we had been working long hours in the days leading up to it. the day before was half wild rainstorms, and half that annoying kind of drip. exhausted, hungry and cranky, we met at my place late that night and planned the final touches.
when chris and john arrived at flushtopia early the next morning, they found it spread out all over the lake. the winds has severed the anchors and blew half of this islands (the biggest!) to the edges. all of our days of work seemed to have been undone in a night.
the water was clearly too dangerous to be in. even the boathouse next door's motored boats wouldn't attempt to hit that water. chris and john immediately jumped into island-rescue mode and grabbed a row boat and tried to pull the flushtopia-sign island in, but where no match for the wind.
after half an hour of island-rescue attempts, we cancelled the 'opening' ...
it's hard for me to articulate the rest of the day, i think it was an intense one for each of us, and i'm sure each of us would say something different about it all.
it was cold, windy, frustrating, and somewhat disappointing, of course. but it was also exhilarating. i suppose the 'opening' could be counted as a failure ( - though postponed). but this project as never been about an opening. it's not a display, and it doesn't exist simply to be visited on a calm afternoon.
this project is about action. it's about people. it's about using (and re-using) urban space in a new way. it's about our expanding group making and using the city together. it's about expanding the boundaries of the physical and social spaces we live in.
i'd say saturday was a total success.
it showed our action/people/space project is strong, is working, is real. the facade broke apart, but we where there, fighting the elements and hauling it all back together. we grabbed oars, poles, ropes and hauled it all back. it took all day. it was cold. it was wet. we climbed through the mud. we yelled at each other. we were angry. justin grilled for those who showed up. chuck stood in bare feet serving an improvised cocktail at sleaze'rs. it was terrible, it was wonderful.
we've activated the space, and the space has activated us. who else is lucky enough to do this in new york city?
now our job is to keep the space activated. to keep using it. to keep being changing it and being changed by it. to keep expanding. let's anchor it all down and begin breathing life into it all!
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