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There's A Public Typewriter Booth In Tompkins Square Park
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 20, 2015
Modified Jun 20, 2015
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Photo by Scott Lynch/Gothamist
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 20, 2015
Modified Jun 20, 2015
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Last year a public typewriter was placed on Governors Island during the NYC Poetry Festival, and it has now returned—currently stationed at Tompkins Square Park through July 19th. The project comes from NYC Parks and The Poetry Society of New York, who bill the typewriter as "The Subconscious of the City."
Each booth is outfitted with a vintage typewriter, 100-foot long paper scroll, solar generator, hidden tablet, and a custom-built USB typewriter kit, which allows every written entry to be collected, stored, and posted online for users to read, share, and comment upon. Acting as a public, community diary, each scroll captures something of the sound, narrative, and nuance of a specific corner of the city. The Typewriter Project’s mission is to investigate, document, and preserve the poetic subconscious of the city while providing a fun and interactive means for the public to engage with poetry.
Photographer Scott Lynch dropped by and reports back, "Most people put actual though into what they said, and one writer composed an epic, like 40-line poem that must have taken forever to pound out." Click through for a look at what others are outputting there—"to be free is to be rid of fear," one person typed. Another: "Hello my name is Rosiland.. I am from the Lower East Side x20 years. I [am] happy for this throwback... to type from this manual typewriter."
You'll find the typewriter on south side of Tompkins Square Park near the Hare Krishna Tree—hours of operation will be Monday-Friday, 3 to 8 p.m., and Saturday & Sunday, noon to 8 p.m. The scrolls will be on display at The New York City Poetry Festival on Governors Island on July 25th and 26th along with the booth itself.
Tagged
poetry festival
the typewriter proejct
tompkins square park
typewriter
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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