Specter’s Inversion of the “Broken Window” Theory Makes a Splash

The news that the average apartment price is over $3,000 dollars a month in New York was blasted across many channels yesterday and we told you two weeks ago that our own informal survey of 1-bedrooms in Williamsburg showed the median price is now $3,150. That’s about twice the price from around 2000. Is it any wonder why artists and workers who have contributed for years to the lifeblood of the city are saying they feel like they are literally being chased from it?

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

In that context it’s one of those rich ironies that can be hard to verbalize yet increasingly cannot be overlooked; Street Artists who once were chased from a neighborhood by high rents sometimes are being invited back to create commissioned work to make it feel “real”. You could say the neighborhood is experiencing a Re-Billyburg-ification at the moment even as new construction and zoning rules continue to demolish all signs of the old quirky artist bohemia. Drawn by an “edgy” creative culture, promises of lower rents, and maybe the fun sport of some derisive “hipster” bashing while chugging a brew with yer buds and watching your team on the big screen, it appears that pockets of BK may be now re-skinning with the arty types to prolong the myth.

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

And so it’s a semi-sweet experience to see many of these same Street Artists who were hitting these same streets and looking over their shoulder while doing it are now invited to do it and are getting paid for their effort. This week for example Cern just finished his Bruce Lee piece for a martial arts studio on North 8th, LNY is finishing his mural on North 6th Street for a new movie release, Ron English is reported to be working on a similar arrangement, and Icy and Sot just finished the facade of a new nightclub on the southside. Further down the street on North 6th where Faile used to be able to afford a studio space, an alcohol brand has sponsored a block-long installation that includes an amazing crochet installation by OLEK, an incendiary fire extinguisher piece by KATSU, and a large monochromatic painting by RoStaar, among other artists. For the big promotion, each artist spent much of the day doing installations while invited visitors on the street snapped photos and posed with the work. Of the brand sponsored event, a local TV station reporter says, “The goal is to promote art in the community while giving emerging artists exposure.”

We’ve been shooting and publishing and interviewing and getting walls for and telling the stories of many Street Artist here for years and now we receive press releases in the old email box from PR agencies who tell us that they are offering us to “receive a VIP tour” “in Brooklyn where artists’ visions explode onto streets in the heart of Williamsburg.” We are now invited to come and see “artists working street side to complete their pieces, while visitors can experience the creative process in motion.”

Gulp.

It sort of goes without saying, but in case you missed this – most artists cannot afford to live here anymore and they are only visiting the area to participate in the days’ events.

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Which brings us to the posting of today – the opening of Street Artist Specter’s new installation that is literally inspired by the street, now on display poolside alongside a 4,800 square foot deck at a new Williamsburg hotel. Known for his painstakingly hand-painted recreations of street facades and street people, this quiet wall is so realistic that most observers wouldn’t guess it was painted over the course of a number of weeks this spring in Specter’s studio.

The rusted panes, the overgrown ivy, the pockmarked wall, the mismatched mottled patterns of a now silent industrial sector; Specters’ new glorious façade could possibly appear so genuine that some chic hotel guests reclining by the rippling three-season saltwater pool and sipping a cocktail may peer over their sunglasses and wonder when the hotel is going to get around to finishing the renovation of the backyard.

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Here it is, the broken windows theory thoroughly and pleasingly inverted by the brain of the artist, complete with a couple of quick graffiti tags, in this neighborhood where most of the actual graffiti and Street Art has been “cleaned up”.  Who knew that decay would be such a sight for sore eyes.

You’re invited to check out the new wall tonight from 7-10 at King and Grove. Bring your swimsuit and cocktails will be served.

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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