Carl Max HammondW 119th St between Lenox Ave and 5th AveHeart Four · Location 426 · Drawn July 2004Download photograph 1Download photograph 2Download photograph 3Download photograph 4Download photograph 5Download photograph 6Download photograph 7Download photograph 8Download photograph 9Download photograph 10Video podcast0:00East 119th Street, between Malcolm X and 5th Avenue, if you navigate yourself to building number 69,0:07there's an entranceway slightly below the sidewalk, and we drew in a slightly triangular brown side0:13to the stoop leading up to the entrance to number 71.0:18This is Carl Max Hammond Jr. He was drawn in July of 2004.0:25His drawing is counting one person.0:30And then there's one, we have this, these stairs.0:35And I think, now I changed that from think to know, that this is the next one.0:44So those are the three.0:45So it's on opposite sides of this same stairwell, basically?0:48Basically, yes, yes.0:50So I should mention that in walking in this part of the heart,0:56this brings me to the second reason why I have a grudge against James. Five of us1:03were walking and we're in Harlem and James said, yeah I know it's it is it is1:09kind of weird that we're all you know white kids walking around. I was like wait a1:14minute James. I felt terrible about that because we were walking in parts that1:19were really Latino and there were a couple times in this heart where I did1:24I did get to use my Spanish to negotiate situations and we ended up drawing inside a Mexican restaurant1:30because I was able to work something out.1:33A part of this point, may I ask, or should I say, is that you're not white.1:37Yes, exactly.1:38It was really difficult though because I think for James it was one of the first times that he was in New York1:44and so his senses were completely overwhelmed, don't you think?1:49But it's interesting, I mean, why did that offend you so much?1:53And why do you think it was so easy for him to make that slip?1:57Well, part of it is that I feel a strong connection to New York2:02because I was born here and then we moved to a suburb2:04and so this was my city that I went back and forth to.2:06So things weren't as foreign to me.2:10And when we're walking around in groups with a map and cameras2:14and we're stopping all the time to check our maps and talk2:17and so we look like we're lost all the time.2:23It just made me feel self-conscious because I had grown up2:26observing all these groups of tourists being lost and saying,2:30oh, those are tourists.2:31And then I felt like I had been part of that.2:33I didn't want to be mistaken for somebody who didn't know2:36what they were doing and who was lost2:38and also somebody who didn't in some way fit in.2:42I'm not sure how to ask this question, but was part of it like,2:44Like, were you offended that he, I mean, either unknowingly2:48or just sort of like included you in the group as being white?2:51Yeah, I think so too, that he kind of just made that assumption.2:56And it just assumed that I shared his same background3:00and same perspective and feeling.3:04I [unclear].3:06[unclear] doctorate in physics and got a job doing top secret research,3:10but he still preferred talking about books or cars.3:14poetry, his father said. He loved working with his hands. He was taking a welding course and3:20learning to weld and form aluminum and thin metal. He bought a little house with a big garage.← Location 425Heart Four · Location 426Location 427 →
