Cleaning the Bridge

Single channel color video, runtime 1:09, no sound. 2018.

The maintenance of public infrastructure, such as bike lanes and pedestrian walkways, is critical to ensuring equitable recreational waterfront access. Flushing Creek Agency is a series of site-specific performances exploring the potential of personal agency and labor in a variety of situations along Flushing Creek. By challenging traditional notions of who stewards out the waterfront, the series evokes questions about the role of policy and government in maintaining and promoting access to urban waterways, specifically Flushing Creek, in Queens, NYC. All videos were recorded alone, sometimes with a tripod, on an iPhone 6S and edited using the Adobe Clip mobile app. 

Body of Water

Flushing Creek

About the Artist

Cody Ann Herrmann is a New York City-based artist and community organizer with an interest in participatory design methods, public space, and urban resilience. Through multidisciplinary arts, community engagement exercises, and grassroots organizing, she applies an iterative, human-centered approach to environmental problem-solving. Since 2014, Cody's work has revolved around her hometown of Flushing, Queens, where she has created a series of projects critiquing policy related to land use and environmental planning in areas surrounding Flushing Bay and Creek. Cody has participated in the Works on Water / Underwater New York artist residency program and has been a recipient of the Waterfront Alliance City of Water Day Award. She has presented work as part of Open Engagement and has been featured in Hyperallergic. Cody holds an undergraduate degree from Parsons School of Design, and an MFA from Social Practice Queens at CUNY Queens College.