everywhere, art
So my friend Kathy flew in from LA this past weekend. A typical NY visit complete with the dreaded Times Square clusterfuck.
Thankfully, she spared me the misery of: circle line, Empire State building, Statue of Liberty, shopping in SOHO, etc. Working above Penn Station, I always wonder what tourists must think of this place. It’s horrible…being a tourist. You get gouged, you’re constantly exhausted, and you’re treated as a cultural consumer–expected to wait in absurd lines, point & shoot, and pay for souvenirs. We did touristy things of course: waiting an hour for a table at Joe’s Shanghai (good as always), waiting an hour for a table at Grimaldi’s (thumbs down), and then the museums…the Met, the Whitney, MOMA…
It’s absurd, really. And yet, there are expectations to be met. Things of beauty that surprise. The unknown. The unfamiliar. The uncanny.
The most pleasant surprise appeared at the Battery Maritime Building, where David Byrne’s sound installation, Playing the Building, resides.
On my bike ride home, I saw the Pier 35 waterfall running. Absurd and beautiful. And walking around earlier tonight by the swedish meatball outlet, we were treated to the new Erie Basin park– decorative cranes and all. Uncanny indeed.