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Mark Batty Publisher Presents: Past Objects
November 4, 2010
Contact: Taylor K. Long
Telephone: 347.830.6271
New York, NY – November 3rd, 2010 – What lies underneath New York City? Digger Scott Jordan knows, having excavated from all five boroughs, and beyond, a staggering collection of artifacts once used by the city’s earliest settlers. Jordan has turned his childhood days on Governors Island searching for treasure into his life’s work. Entering building sites, both legally and illegally, Jordan shares with readers his tales of digging down into old privy wells and cisterns, finding everything from pristine antique bottles to Revolutionary War military paraphernalia and ivory parasol handles, as well as countless pieces of ceramics that he restores or uses in his artwork.
Past Objects samples the amazing and varied collection that Jordan has amassed over his more than thirty years literally digging through New York’s history, while also telling some of the stories behind how these objects were found. From the wooden pipes used for New York’s earliest running water to a soda water bottle connected to the Crystal Palace and a rusted bicycle frame linked to the great 1888 blizzard, these objects would be buried forever in the name of real estate development if not for Jordan and the other diggers operating across New York and the rest of the country.
“Almost everyone on the planet has the desire to make some kind of discovery. It’s in our nature to set out on a search,” Jordan writes. “For me it’s about getting down on the ground and running my shovel blade through the soil and smelling the earth and the roots as they are exposed and knowing that something is possibly waiting down there to be found. It’s about saving artifacts from the site that will soon be scooped out by big machines and taken out in trucks to some far away place to be used as fill dirt somewhere else.”
About the Author:
Scott Jordan has been digging for buried treasure in New York City since 1969. He lives in the Queens neighborhood of Astoria, New York, and can be found every Sunday at the GreenFlea Market on Columbus Avenue. He will also be vending at the Columbus Circle Holiday Market December 1-24. For more information visit his website: www.newyorkartifactart.com
About Mark Batty Publisher
Mark Batty Publisher (http://www.markbattypublisher.com) is an independent publisher dedicated to making distinctive books on the visual art of communicating, showcasing the visual power and innovation of contemporary culture in all of its varied poses. Today, the visual comes at us from more places than ever, and its dissemination is faster and more advanced every year. Books from Mark Batty Publisher capture this acceleration on the pages of every book. Affordable, well designed, thoughtfully created, and produced to last, MBP books are artful products that readers want to hold onto forever.
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Past Objects
By Scott Jordan, with photography by J.K. Putnam
Page Count: 128 pages
Size: 6.75 x 7.75 inches
Format: Casebound
Publication Date: November 2010
Price: $27.95
ISBN: 978-0-9820754-3-2
For a review copy, more information, or to schedule an interview with the author, contact +1 347.830.6271, media@markbattypublisher.com.
