It’s been a pretty busy weekend of fun new things, although the sudden stifling heat makes it seem like I’ve been moving through quicksand. A quick selection of photos follows; click on each for a full slideshow.
Friday was Will’s birthday, so we had a few friends over for drinks and a trip out to L&B Spumoni Garden for pizza and ice cream:
Saturday we rode our bikes out to Brighton Beach to seek out a particular brand of vodka–it was fun but there was nothing really visually noteworthy on this outing aside from the wicked sunburn that developed on my shoulders.
Today we made our first trip out to Governor’s Island, that odd little patch of earth out in the middle of New York Harbor that has only offered limited access to the general public in the past few years. Prior to that it had been a pretty closed-off fort and then military base for the past 200 years. The occasion was to see our friend Gabriel read from his latest novel. We took a few hours to stroll the grounds and take in the really weird sculptures:
Freaky! But if you click on the photo, it’ll take you to the full slideshow that gives you a much less menacing overview of the place.
Returning to Manhattan (I originally wrote mainland, but Manhattan’s an island, too!), we headed to the other half of the Battery Terminal to check out David Byrne’s “Playing the Building” installation:
This is the slideshow most worth clicking through. Mr. Byrne happened upon this abandoned space and decided it had great muscial potential. So he gutted this organ and ran wires out of it to various pipes, radiators, and columns throughout the building, so that pressing the keys unleashes this cacaphony that sounds like a construction site crossed with a haunted house crossed with melancholy pan flutes. This is one of the better conceptual/interactive works of art I’ve seen. I may have to go back when it’s not 100 degrees.
Always Double Back 
June 9, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Looks like y’all had lots of fun. The garden “art” is awesome. Is it still a military base? What are y’all using the specific brand of vodka for? Cooking? If you liked the ‘playing the building’ apparatus, you might want to check on Nina K’s link on my blog, she does all kind of crazy projects, some involving “music.”
June 9, 2008 at 7:34 pm
And of course, how rude of me, happy belated birthday to Will? Is he an old man now?
June 9, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Actually, the art was terrible! But seeing it in the context of an unused yet well-preserved military base (to answer your second question) was cool and surreal. Re vodka, we were looking for brands my Russian friend says are superior to what’s typically considered “top-shelf” in the US. Just to have around for drinks.
And yes, Will is in the throes of his post-birthday existential crisis.
June 10, 2008 at 1:48 am
Not all the art was terrible. The babies were awesome!
Thanks for the bday wishes, Bethie. I was depressed for two days (loser! LOSER LOSER OLD OLD LOSER!!!), but I’m okay now. Obviously.
June 10, 2008 at 1:30 pm
That’s what I meant, that the art was bizarre and random and out of place on the military base. How old are you Will? I was mega bummed out when I turned 30, mainly cuz my professional life stank and sadly still does.
June 13, 2008 at 11:13 pm
35.