Bayard–Condict Building

Senior year of college I transcribed this monologue from the documentary The Cruise. I used it for auditions after graduation, for the most part it went over well. Last week in New York I stopped by the building to pay homage.

"Oh look, straight up, oh that’s a great view, the white terracotta straight ahead. That’s the one building that Louis Sullivan designed for New York City."

"Look at the meticulousness, and you know that strong vertical launch in the facade is typical of the Sullivan milieu. You know terracotta becomes one of the major materials of New York City architecture. Its like a sand baked brick its not quite granite and its not quite brick it kinda walks the mainstream middle and it was excellent for New York City architecture because it could hang off the skeletons of the buildings its much lighter than stone. The difference though between stone and terracotta I think with me that strikes me the most is that terracotta reflects the sun light and stone absorbs it and you can see the bouncy light along the building."

"When I see terracotta like this it just makes me feel like I’m senselessly running through a meadow or high grassland area nude chasing a woman I’ve never met before whose entirely nude and its just the most raw and primordial chase. Two nude human beings running through grassland marsh area."

"As you move up the building can’t you feel the undulations of her curvature the um ah yes yes that slight groan some people have during the act of intercourse. The like ugh, like the somewhat dying grunt of a beautiful woman grunting in the storms of her own malaise. You can feel it in the matriculations of the cornice lines of the terracotta. That’s why the terracotta is important to me. The ugh, the ugh moments of life. Ugh. Ugh. Yes. Yes. Oh god! Please. The begging parts of life, on the left side you see those like lionesk characters way up there. Please don’t stop. Please don’t stop!"