Unique Breeds

On Sunday, Stephanie and I partook in our first true New York adventure. With us both being theatrical and curious kids (with a secret love for mischief), we had signed up to receive updates from the infamous Improv Everywhere group a while back. Known for "causing scenes of chaos and joy in public places", this is the organization behind such fun (and notably, harmless) pranks as "Frozen Grand Central" and the annual "No Pants Subway Rides". Naturally, we were pretty stoked when we got our first top secret mission. All they sent was an address and a time to meet, so when Sunday rolled around, we hopped on the A train and headed for Cobble Hill Brooklyn. For those of you unfamiliar with New York geography, it's about an hour long subway ride from Inwood, so we had plenty of time to speculate about what we'd be doing. We had deduced that we were meeting in an art gallery of sorts, so we hoped it might involve some kind of art project. When we finally got to our destination we tried to act casual, stroll around a bit. It soon became pretty obvious that we weren't the only ones though; everywhere we went we overheard snippets of conversation, all centering around "What do you think we're going to do?!"

Finally, it was time. We made our way to the gallery, which turned out to be an old belt factory that had been acquired by this awesome organization called No Longer Empty. They basically take old industrial spaces and turn them into spaces for art:

"NO LONGER EMPTY is an innovative project involving a group of artists and curators who are interested in exploring a new paradigm for making and presenting art. It was conceived specifically to encourage an artistic response to our present economic condition and the effect on both the urban landscape and the national psyche. The numerous vacated buildings in New York City provide an opportunity for artists to revitalize these spaces with thoughtful, sustainable art installations."

I would absolutley love to be part of an organization like that, or in the umbrella sponsoring organization Fractured Atlas, which "facilitates the creation of art by offering vital support to the artists who produce it. [Fractured Atlas] helps artists and arts organizations function more effectively as businesses by providing access to funding, healthcare, education and more." Wonderful, innovative missions... totally worth donating to if you're in a position to give back.

But now, to get back to our adventure: We finally got inside the space, and it was jam packed with some of the coolest, most outgoing people you'd ever care to meet. There were lots of young twenty-somethings, but also a lot of middle-aged people, and a surprising number of kids. Everyone was packed in pretty tight, but there was a smile on every face; the whole room was literally buzzing with anticipation. The cool art installations strewn about gave us all something to look at at least, something to keep our mind off the burning question of what we were about to participate in. After what seemed like ages, a bearded, 30ish looking guy in jeans and a Tshirt stood up on a wooden pallet and quieted the crowd. I was amazed at the instant hush that feel over the group once he started explaining about the mission. It actually turned out to be pretty brief and straight forward. The space we were standing in had at one time been a belt factory, but had also come to be the birthplace of the popular "Invisible Dog" toy - a stiff leash with a muzzle on the end that, when held at the right angle and viewed with the proper amount of imagination, made it look like you were walking... you guessed it... an invisible dog. Thus, the crew of NO LONGER EMPTY had found themselves in possession of around 2,000 of these things, packed away in every nook and cranny of the place. And so of course, they called Improv Everywhere, because I mean come on...

... what could be better than 2,000 people out for a Sunday stroll with their invisible dogs?

The crowd went nuts. Fun, non-confrontational, and just quirky enough, the prank had all the makings of a great time. Surprisingly, everyone was very patient and calm about getting their "dogs". We had all been told to simply tell anyone who asked that we were just out with our puppies, totally ignoring the fact that "some" people might not see them. And so, after retrieving our retrievers (we decided they were Golden puppies, from the same litter) Steph and I started off.

The range of responses we ran into was AMAZING. Some folks we ran into were angry; they just couldn't understand what was going on and why no one they asked about thought something was going on. Lots of people played along, complementing our pooches, or excitedly pointing them out to their slightly more dubious children. It was great walking around Cobble Hill too, an area that I really hadn't explored at all. There are some beautiful shops and lovely tree-lined side streets that almost made you forget you were in New York City. All in all, we had an amazing time. We returned our doggies at the end, and slowly made our way back up to Inwood. But the adventure didn't end there! After a short break, we were back on the streets, this time headed to karaoke at the Piper's Kilt. I was, admittedly, less than enthused at first. But after some tasty sweet potatoe fries and some irrestiable songs, I was hooked. We ended up singing along until our voices were hoarse, and leaving completley happy with our Sunday adventures.