Flow Separation is a commission by New York-based artist Tauba Auerbach (b. 1981, San Francisco, California), which transforms the historic Fireboat John J. Harvey into a contemporary "dazzle ship." Invented by British painter Norman Wilkinson during World War I, the original dazzle patterns were painted onto ships to optically distort their forms, confusing enemy submarines tracking their distance, direction, and speed. With their geometric shapes, the dazzle designs were heavily indebted to both animal camouflage and avant-garde movements like Cubism, Futurism, and Vorticism. Thousands of vessels were dazzled in the U.K. and U.S., including in New York City at the Brooklyn Navy Yards.

Check out the exhibition page to learn more about Flow Separation.

Bessou is a small Japanese restaurant on Bleecker in NoHo that serves up modern takes on traditional Japanese bar food and Izakaya. In this short video from our friends at First We Feast, learn how the restaurant makes extra crispy Japanese fried chicken, or Chicken Karaage, and try not to drool all over yourself.

Fried chicken is a comfort-food staple the world over, and Japan is no exception. Generously battered in potato starch, double fried in a skillet, and marinated in a mixture of soy sauce and mirin, Japan's chicken karaage is renowned for its extra-crispy skin and juicy meat. At Bessou, Maiko Kyogoku and Emily Yuen infuse the dish with their NYC sensibilities, seasoning the chicken in a dusting of global spices, with nods to Korea to the Middle East. For Kyogoku—who in a past life worked with the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and managed his relationships with the likes of Louis Vuitton and Kanye West—the blending of cultures has practically become second nature. "Bessou means 'home away from home,'" she explains. "We want people to enjoy and share and not have too many formalities and pass the dishes around like you would at home."

Staten Islander Matthew Izzo recently created a funny rap video under This IZZ It Productions in which he and a friend talk all about living on Staten Island, poking fun at his beloved borough and embracing the stereotypes. Check it out!