Trading Places

A few weeks ago, the comic Lewis Black did a very funny bit on the Daily Show, ridiculing a Texas sponsored television ad campaign to lure businesses from their current bases to Texas. One of the ads ran in New York. In Black's mock-up, New Yorkers from all walks of life give Texas the finger--literally and verbally.

Peter Spaans, From Texas to New York/Oil

The photographic collage above was created by Dutch artist Peter Spaans, part of his "Archival Works: Language Series." As Peter describes, the photo on the left was a road somewhere in Texas in 2007, part of the series, "On the Road Too: Slices from the USA." On the right, from the meatpacking district of Manhattan, 1987--long, long before the High Line. The connection, of course, is oil: "Texas is the main oil state, New York uses a lot of oil. They need each other completely. For trading, for the money." The funny thing is, as Peter acknowledges, "the buildings in Texas has nothing to do with oil. I believe they use them for storage of wheat or something like that."

Doesn't matter, we are a lot closer to Texas than we might like to think.

BTB will feature more of Peter Spaans New York pieces in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.