Things I See On the Streets of New York City

This is a new feature on my website that will feature freaky and non-freaky things and people and things that are people (freaky and non-freaky) on the streets of Manhattan and the other five boroughs of New York City. Things that I think need exposure.

Daniel, the "Maze" Guy:


Maybe I shouldn't call this section "Weird Things I See On the Streets of NYC" as much as "INTERESTING Things I See..."

On one of my (too many) trips to Kim's Video on Avenue A, I was weaving my way around the usual assortment of street vendors and odd characters with blankets and tables selling everything imaginable (mostly found objects and discarded flotsam and jetsam from the trash cans of NYC - finding it's way back into the homes of new inhabitants for a small price - ahhhhh the great wheel of life!). As I turned to enter Kim's, my attention was quickly averted by a big fold out table with a black cloth over it and a home made sign leaning against the front that said "Mazes". This was certainly different. I approached the table and saw neatly arranged stacks of hand drawn maze puzzles. The MANY different maze designs had been xeroxed onto 81/2x11 paper and each one had been neatly placed into a plastic sleeve. Some had been blown up slightly larger - and there was even a series of mazes that had been bound into a reproduced "Maze Book". The prices on some of the items were set, and were very realistic, but many of the items were for sale for whatever you thought they were worth (kind of like when you pay to go into the Metropolitan Museum of Art!) The artist sat behind the table, manning his wares and was very happy to answer any questions about the work. And all the while the artist was diligantly at his sketch pad - drawing MORE and MORE and MORE mazes.

The mazes themselves have a very odd, trippy quality - and the nature of the work kind of pulls you in (either before or after you have stopped trying to figure out the maze - hey! - it's art that's CONSTRUCTIVE to look at! Wow!). The mazes are complex and very intricate, yet they have a very warm, immediate, "folk art" feel to them.

Kind of like M. C. Escher by way of Raymond Pettibon.

Some of the mazes are based on stories of history or lore (I think - when I asked the artist about some sailboats with skulls in them he rang off some mythological sounding name 'Oh...those are the ____ of ____' he said - I can't remember what it was). One maze I asked him about he said was based on a dream he had. One maze that I bought has some Egyptian hieroglyphic looking figures that are prancing through a kind-of spacey bubble landscape forest thing - only to end up at a little building at the end with a sign that says "Quality Inn". Ahhhhh... who wouldn't want to end up at a reliable Quality Inn after an Egyptian stroll through a space bubble forest I ask you?!?! A couple of the mazes have a kind of heavy-metal-doodling-on-your-high-school-notebook feel to them, like something you might see on a Cannibal Corpse CD cover.

Then many of the mazes are so intricate, serpentine and exact that they look like they might have been drawn by a computer program. These mazes are very unique.

Turns out the artist's name is Daniel or sometimes "Maze", and he sells his work directly to the public on Avenue A right outside Kim's Video (very clever location by the way). I have also seen him at Astor Place across from Barnes & Nobel bookstore (merely a few yards away from the mysterious 'math' flyer guy who I wrote about earlier in this section - see below - a connection???) I always stop and leaf through his work - and I always buy a couple of mazes (I have quite a collection growing - hey I'm a collector!).

Daniel was kind enough to answer a few questions for me (below) and let me snap a few photos of him in action for inclusion on my web page. Thanks Daniel! I pay attention to a lot of art work and culture in New York and around the world, and I have a lot of strong opinions about all of it. I find Daniel's work to be ineffable and interesting on many different levels, and I find the way he sells it to be remarkable and significant.  Why do I get the impression that when Daniel reads this he's gonna be like "Whoa! What a pretentious fuck!!!"

Well just take a look and see what you think. And next time you're on Avenue A, or around the East Village, keep an eye peeled for his "Mazes" sign, and if you see it, by all means stop by his shop and check out his work:



What name do you go by?  I go by the name Daniel or Maze. (whichever seems appropriate.)

Where are you from?  Born in Brooklyn, raised on Staten Island. I also lived in Ocean City, MD and also San Diego, CA.

How did you start drawing mazes?  I started the maze project in '97. I was unemployed, broke, and on the streets in NYC. I began to draw mazes just for the heck of it, and discovered what a fantastic craft it really is. Then I began to xerox them, and present them to people on the streets. I would sell copies for donations. This always gave me enough money to get by, and enough encouragement to continue the work.

Why mazes? Mazes make alot of sense to me. They are very symbolic of life. When I'm working on one, i feel as if I'm going through a journey.Something about them really clicks.

Why on 81/2x11 pieces of paper?  8 1/2 x 11 paper is a very practical medium. It fits very neatly in a backpack. Although I have done some larger scale stuff, 8 1/2 x 11 mostly what I use.

Why did you decide to sell your mazes directly to people on the street?  I sell them directly on the streets because its real. I've tried to contact a few publishers here and there, and will continue trying. For now I sell them straight to the people because I can... and because its quick cash.

You can contact Daniel through Dmaze27@hotmail.com or Dmaze209@yahoo.com. He "almost" has a website up, go see how it's doing at: Mazonian.com.
 
 
 

Previous "weird things I see on the strreets of NYC" entry:

The "Math Flyer" Man:

    About two or three weeks ago I was walking east on Astor Place between Broadway and Lafayette. Sitting on the little stoop under Barnes and Noble was this old man who was holding a handmade sign that had all this mathematical gibberish on it. He was holding a cup for change. He wasn't dressed like a typical homeless person - kind of scruffy - but it looked like he probably lived somewhere and was clean and well fed.
    I passed him once and looked at the sign. The sign was covered on both sides with what looked like math figures and Greek letters and crude little diagrams. I don't know much about "high math" but from what I could see, it made no sense. Or did it?  I walked up to him and asked him what the sign was for and he just stared forward and said nothing. Then I reached in my wallet, got out a dollar, and put it in his cup, asking again as I did "What is that sign all about?"
    As soon as the dollar hit his cup, he whipped out...A GUN! Hahaha! No just kidding. He whipped out a Xeroxed flyer printed on legal size paper. On the flyer were three groupings of the weird math figures like on the sign, but there were more of them and they were more complex. I took the flyer and looked at it. I asked him again "What does it mean?" and instead of saying anything he just whipped out another flyer and handed it to me. I folded up the flyer and walked home. I know nothing about math, and have shown it to a few people. Is it real? Does anyone know what it is? Does he? Is it a code? Schizophrenic scribbling? The combination to unlock time travel?
    Life went on but I kind of forgot about him, but kept the flyer.
    A week later I was walking in the same spot and saw one of those stupid artist who paints really bad Dali-esque "space landscapes" on store bought canvases with spray paint cans (genius!). A large group of tourists were gathered around this guy and they were just lapping it up. Ohhh-ing and ahhhh-ing and snapping photos and actually buying the hilarious paintings. They were in my way dammit!!! Anyway... as I inched passed the mob...who did I spy, but the old man with his weird math sign and flyers and change cup!!! He was literally on the edge of the crowd, sitting on his little stoop, holding up his sign. The crowd was pressed up beside him and he was hidden by all of them. It was so funny to see him sitting there, and  six inches in front of him was a mob of people who were ALL LOOKING THE OTHER WAY!!! None of them were paying him any mind. It was kind of sweet and sad really. But he just sat there as if he didn't even notice them, ready to hand out the secret code of knowledge to anyone who wanted to donate a few quarters. Nobody was stealing his spot dammit!!! It was a real heroic gesture actually... real strength in the face of the abyss kind of stuff. The whole freaky, creepy situation was right out of a Philip K. Dick novel.
    Anyway, this second time that I observed the man, I noticed he had little white bandages on the ends of each of his ten fingers. I saw him chewing the bandages at one point (were the bandages there because he had a compulsive problem about chewing his fingers?). I also saw that he smoked, as I saw him put the sign down and light one up. He also had a Starbucks coffee cup next to him.
    I watched him for quite a while. Not one person stopped and asked him about the sign. At one point a little tourist girl who was watching the painter accidentally backed into him and turned around. The man did not even flinch. The little girl's tourist mother turned around and looked at the man and pulled her daughter away from him.
    I thought to myself  "I have to come here with a camera and take a picture of this guy and put his picture, along with his flyers, on my website!" I must be under some sort of high-mathmatical spell to spread his code. Or something. Well... I have been back to the same spot THREE times in the last week and a half and the man has not been there. Maybe he felt he spread the message enough. Maybe he was beamed back up (or back underground). Maybe he was hauled off... I don't know. Since I couldn't get a photo I have made a little drawing. Here it is:

For a look-see at the two sections of figures on the flyer he gave me, click here and here. Study it! What does it mean?

For a map of where exactly he was seen click here.

Next time I see something interesting on the streets I will expose it here. Stay tuned...

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