Michael MontesiE 117th St between 2nd Ave and 1st AveHeart Four · Location 446 · Drawn July 2004Download photograph 1Download photograph 2Download photograph 3Download photograph 4Download photograph 5Download photograph 6Download photograph 7Download photograph 8Download photograph 9Download photograph 10Download photograph 11Download photograph 12Download photograph 13Download photograph 14Download photograph 15Download photograph 16Download photograph 17Show all 17 photographsVideo podcast0:00On East 117th Street, east of 2nd Avenue, on the north side of the street is an impressive display of blue brick.0:08The blue brick stretches up several stories, and nine feet before it reaches the sidewalk, it turns into a yellow brick.0:16On this yellow brick is a uniform gray rectangular patch, most likely there to cover up graffiti.0:23It's been there for several years.0:24Near the middle of this gray patch is what can only be described as a mini vent, about0:29two feet off the ground.0:30A drawing of this man was made just to the left of this mini vent.0:34As of spring in 2006, the majority of the sidewalk is consumed with a thick industrial0:41scaffolding, roofed with corrugated metal.0:44This is Michael Montesi.0:47He was drawn in July of 2004.0:50His drawing is counting one person.0:54We're in front of another wall, a beautiful multicolored wall,0:59blue and yellow and gray and grayish-brown and more yellow.1:02Jay and I were just talking about the project being over1:04and how different people were feeling about that.1:07Two totally different answers.1:10You're like, the project's not over. We're here.1:12Well, see, there's your problem right there.1:14I mean, Andrew's got the it's over, let's never talk about it again.1:17And Jay's got the, like, wait a second, I thought we finished this.1:19I felt good about this a couple years ago.1:22I did think we finished this project.1:24Adriana's got the, like, you know what?1:25Not only is the project over, but our relationship's over.1:28[unclear], that's my [unclear].1:30My attitude.1:32Mike's kind of giving you away.1:33No, no.1:35My attitude is that do whatever it takes to get it over with1:39so that we can move on with our lives.1:42No, I mean, there's something in here about the way that a project1:44that takes five years of your life takes five years of your life.1:47That's the thing, it takes five years. Nobody anticipated that it was going to take this1:52long or that it would be so intensely integrated into sitting at machines and doing monotonous1:57tasks and the reality is that nobody's a graphic designer, nobody's an information architect.2:02We're doing a lot of things like the stupid handcrafted way. You know, we're not using2:08an automator for a lot of things.2:10And also it bears worth mentioning that years ago we were gearing up for Mike and Adriana's2:17and pushing ourselves to the limit was a popular phrase2:21and we sort of co-opted it to inspire us as well2:24and Mike is totally spot on when he says that2:27my impression was we were done with the project.2:30This is where the sort of general definition extravaganza2:35and it has to do with the idea of what defines done.2:38It boils down to this.2:40Yes, we finished a massive amount of content.2:42was this body of work artistically integrous?2:47Did this body of work serve its mission?2:53Was the presentation of the body of work2:55do justice to the amount of work that was done?2:58Was it a respectful,3:01and I mean this in the most sincere way,3:04we put a lot of effort into showing and drawing3:09and presenting people who lost their lives3:12then that information is being shown to the families,3:16which means it has to be as good as we can possibly make it.3:20And when Jay and I left off,3:23we did an awesome job of actually reaching a conclusive plateau, no question.3:30But by every other artistic definition,3:35I would clearly say that it was not finished.3:39If you asked me at the time what would have to happen in order to make it finished,3:44you would get a universal shrug from everybody.3:47But I think it was safe to say that it didn't succeed artistically.3:53That perfectionism led the 13-year firefighter3:57through a series of Manhattan engine and ladder companies4:00to the Elite Rescue One,4:02where Montessi thrived on the technical challenges of torches,4:05steel cutters, and other specialized tools. He was so happy as a rescue firefighter that he4:12just giggled when the two friends talked about an oncoming lieutenant's test.← Location 445Heart Four · Location 446Location 447 →
