Fake gates chases fake park down the river

Last week (September 17 to 25, from 8 am to 8 pm every day) there was a Floating Island on a tugboat circling Manhattan for all to see. The original concept was dreamt up by Robert Smithson, best know for another of his ‘Earthworks’; Spiral Jetty from 1970. This exhibit was put on by a New York-based arts organization that puts on public art projects, since Smithson died in 1973. The “Floating Island is a project that involves a 30-x-90-foot barge, landscaped with earth, rocks, and native trees and shrubs that will circumnavigate Manhattan. The fabricated “island,” towed by a small tugboat, will be on view two weekends in September, visible to millions of residents, commuters, and visitors along the Hudson and East Rivers.” Here’s a great picture of the island on a test run. Anyway, that’s cool enough, but then some students tailed the barge in a speedboat with a tiny replica of one of The Gates, Christo’s Central Park sculpture from earlier this year. Here’s a great picture of the action. Apparently it was supposed to point out how stupid they thought The Gates project was, but it would have been a better story if it were just “fake gates chases fake park down the river”.

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