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New Bohemians: THE PROFESSOR
Name: Thyrza Nichols Goodeve Occupation: Writer/traveling art school professor at SVA (School of Visual Arts); RISD (Rhode Island School of Design); MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) in lots of different departments: film, MFA Art Writing; MFA Computer Arts, Art History, Digital+Media, etc. I also run a summer studio program in DUMBO for MICA. It's called MICA in NYC. Years in New York: Since 1978. Hometown: Please don't ask. What brought you to New York? Wanting to be in New York and wanting to be a writer in New York. I started at NYU as a sophomore but I transferred to Sarah Lawrence for Creative Writing but came back to NYU for the graduate Cinema Studies Program. What do you love about the city? The people. Walking. The subway. It's spontaneity. It's heart. It's sense of humor. Everyday is an adventure. Everyday is a different mood. You can be a different person whenever you want. You can pretend to be rich if you want to feel rich or poor if you want to feel poor. But when you are poor there's plenty to do for free. You can get to know almost any culture or ethnicity or religion or kind of food. You are never bored. You are always surprised. I love it even when I am depressed. Art, art, art. The Film Forum. Walter Reade Theatre Alain Delon Film Festival. City dog people. Bless them. People who care for urban animals. I could keep doing this for hours. I love my aparment but I have a disturbed downstairs neighbor. I guess that gets me to the next question. I love New York more than anything though. Well. not more than you know who but that's a secret. SUBJECT: BOOM! CRASH! THUMP! BANG!!! "Yet another perfectly fine Saturday afternoon sullied by the excessive noise coming from my upstairs neighbor. You really think this is normal, Thyrza? Hardly... What's your definition of a New Yorker? All of us who never felt at home anywhere else until we landed here, nor could we ever live anywhere else ever ever ever except maybe Rome. Best or worst New York moment? Best New York moment: Sitting in the basement of the old SoHo Barbera Gladstone Gallery with beautiful young Mark Fletcher, who was then her assistant, watching Cremaster 4 not knowing a thing about who Matthew Barney was, going "I don't know what the hell this is but it is the weirdest thing I have ever seen and I have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to do with this guy when I interview him." The whole idea of Jack Bankowsky (then editor of Artforum) calling me to interview Barney was so strange, as was the work and the reputation of the guy. I had not heard of him at the time but everyone else had and the whole situation had a kind of zany hilarity to it that summed up what I love about New York—around every corner there's a potential A-bomb which could go off in any direction at any time --perhaps disaster, perhaps bliss, never boredom. Worst moment: 1983 when I received a phone call at midnight: "Hello this is Dr. so-and so from the Greenpoint Hospital. We have a stabbed victim here by the name of Paul DeVries." And that was it. Paul was my boyfriend at the time, a painter living in Williamsburg -- Williamsburg then was not Williamsburg now. I was waiting for Paul to arrive. The call came at me in slow motion. Stuttering, I asked, "Is he alive?" "Yes, he's in critical condition but he wanted me to tell you he wouldn't be able to make it tonight. He was stabbed while going over the bridge. He then hung up and I spent all night trying to get someone on the phone. When I went out the next day I passed a policeman guarding a gang member who had been shot. They were worried a hit man would come into the ward to finish him off. I expected Paul to be in a private room. When I saw he was in a ward like in the Civil War, I stood by his side and promptly fainted. It was a humiliating feeling. What three things are you addicted to right now? This is dangerous to answer. 1.To play it safe: my iPhone and all one wants to read into that. 2. Furry, funny, comforting warm live things and all you want to read into that and 3. Art and words and language and poetry as corny as that sounds. It's a good life I lead. It is. What one New York job would you want to do, if you weren't who you are? A city reporter. Where do you see yourself in five years? Even happier and more in love with my life and my love(s) than I am now. If God were an animal, what would it be? A bacteria or a new York carriage horse check out "Blinders" on the web and join the movement to ban the carriage horses in central park. What do you think the difference is between faith and religion? Christopher Hitchens
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