Jasper Dankearts Would Be So Proud

We are creating an exhibit in which we are celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of the dutch settlemnt in the new world, more specifically in Brooklyn, New York. The things that is quite interesting about our particular exhibit is that we have the actual journal of an explorer of that time. His name was Jasper Dankearts. When we read the translations of his journal, the thing that stood out to me was how much he took religion into account. He would often spoke of how godless a person was and would make his job to document everyone's religion. Also he would tell of all of their sins and ungodly acts. In his journal he would speak of the "kill devil" and how terrible it was when really it was just rum. He would look down on the people who would not go to church when the needed to. According to Japp Jacobs, one of the scholars that is helping us; he said that from what he read n the jouirnal and from what we have read ourselves Jasper thought himself as a very pure man.
I really enjoyed doing this program and learning about a man who is exploring the new world through such eyes. Though I find Jasper Dankearts to be quite judgemental and somewhat harsh I understand as well that during that time that there was as many "thrills". This has taught me a lot about the where we live as well as the history to our loverly borough. Today we are working and beginning to gather the stuff needed to set up for the opening night.

>> I wonder what Jasper Dankearts would say about the people now and how godless we are, he would be so proud

Picking Apart Paintings

Choosing artifacts for this exhibit has not been an easy feat. We have had to not only be able to appreciate the art, but we have also had to find historical connotations in hidden passages to the past. Through paintings we have been able to substantiate the landscapes that Jasper Danckaerts meticulously described. Looking at these interpretations of history we have been able to contrast past and present representations of our beloved Brooklyn (not to be confused with Breuklen). Although James Ryder Van Brunt did not pull oysters out of the Gowanus in 1679, he was able to visualize the land Danckaerts explored. In the painting, the Gowanus is a serene environment for the business oriented Dutch who could pursue their passion in the crystalline water. Van Brunt depicted the Gowanus as a basin with potential for fertility, which was a virtue for the entrepreneurial Dutch.

Spotted! Foot Long Oysters in the Gowanus

No, this isn't Ripley's Believe it or Not.
It's history, straight from the journal of our beloved Jasper Dankaertes. Dankaertes describes eating a scrumptious pailful of the monstrous crustaceans which were caught in the Gowanus. That's right: the Gowanus.
While you native New Yorkers may be shocked and somewhat nauseated at the idea of eating anything out of the Gowanus, keep in mind that the year is 1679. This is way before the industrial waste, auspicious articles of clothing, miscellaneous garbage, and other unsavory objects have promulgated our much-adored canal. In fact, Dankaertes preferred the Gowanus oysters to almost any other oysters he had tried on his voyage to the New World.

Believe it!

*Editor's note: searching the Gowanus for foot-long oysters may be hazardous to your health.

Getting to the Nitty Gritty

I believe my favorite part of the Ex Lab is the Decision making because its important to know what exactly we are doing so that we dont make mistakes. I especially like the part where we cut the info down or as I like to say trimming the bacon (yummmmm). Its good to know the point of the work and how it all relates to the whole Jasper Danckaerts in brooklyn.

Journey to the center of the Museum of the City of New York

During public schools' spring break, the ex lab group went on a trip to the Museum of the City of New York to see their exhibit pertaining to Henry Hudson and his voyage to New York. In addition to learning more about the history of Hudson's expedition to New York, we also examined how the exhibit was presented to gain inspiration for our own exhibit. I greatly enjoyed this visit because of the number of intriguing artifacts we saw (such as a riding spur that may have been Peter Stuyvesant's) as well as an amazing three-dimensional scaled map of Manhattan. In fact, we (momentarily) considered making a similar map of brooklyn or an area of brooklyn for our own exhibit! Fortunately, logic prevailed and we were convinced of the folly of attempting a project of that magnitude in addition to the significant amount of work remaining before our exhibit is remotely ready for presentation to the public.

Henry Hudson Exhibit

Hey fellow members remember that trip we went to during Spring Break at the Museum of New York? We were able to see the exhibit of Henry Hudson and his voyage to New Amsterdam. There was plenty of stuff to look at although there could have been more maps because there was only fourteen. But what was really coincidental is that they have one of our maps in the exhibit that we got to see here in BHS. There was so many objects and artifacts in that exhibit that exhibit I got to see but I bet our exhibit will be even better.

A Brooklyn Teen's Adventures in GraphicDesignLand

I now understand why Jasper Dankearts and his Lapadist trip companions wore such plain clothing.

With all the wall paint colors, postcard designs, and board layouts we have to choose from for the show, coming to a conscenous about what looked best was more than difficult. When we were voting about which six colors we were going to use to represent each of the six days Jasper spent in Brooklyn, I tried to imagine what the debate would have been like if we were all trapped inside a boat on the ocean together. Or maybe if we had to decide where to get food in a strange foreign land.

Honestly, with the difficulty we faced choosing colors right here at the historical society I don't think we would have made good cross-seas explorors. But even Jasper was able to enjoy the abundance of choices available in Brooklyn. He tried fruit from the local peach orchards and we tried to decide which shade of peach makes the best postcard backround.

Flatbush Reformed Church - March 31, 2009

Hey ExLabbers, remember when we went to the Flatbush Reformed Church and I took a million pictures? Here's one of them. I have about 2,376 more which I'll put up if you guys get into this blog. Thanks Ilana for getting this thing going!

Their actual website is hard to find, but here it is: http://www.flatbushchurch.org/

I had to use google maps and do a search for "Buy Buy Hair" which I remembered was across the street. Brooklyn's filled with churches and I wanted to make sure I had the right one.

I thought Pastor Meeter was hilarious! Both of those guys were (Pastor Ramm too). Thanks for letting me tag along.

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