217 AVENUE A: A MEMOIR
My first apartment in New York City was much more than just four walls and a roof to me, and to many others in my life. 217 was my first home. I lived a lot of life, both good and bad in that place. The art I made, the parties I had, the neighbors I upset, the neighborhood I became familiar with, the food I cooked, and learning to live on my own are all critical aspects that made me the person I am today, and I miss it a lot. I contacted anyone who spent time at 217 to help me relive the memories in as much detail as possible in a beautiful coffee table book.
The apartment was a rather scrappy and DIY place, so I used a scrapbook style but kept the high quality photos where I could. I assembled the entire layout in one 10-hour sitting with friends over a few drinks. We tried to recreate the chaotic fun of the apartment curing the process to hopefully infuse that energy into the book.Most of the people who came by and made the place so special came back to contribute their photos and thoughts. For many of us, this place was a special meeting area and lots of memories were made. We all had a lot of fun reminiscing as we combed through the photos. My hoarding of small paper scraps and bits of memorbilia paid off finally in the end.
PROCESS + SKETCHES