REX HAUSMANN

This is a story from a guy who can’t spell, a guy who can’t write. All I can say is,
“They were wrong!”
–Rex Hausmann

Chapters:

1. The Muse: Bookstore and Gift shop

2. Chelsea and a Text from my Brother
3. Dannon Art Supply: New York, The Midwest, and the Beginning of this Book
4.The Monk of Washington Heights, and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
5. Pedro Lujan’s Fuschian Noodles (SoHo)
6. Cooper Union, Dinner with Michelle Carollo, and A Park Bench
7. H-meister and His Hair!
8. Jimmy Green's Bagel Box
9. Colores (Berlin, Germany)
10. Brooklyn, Burcu and Taco Trucks (which became a Turkish coffee stand)
11. Faberge Eggs & Aenon’s Bike Shop
12. Happy Panda Chinese Take-out and Happy Taco
13. Expansion Pack: Business is Good and Everyone is Buying - Even the Big
14. City isn’t Big Enough
15. Heaven is About 1 Hour Outside Kansas City (on the Missouri side)
16. Pralines, David Van Hee, creativity and the definition of "talent"... and
living in the future
17. San Antonio, My Home
18. The Parable of the Blind Swimmer 
19. The Ghost Paleta Cart on Flores Street
20. David Almaguer and his Hotdog Stand
21. Angel and Rolando: Mannequin Shop & Cultural Awareness Connection
22. Mikey’s Tuba Symphonium
23.“Dave Brower’s Masts to Freedom” located in Chelsea at the 21st street
stop on the 123 train
24. Rex's Hat Shop (The Brothers Hat Shop)
25. Bleaker Street Bakery and Base, and Tea and Toons
26. The Carriage Trade: "Tough Life, Huh!"
27. Peacocks Still Exist
28. Phil and Suzanne's Chocolate Box: a gem that might as well be a minimuseum
(the only house on a 100-foot street)

Preface:

In this book you will be introduced to a number of different caricatures with fictional
jobs. They are based on what I imagine real friends of mine might do in a metropolis of my own imagination. The inspiration for the setting of this community evolved from my day to day life in New York City, a commodity itself that has become a parallel universe to my San Antonio home. The fictional businesses weave together to embrace the individual personalities of the people I have come to know over the years. These idyllic moments form a bridge as real as the Manhattan or Brooklyn bridges I frequently cross to get from one part of New York to another. This metaphysical bridge links New York to my hometown of San Antonio.

Whether in fact or in fiction, my story is about sharing the American Dream with those closest to me; it is a place that I have immortalized with the metaphors of my own mind. I create, fabricate, imagine, love, and admire. The best explanation of what motivates me comes from an instillation that I completed in early 2008 called "Re-visitation" exhibited at Blue Star Contemporary Art Center in my hometown of San Antonio, Texas.

“At times these relationships are strained, at times they are celebrated, and at times, they drift apart only to be brought back together again.” In this expression of words, paintings, photographs, and collages you will find the New York I have come to know and love. From staying on the couches of friends to eventually getting a place of my own in sublets (and searching for an affordable studio, if the word "affordable" even exists in New York City), I have created fictional businesses that embrace the ever changing nature of New York City. As put by one of my close friends, "New York City is not a physical place. New York is a place which you discover with the people that surround you."
– Rex Hausmann (July 15 2010)