The Queens Museum sits on the old World’s Fairgrounds
Phragmites is an invasive species that grows at Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
I started harvesting the reeds
in August of 2008.
Soon I realized I needed help.
I got brave volunteers from Craigslist,
from word of mouth,
from loyal old friends,
along with the underbelly…
…of the New York boat world.
The harvesting stretched into the fall.
And then on into winter.
While harvesting, we removed leaves
from the reeds,
…to make paper.
I had pulled a double all-nighter…
…prepping the leaves.
But papermaster Anne McKeown and Allison Lindblom
explained the papermaking process.
They used a lot of terms like ‘agitated fingering’,
‘beating the cooch’,
and ‘putting a cockle in the cooch’.
These terms were a little confusing to me in my delirious state.
I saw this old engraving of a naumachia.
And I had a déjà vu.
So I proposed this space for my project and they said no.
Then we proposed this space and they said no.
Then we proposed this space and they said no.
Then we proposed this space and they said no.
But they said we could use it
as a studio…
…until its scheduled asbestos abatement.
we could also re-use as many of the old materials as we wanted.
The first boat was modeled after an Egyptian papyrus reed boat.
The boats in naumachias were commonly fashioned…
…after non-Roman historic vessels.
Reeds seemed to me like a safer material to take into battle.
But I wasn’t sure if the phrag would be as buoyant as papyrus.
So we decided to bolster them…
…with foam.
Fortunately, the hockey rink floor was lined with foam.
As are some local beaches in Queens.
To get to the foam we had to curl up the rink’s Freon coils.
The coils reminded me of the way I draw water.
So I saved them for the final installation.
My friend, Aymar, was an early advisor.
So I modeled a boat…
…after the ones where he is from at Lake Titicaca.
Then I decided to make a battleship...
…and dedicate it to Brooklyn.
The rink leftovers even had huge buckets of battleship grey paint.
Or maybe it was the paint that was the inspiration.
I realized we needed to go to greater extremes…
…to lure in volunteers as summer progressed.
Especially as it got hotter in the rink.
I noticed there are mulberry trees throughout the park,
and they were perfectly ripe.
So we started shaking down the trees every morning,
…to harvest the berries.
and make deliciously boozy mulberry coolers in the evening.
It seemed to boost morale.
Booze and power tools are always a great combo.
Booze and power tools are always a great combo.
…to make the backdrop for the Coliseum.
We found a room full of decades-old paint to use.
My old friend, Oliver Jeffers, and Saxon Brice came up with an efficient plan.
Oars made from wood paneling and old hockey sticks.
We found Styrofoam sculptures in the trash.
So we re-shaped them into zebras.
Then gave them manes made from reel-to-reel tapes we found in the dj booth.
Gary Ryan did some detail work.
My nemesis, the Queen Mary 2.
Finally we got approval on a location and rushed out to measure it.
We were mainly worried that the pig boat that Jade Townsend was building…
Would be too big and heavy to float in the pool.
Bill Powhida came out and helped work on the pig.
We made 400 togas for people who showed up without.
Diane Dwyer and Brendan Carney made cardboard armor.
Others painted cantaloupes for cannonballs.
Lara Allen came by to practice her performance.
Sofia Maldonado making battle helmets
Tom Robinson, Hans Maharawal and their friends…
…built a canoe from the rink walls.
Countdown calendar to the event.
Karen Merz fashioned ‘laurel wreaths’ from leftover rink xmas decorations.
Philippe and Tanasia rigged up the set
Plenty of sand in the rink to make sandbags for staging.
Preparing the pyrotechnics for the Queen Mary 2
The Staten Island Ferry was made from ceiling tiles like the Coliseum.
Sully Ross helped me to hang the silk and garbage bag sail.
We rented Caligula for inspiration.
Xavier Smith made armor
Staten Island Ferry likes big butts and it can’t deny.
8 boats ready for battle.
Gotta have dead bodies to fling around.
Queens Museum intern, He-Wang
Kitty Joe steps on a big-ass nail.
Stefanie Badwey assembling the set.
The old hockey lockers became the foundation for the set.
Moving day.
Flooding the fountain with 70,000 gallons of water.
The engineers from the hockey rink seemed to be having the most fun
Miraculously, all of the boats floated.
Indispensible Arnie.
Ryan to the rescue
The cantaloupe canons started to rot too fast
On the other hand, the tomatoes were still deliciously firm
A Queens Museum intern had to microwave them all
By the order of the emperor…
Yumi Nakamari and Sarah Merenda preparing the Emperor’s Pavillion.
6am Event Day: Drunkenly trying to warn people not to bring their children.
Gabriel was the imperial DJ
with Project Manager, Kitty Joe Sainte-Marie
The day after—surveying the aftermath.
20 hour clean up in the sun
David Strauss came by with a QMA peace offering amidst the destruction.