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Jake Zaslav (*This Is Not A Drill* Community Fellow), Cate Byrne

Delancey 2222, 2023

AI-Generated Imagery, Digital Photography, Stereoscope, Recorded Music

Audio and Visual Descriptions of Musics/Art Works for Enhanced Accessibility can be accessed here.

Delancey 2222 is a climate-centered audiovisual work that examines what Delancey Street and the Lower East Side will look and sound like in the year 2222. Created by Jake Zaslav and Cate Byrne of the band Half Moon Island, Delancey 2222 consists of two parts:

First, participants can peer through a stereoscope to view pairs of images depicting landmarks along Delancey Street today and in 199 years. The photographs, captured by photographer Brit Worgan, depict three major landmarks along Delancey Street: the M'Finda Kalunga Garden, the Delancey Street/Essex Street subway station, and Luther Gulick Park. These photographs were then processed through a generative AI workflow to envision what the sites could look like in the year 2222 under a high carbon emissions scenario. Each image highlights different environmental risks facing the community including drought, flooding, and wildfire smoke.

Second, while engaging with the stereoscope, participants are encouraged to use the nearby headphones to listen to a new musical work from Half Moon Island. Each of the three movements is centered around a different theme that emerges throughout Delancey Street's past, present, and potential future: Memory, Change, and Resilience. Throughout the piece, participants will hear field recordings from and inspired by Delancey Street as well as selections from an interview with Bob Humber, a local community activist. Delancey 2222 is based upon a belief that attention and care accelerate action. By putting into relief the beauty of the every day, Zaslav and Byrne hope to inspire the preservation of these spaces from the looming threat of climate change.

You can follow Jake Zaslav and Cate Byrne's work as Half Moon Island on Instagram, Spotify, and Bandcamp.

The artists give special thanks to their contributors Thomas Woodward Davis, Pete Dennis, Lewis Hackett, Bob Humber, Dan Langa, Phoebe Mattana, James Paul Nadien, Naomi Nakanishi, and Brit Worgan. Additional field recordings courtesy of AUDIT_APCC, Benmerrill328, Christopher Winter, Dan93, Danjocross, Gepetto3548, Ivo Lipanović, Kyles, NachtmahrTV, and Newlocknew.