I think that has really stuck with me, the fact that you can grow your own medicine and it can be accessible and for the people.
Jacqueline Farrara
Poet, Leeds
William Glaser Wilson and Oly Wilson
Artist and kindergartner, Witherbee
Richard Frumess
Arts administrator, Kingston
Stephen Lichty
Artist, San Francisco, California
You have two pieces on display today, but everyone is talking about the one with the cat on it.
It’s called Untitled. It’s a column of basalt with a taxidermied cat draped over it. The cat is stuffed with straw and bound with string. I found the cat just after it had died in front of my sister’s house in Kansas City.
Nina Tucker
Program coordinator at Sky High Farm, Kingston
Dina Washington
Actress, Kingston
The late artist Ben Wigfall’s work is a big part of this show. You knew him personally?
When I was a little kid, he taught me and all the children in Ponckhockie printmaking in a formerly abandoned barn called Communications Village.
Marina Schindler
Realtor and interior designer, Williamsburg
Osvaldo Chance Jimenez
Writer, Hamden
Soba Eshima
Graphic designer, East Village
Josh Bardfield
Co-executive director of Sky High Farm, Dutchess County
What grows well here?
A lot of things. All of our crop plans are designed with our food-access partners — food banks, food pantries, and community-based organizations we donate to. We grow a lot of cilantro and parsley. We can’t grow enough of them, and we didn’t think at first they would be so popular.
Immanuel J.
Artist and studio assistant, Hudson
What’s it like living as an artist around here?
Really, really expensive. It’s a hot spot for wealthy people who come from the city. I am blessed to have a job that pays me a livable wage, and I also teach at an arts center for kids, but I’m living paycheck to paycheck. I find this to be the case with almost everyone who is doing interesting things.
Caleb Rogers
Former master printer, Spencertown
Alix Becker
Farmer at Farmstead Hudson Valley, Hudson
Photographs by Adam Dowling
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