Williamsburg Way Back: An Artist Talks

One recent subject on Vice TV's Art Talk! is Williamsburg's John Kessler -- one of the neighborhood's "earliest artists." The four part series looks at Kessler's old stomping grounds, in addition to addressing his thoughts on gentrification and living in post-9/11 NYC. All the while he continually reminds us young things of today that he used to pay $150 for an entire building off the Bedford stop,. Also, he lived without a toilet for 6 months and had a wood-burning stove. And he was almost stabbed by a guy who worked at Joe's Busy Corner Deli. Kessler is responsible for the enormous boat installation, The Drunken Boat (1999), which hangs from the ceiling at Planet Thailand in Williamsburg. More on both those stories, which includes finding a lot of rat taxidermy in the Bronx, in the video above.