Airplane Tickets (Backpost; August 16th)

I purchased a one-way ticket from Oklahoma City to West Islip, Long Island.  I chose Southwest as my airline because they have never lost my baggage and you can choose where to sit on their planes.  

I sent my electronic receipt for the plane ticket to the ULAE, and they refunded me with a deposit to my Bursar account.  Nice, safe, quick and easy!

I bought the plane ticket a few months ahead of time.  If you do the same, the tickets will be cheaper, which will make the kind people at the ULAE happy with you.

A Word From the Other Intern

I thought it would be nice to post something for myself, as the wife of the intern. Well, things aren't really that different for me here at the shop than they are for Nick, except that I take care of lunch, run errands, and do all the menial intern work so he can print. And that's fine, I enjoy it. I should be a master chef by the time I get back, with as much cooking as I do. I can definitely tell that my skills are getting better.

I am surprised at how I get home sick much more often than I thought I would. I can see how it would be really difficult at times to be here by yourself. Exploring the City would be a lot less fun. The Skidmore house would be really depressing. It can be a little spooky at times with the both of us here, especially when you're talking your laundry all the way up to the bedroom at 11:30 at night. You can give yourself the willies if you think about it too much. But enough about that. I'm gonna write a helpful entry for future reference.


Okay, let's talk about the shop, as far as what I know. The lunches I've been doing have been more like dinners; for example, today we had chicken and veggie kabobs on the grill, cucumber and tomato salad, basmati rice, pita bread, and peanut sauce with a spiced honey cake for dessert. But I have Nick to help me out some too. It is the intern's job to take care of lunch, or at least do the grocery shopping. For someone who doesn't like to cook or doesn't know how, lunch will be simple stuff like sandwiches, salads, soups, etc. But everyone in the shop likes the simple stuff, so there's not really any pressure there. They do like it when you "shop outside of the box" and buy things that aren't necessarily on the list. I pick up different fruits and Craisins, things that look good, and things I think people might like, and of course anything I needed for lunch. But there are two important things to keep in mind when shopping and planning meals: there are two vegetarians in the group, and everyone likes to eat really healthily.

A bit about spending. They are pretty lenient about spending, as long as you don't go crazy. They've said that a lot of interns don't know how to handle their spending because they've never been given free reign with a credit card. The limits on your lunch and dinner amounts are only caps, $12 and $20 respectively. So if you spend $25-$30 dollars on dinner once in a while, it's not a big deal, as long as you are being responsible with the rest of your spending. DON'T BUY ALCOHOL OR CIGARETTES OR ANY OTHER QUESTIONABLE MATERIAL WITH THE INTERN CREDIT CARD!!! Remember that it not only makes you look bad, it makes OSU look bad. I do have to say that having all your gas, train tickets, metro cards, groceries, etc. covered is a sweet, sweet deal.

Speaking of train tickets and metro cards, I'll tell you how that works, so you won't goof up like Nick and I did the first time we rode the Long Island Rail Road. When you go to the Babylon Train Station look for the vending machines that sell tickets and metro cards. This is where you buy the tickets for the train, and you can also buy a metro card for the subway (just look around for other people standing in line). A round trip ticket to NYC during off-peak hours is about $16, the metro card is $20. The first time Nick and I rode the train we didn't realize that the metro card is exclusively for the subway and you must buy a separate ticket for the train. You can buy a ticket on the train, but it costs more. It wasn't a big deal, but we felt a little stupid. Oh yeah, when you pay for parking at the train station, you do that at a little vending machine too. It's easy. They are located next to the stairs to the platform (you'll see what I mean when you get here). Surprisingly, the subways are extremely easy to use; just remember that Uptown = North and Downtown = South, and East to West = Small to Big (meaning you go from First Ave. in the East to 12th Ave. in the West). Never be afraid to bust out a map and figure out where you're going. A lot of people do it. I think there may be more tourists/non-locals in New York than locals.... Also, the City is very easy to walk; the blocks are really small and it takes no time to get from here to there. Brooklyn on the other hand..... But that's another story. Explore every chance you get! Remember, you only have 12 weekends to do all your sightseeing, and believe me, time flies.


Hmmm, what else...Oh yeah. I think we said it before, but the restaurants on Long Island are HORRIBLE. Seriously. Over priced and bad food. However, there is one good place called Pollos Marios (picture below), Columbian food, located north of Bay Shore (where ULAE is.) But it's difficult to find a good restaurant in the City too. Who knew? Maybe we're too picky (but probably not). It might sound hard to believe, but you'll get tired of eating out. It's nice to cook at home some, too. The best grocery store to go to (the most fun with the best products) is Fairway. If you like to shop for groceries, this is the place for you! Nick and I love it. It's probably about 20 minutes from the house on the highway. It's a lot of fun. Check out the website for more details: www.fairwaymarket.com There are a couple of grocery stores right around the corner from the house, though. The Stop & Shop has a RedBox Rental inside. A lot of times we'll rent a movie (don't use the intern credit card!) and either pick up something quick or make something at home, and have dinner and a movie night. Nice and relaxing.


One last thing, I think, and that is - Prepare yourself for how different it is up here. It really is different. The people are very different. It is like the movies. And I would have to disagree and say that NYC is not the friendliest big city. People are rude and inconsiderate. Of course there are the exceptions, but that's true everywhere. Generally speaking, I don't like New Yorkers (at least in the Metro area; maybe it's different Upstate). It's a different world up here folks, and the natives have never heard of Oklahoma. But I don't want you to get the impression that it's horrible, but I didn't know what it really would be like and it's always nice to know ahead of time.

Well, hopefully this will give you some good tips. We'll definitely put up more as we think of them or experience them.

Spring Intern Rewind (thus far):

UNIQUE NEW YORK:

My adventures into the city are usually limited to weekends - because the commute gets old (laughable to many ULAE employees who make it every weekday) and getting around manhattan really takes it out of you, especially if you travel to the boroughs as well. Here are a few of the highlights, in no particular order:

Museums (Covered by the studio!!! Go!) - I did the MoMa first, as it seemed the most exciting at the time, and it did have a really impressive spread of contemporary stuff, including work by many ULAE artists, and a great Lucien Freud etching exhibit.

However, I found the Met much more interesting and expansive. You could easily spend a week in there and never see it all. Plus - the Met is exhibiting a terrific Jasper Johns show which features many prints done by the studio, and one in particular that all of the current printers worked on. It focuses on his use of Gray though out his career - and emphasizes on lithographs, paintings and sculptures alike. I highly recommend this show - it is great homework for this internship. They also have a Gustave Courbet show up which is amazing.









This individual happened across our path in front of the Met one day. Charming!

The Guggenheim is a must - especially if you can catch the current show, detailed below.

The American Museum of Natural History of my p-fave. Again - I had to go twice to cover any ground, the place is huge. I saw the Bodies exhibit at South Street Seaport Science Museum - and found it quite compelling (though come to find out you can see a similar exhibit in any major city at this point.) The Museum of the American Indian at Bowling Green was really interesting too, though it is under construction. The Damian Hirst Installation at Lever House was amazing - though he is not liked amongst many in this crowd - and the sculpture outside is one of my favorite of his. It is adjacent to MoMa - so swing by if you're in that hood.













The scroll that Kerouac wrote on On The Road on is on display at the NY Public Library - an amazing sight to behold with a great display which chronologically studies his life in accordance with the writing.

I went to the Armory show at Chelsea piers this last weekend - a massive showcase of artwork sponsored by galleries from around the world. It was impressive in scale - but the content was mixed. It was an interesting way to gain perspective on the state of the art world (ie: lots of cheek kissing and too hip for you types.)















The guy with the sweet beard is ED, a printer at the studio, who I have befriended. We both dug that sculpture. Overall I really got a lot out of that experience. Scope NY was also going on that weekend - but I missed it sadly. I'm beginning to realize that my saturation point is rather low when it comes to modern art - especially current work.


Key museums left on my list are the Frick collection, the Whitney (currently showing the biennial), The New Museum at the Bowery, and PS1 at Long Island City (conveniently not located on Long Island.) The New Museum has "Hell Yes!" written on it in rainbow letters. MUST GO.


I had the pleasure of supporting a good friend from OK, Yatika Fields at his opening at Native American art show Long Island University (again, in Brooklyn.)

Go see some live music while youre here. Time Out New York delivers listings for a majority of shows - but act fast, I've missed a few due to selling out. I did luck into a spare ticket for The National at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music - a wonderful, classy venue), James Blackshaw at Soundfix - extraordinary twelve string guitarist from London, The RZA at Studio B, and Caribou with F**k Buttons at Music Hall of Williamsburg. All great shows at very different venues.


CARIBOU


F**CKBUTTONS

Every live act you could dream of seeing will be here at some point, so keep your eyes peeled, but pick wisely - this can get expensive, and this kind of thing is not covered by the studio. Lots of shows are free - especially during the summer.

My parents spent four lovely days with me here, and I had the pleasure of showing them around Manhattan, Central Park, Jones Beach on Long Island, Battery Park and South Street Seaport. They also got a sizeable dose of the NY transit system and the Village. I also took them to the studio and gave them a tour of the facilities there. I consider myself lucky that two Johns and a Rauschenberg series are both in the works at this time (Though I find it depressing just how few people know those names when shamelessly name dropping about my recent shop work.)

One thing I will truly miss about this place is the food. One can eat very well, healthily, and for a reasonable price in most of Manhattan and Brooklyn - Time Out will help you with this too. In Brooklyn, Greenpoint Cafe, Enid's, Taco Chulo - all great for brunch. In Manhattan - Prune is an absolute must, Anthony Bourdain loves it, and it's just unbeatable for lunch or dinner. Also Green Bo in Chinatown for great Dim-Sum. Be adventurous - you can get anything here - and if you keep it reasonable the studio pays for it. You could eat at a different restaurant in this city every day for the rest of your life and never do them all.

I have tried to cram as much into my time here as i can stand - but honestly, NY is really overwhelming for me. Part of it was just learning to get around, but being an hour from your homestead is stressful too. But a some point I had to just go for it if i ever was going to - and it's worth it to see Times Square, Broadway, Central Park - and really take advantage of the things that are truly unique about this place. Granted - you could never do it all in one internship - but it's fun to try. Get familiar with a subway line and hit all the stops along that line first. Know that Uptown means the street numbers get higher and Downtown means they are getting smaller. That's half your battle. But for god's sake get an NFT guide! More later.

A Crash Course In Litho

Having reached the half way point, I realize that I am desperate to make a print. I have learned a lot from working here, but it doesn't mean to much if I can't put it to use. Actually producing work here requires a fair amount of persistence - but luckily, I have gotten a lot of help during slow periods - and last week I ran my first litho print. The following is a loose outline of what I've learned about lithography. I feel like I've come a long way considering that I knew nothing when I arrived here. I's a complicated chemical process, with lots of steps - but it all
revolves around the principle that water and oil repel each other. The process i describe here involves printing directly from a limestone block. Lithography is derived from the Greek word "Lithos" - stone (or from stone), and is a very old and effective method of printing from a smooth surface to paper. However - in order to print effectively - the stone must be completely flat and totally smooth. Thus, before anything else, the stone must be grained, a process by which any previous image or "ghost" is removed from the face of the rock. This is done using a levigator - a heavy round tool which is spun across the surface of the stone after grain has been applied. The process is akin to sanding wood in that you start with a coarse grit and work your way to a fine dust - eventually polishing the surface. No scratches or rough spots can remain, as they will retain ink during printing.




Here is a stone during graining. A small stone like this can take several hours to grain if it isn't flat. It must be absolutely flat or the contact press will miss areas of the drawing that are low.




The grains run from 50 to 280, but the stones I have grained run through 60 to 80, 100, 150, 180, 200. It's a long process, but nothing is worse that getting almost finished and picking up a stray coarse grain on the levigator and scratching your rock. This means virtually starting over. At one point, I was assigned to grain several stones at 5:00 pm to be ready for Carroll Dunham at 8:00 the next morning. At the end of a work day this is the last thing you want to hear - but it is a reality of the print studio. So, putting a scratch in one of these at 9:00 pm would make me real sad.



The stones are then marked and set aside for the artist. It generally takes much longer to grain the stone than it does to draw on it.



A drawing is done with either Litho crayons (a range of soft and hard, waxy drawing pencils), touche (a water soluble waxy paint, which applies like water color and acts as a resist to water) or a combination of both. You can achieve some really cool things with touche - which reticulates as it dries, making some really nice solid washes, which can be manipulated with crayons as well. The thicker you apply these elements the thicker the resist will be and the darker your image will appear.



Moving these stones is a real pain - and sometimes they are just too heavy.



Here is my image. Before etching, talc and resin are dusted onto the stone to cause the ink to thicken. Some of the drawing is wiped away during etching - an important but difficult lesson. Regardless - the resist is so strong once applied that the subtleties re-emerge when inking. Drawing on these is fun - but you cannot erase. So be sure of your image and go gently. Here, gum has been applied to cool the etch, and preserve the stone while it is not in use.


My print will likely be a one block, black and white image - though I could add drawings to include color stones or plates to be done on the offset press. the Carroll Dunham prints pictured below include several stones for each print. registering them gets tricky, especially because the stones are all different sizes, and some have multiple small drawings on them. Each is a different color and represents a different portion of the image. All these elements are matched up with the key drawing - or in this case the black part of the drawing that has the most information in it, which is printed onto a mylar. The mylar helps indicate where the paper must lay each time the image is printed so that all the images match up, and every sheet looks exactly the same as the original proof.



Each stone has a proof of the image covering it to protect the drawing and identify which part of the image is on which rock. All of these separate elements add up to make the final product, pictured right.



A leather roller is used on many stones to ensure that the image retains the maximum amount of ink without drying the surface of the stone. During inking, the stone must be wet enough to repel the oil based ink from every part of the stone that doesn't have pencil or touche on it.



Here is the stone on the press, and after being inked to capacity. Asphaltum and tannic acid are used to cause the greasy drawing ares to retain ink effectively. The press bed beneath the stone must be totally clean - even a hair beneath the pressure of the contact press can cause a stone to crack. Inking lightly first, and then to heavy, the image comes up rather slowly.



This stone is ready to run through the press, and have proofs pulled from it. It will darken as the the first several proofs are run, and then the amount of ink and pressure can be adjusted to best suit the image quality. Spot etching can be done to increase the amount of detail in reticulation or heavy wash areas. In this case only the very darkest parts of the image need to be re-etched. To add to the drawing, you can counter etch the stone and add more drawing - but aside from small sanding areas, drawn areas cannot be removed.



You can see the progression as the ink builds up on the stone. At this point - unless I decide to further alter the image, this stone is ready to run prints from.

If I ever get the opportunity, I would like to run a small edition of this print, as I am pretty happy with it considering it is my first attempt. Some areas are light - but overall it looks a lot like my drawing after being run on paper. It will darken further, and look much better on white paper. will include an image of this work when I have a decent proof of it - but here is a poor consolation prize:




As I said - you must be persistent to get your own work done. Make it known from day one that you want to make prints and get started on them right away. I started week three, and this is as much as I've gotten done. You will need the help of printers to work in the studio - so buddy up. Otherwise, you will run errands and wash dishes the whole time - and it might not feel worth it.

I'm sure many have wondered why I haven't included any of my NYC adventures here, so that will be my next blog. Suffice it to say: I have done a lot, but could never do it all in four months. Plan things ahead of time! Make use of your weekends! Time Out NY is a great way to keep up with cool stuff going on in the city. Galleries and Museums are free - so that has been a bulk of my experience. More about that later.

An Intern Reflects!

Being an intern can be hard on the soul - but but keeping a certain perspective on things makes all the difference.



The forklift at the studio has Mr. Goldston's 1984 Oklahoma tags on it. You might not be the butt of any Oklahoma jokes - but I would be shocked if you weren't. I have to admit, Oklahomans must seem pretty peculiar to this crowd.

Not much visual aid this week, or rather, what there is has little to do with the text. Suffice it to say I've been much busier and involved in the goings on at ULAE, so photography takes a backseat, and you get tasty leftovers that I couldn't fit in previous blogs.

It might be advantageous to discuss a few things I've noticed about this place, and the art world at large. I will try to keep this as positive as possible. Becoming more involved has led me to realize what a blessing an art related job such as this can be. If there is any single thing I have learned from this experience it is that there is life beyond art school. One simply must know where to look, and be willing to pay one dues. Certainly, this won't put anyone on a faster track to making it big as a visual artist, but it depends on how you use the facilities at your disposal, and put what you learn as a printer to use. The level of professionalism exercised at this shop has forced me to work on my own precision and attention to detail. It has effected the quality of my own work immensely, and my attitude towards art making in general. Then of course there is the development of new skills and familiarization with new aspects of the trade - but this will take years. Many printers here have a specialization, but broaden into other areas out of necessity in producing large editions of a certain type. Just in standing by and being a nuisance I have gotten a crash course in litho, aquatint, intaglio, and photogravieur. As I understand it, every studio has it's own methods in each area, so it isn't surprising that they do things differently here than at Gemini, or Tandem (or OK State).




A pile of broken lithographic stones sit behind Skidmore Place.

The downside of course is that the pressure is immense at times, and putting any of this knowledge to use in personal projects might be hard to do. Deadlines on large editions change at a moments notice, artists drop in to check on their work, or to create new work, and the level of craftsmanship cannot falter due to shortage of time. There is a lot of money involved here, so keeping it cool and staying focused is important. Things must be done right - and there is an enormous number of variables that ensure that things will go wrong. I have already noticed a decrease in my enthusiasm, though I chock most of it up to being the intern, and wading in the muck at the bottom of the heap. Some days I feel like a printer, and am treated as such - and other days I am DEFINITELY the intern. I am constantly reminded of my place. The other thing that I picked up on rather quickly is that many of the people who work here commute and hour or an hour and a half and the beginning and the end of each day. I thought at first it was just stubbornness - insisting to live in Brooklyn because of the cool factor. But I can honestly say that I never want to live on Long Island again in my life. There is no one above high school age or below mid forties that lives here as far as I can tell, and thus there is very little to do. I find myself, as well, living for the next chance to get into Manhattan or Williamsburg or Park Slope. So - if the printers seem grumpy, just imagine yourself in their position. It's a great job, but it is also a lot of baggage and stress.



A shot from the front room of Skidmore. On a nice days, Skidmore can be a lovely place to be.

It can be tremendously rewarding some days, and other days it can make you feel like dirt. I guess this aspect of being a working stiff has always eluded me - and I can honestly say I miss college a lot already. However - it has been a huge eye opener as to how the art world works, and as to what goes on behind the scenes. One printer said that he went to to Met to see the new Jasper Johns "Gray" exhibit, which featured many prints that he himself had pulled and handled. However his name is nowhere on that sheet of paper. Only Johns'. Not surprisingly, most of the notable artists who work with ULAE haven't set foot in Bayshore in years, but still have their prints editioned here. Is it right or wrong? I don't know - it just is. I know that part of the thrill of making prints for me is actually making the prints. I like to be involved in every step of the process - but I am not a famous artist, and if I were I can hardly say that I wouldn't let ULAE edition my prints for me and sell them for big money. I can't say it doesn't sound appealing. It is still awe inspiring to be in the presence of such history and legacy - but if I hadn't come out here to do this I may never have realized that such a place existed. I always thought the art and the artist were inseparable - as naive as it sounds - but it makes complete sense that the thing that can drive the two apart should be the almighty dollar. I might sound jaded - but I'm totally comfortable with it - not that it's up to me. It's just been a real eye opener. Strangely though - this awesome opportunity has really helped me reconcile with my decision to go into the arts. It is always breathing down my neck - what comes after school? Do I really expect to make a living on paintings? In a culture driven by media, fast news, flashing lights and dwindling attention spans, do I really expect to get anyone's attention? The average time a gallery goer takes to look at a painting is less than 3 seconds. The art world is subsequently very tough and fickle, and riddled with nepotism and politics - and all of these things should inform the student of the arts about the path before him. While there is a strange, naive comfort in being the penniless underdog, sticking to his genuine artistic ideals and creating meaningful but misunderstood work only to be praised after his death - seeing what these printers do gives me a great deal of hope and optimism. I can see myself in a job like this one day, becoming a master of a respectable trade, and living off of it in order to feed myself while kicking the dream around. There is one printer here who I relate to on this level - and he uses all of his time outside of the studio to create his own work. He makes use of the facilities at Clinton, and produces really nice work. I see this as an admirable use of his occupational situation - though the trade offs are great (he resides in Bayshore) he is still on track to a career as a professional artist. Being close to NYC with a stable income is a tremendous asset to this goal, because if there's one thing NYC has, it's money, where there's money there is much more likely to be an art market. Culture is one thing that New York is not shy of - and for a county boy like me, that's real derned excitin'.



Studio at Skidmore is like a litho library documenting the presence of people like Motherwell, Frankenthaler, Dine and Oldenberg. The litho images of their work are, by and large, untouched.

For a great bit of history and an awesome photo essay about ULAE - make sure to check
out their new website: http://www.ulae.com

The nicest house I may ever live in....

LIFE AT 5 SKIDMORE PLACE:
Here is where the interns stay. This place is totally beautiful, and has been the shelter and workplace of some of the most famous artists of our time. Reading this blog is one thing, but nothing will prepare you for your first experience at Skidmore.


5 Skidmore place, today.


Early 60's: Tatyana Grosman and Jasper Johns
This is the original site of the ULAE facility. The company was started here.

It will be isolating at times, as I mentioned last week. Try to take advantage of this new place, and the facilities. I opt toward cooking for myself, or trying a new restaurant. Ask the ULAE staff where to go, or venture out on your own. Be aware: even though the island seems small - it is easy to get lost. Just know that your major highways and roads are all east/west, and that you will often not notice when you crossing from town to town. Street names change back and forth - just mapquest everything for awhile.



Here is the main living room. The house is full of art books and Russian literature. Every wall has a print or painting on it, many signed artists proofs by Johns or Rauschenburg.



As I understand it - this was at one time, Jasper Johns' personal studio space. It is a bit hidden away from the rest of the house, attached to Tatyana's old bedroom by a tiny doorway.



This is a sort of sun room, totally full of books. A great place to relax and look at great art. Again, many of these are Tatyana's personal books, signed by Rosenquist, Winters or Johns.



This kitchen is amazing. I spend a great deal of time here.

There are a great deal of things not pictured here - as I said, noting will prepare you for what's in store for you here.

Knowing your budget will help in advance:
INTERN EXPENSES COVERED:
- expenses to and from NYC up to 400$ (all subway, taxi and trains are paid for)
- food 18$ per dinner, 10$ per lunch (no booze or cigarrettes will be covered)
- museum entry, art lectures and tours
- telephone bill
- hygeine and other neccessities
- gas and routine maintenance for your vehicle

INTERN EXPENSES NOT COVERED:
- Theatre tickets, Concert tickets
- General sightseeing
- Travel beyond NYC
- Nightclubs
- Magazines, Books, CD's
- Extra Curricular classes, Materials

Plus: You will be expected to clean, and keep an eye on the heating and electric. you will have a landline and cable. Just be practical and reasonable with your expenses. Be up front and keep all of your reciepts. You will be reimbursed for anything you spend out of pocket for neccessities. Bring some funny money with you for uncovered expenses.

The studio here is at your disposal IF: You make sure not to disturb existng plates, stones or work. Guest artists work here quite frequently, as do the litho printers. This press is the only press at ULAE set up to run stones.



This is a shot of the stone storage behind the Skidmore litho press. Yes, this is all at the house. Behind the house there is a massive deposit of broken litho stones.

I highly recommend getting a printer to help you get set up with a plate to etch, a stone to grain or a litho plate to draw on. You might also bring some of your own work to keep you occupied. I have several things in the works - which I will touch on next week.

A BIT OF ADVICE:

Everyone here will tell you that Skidmore is haunted - and the general consensus is that it is Tatyana. She lived in this house, and started the company there. This house has a tremendous history, so it isn't suprising that it might feel a bit off. I can tell you that you will hear a lot of things. Some house sounds, and some unaccounted for. Tatyana might keep you up at night, and you may feel not alone at many times, but just know that the energy is good. She was an amazing lady who touched a lot of lives. Be good to the house, draw from it's energy, and you will be fine.

Getting down to buisness!!!

So as a intern here you will be expected to do work....Duh! So what types of work will this entail you might ask? (Sometimes I still ask myself the same question) Well my answer is it all really depends, it can change day to day or week to week. What you really need to know is that it varies greatly and can at times be frustrating. You could for instance be working on a print for several weeks and when thats done you might be raking tons and tons of leaves. Alot of what you end up doing is based on what needs to be done around the studio and what other people don't have enough time to do. You run alot of errands, pick up lunch, pick up people from the train station, and various other such things. Sometimes you will be required to go to the city and help out with a gallery opening. Since I was here during the 50 year celebration I did alot of work to help prepare for that. You do dishes, read through magazines to find ULAE artist, sweep, take out trash.....etc. One might ask why would I want to do this stuff, and my answer is that though the work sometimes might be boring or menial there is a huge possibility to what you can learn or do while in NY, and its basically FREE. Because when it really comes down to it, its what you choose to do with your time and what you choose to learn that matters most. NYC is a beacon for possibility.....To expand your mind, expand your future and expand your wallet.