All Photos Takuya Sakomoto https://www.newyorkbikedreams.com
Our crib and loft gallery, “NAYAKO,” was always a gathering place for messenger friends. In the building right next to NAYAKO, Kevin Bolger, Jen, Rob, and Amy were squatting. Also, on the same block, there was a small church where Kevin and Amy got married.
At NAYAKO, the photo collage was one of the things we lived around. As for the massive backing paper we pasted the photos onto, I don’t really remember whether Eddie picked it up somewhere or I did.
We didn’t have any big ambitions of making “art”; we just wanted to make a single album together, and that’s how we started putting this collage together. Messengers visiting NAYAKO would often spot themselves in it and peel photos off to take with them. Because of that, the piece was never finished; it was always changing.
Back then, there were no smartphones, and printing photos and handing them directly to people was just the way things were. Eddie used to print photos and give them to people all the time.
We also made this collage by hand. Eddie and I used scissors and glue to put the photos on the backing paper.
Eddie was very tall and had big hands—a big guy. You might not expect it from his build, but he was remarkably sensitive and good with his hands.
His fish soup with coconut milk was genuinely delicious. Once, when he was making meatballs, I couldn’t get the shape right no matter how I tried, but he shaped them so effortlessly.
Despite his size, Eddie was always gentle and thoughtful toward others. I hope you can feel his kindness through the work he left behind.
-Yasuyo ❤️
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