I got sunburned on Saturday, September 27th, in the middle of New York City. I'll take it, since our most recent motto has been #summerpleasedontgo.
I spent the night at Meg's cozy Brooklyn abode on Friday night; we welcomed the sunset on the roof, continued our obsession with THIS SONG, strolled the neighborhood at dusk catching up on our weeks, and ate some really, really good pizza. Only slightly different from Meg's previous Friday evening. We've got some exciting individual adventures coming up in October, so we made some time this particular weekend to be together on our own turf.
I woke up slowly without an alarm on Saturday morning, which is a glorious feeling. I don't know why sometimes I feel so refreshed when I'm not sleeping in my own place. Perhaps it's because I don't have to deal with my mess, my obligations, or the long list of to-do's I should be conquering around my tornado of an apartment shared with three other people. We walked out onto sunny Atlantic Ave and headed for the pier to catch the free ferry to Governor's Island just in time with the rest of the stroller brigade! Since the ferry was full of a lot of families, we found a comfy spot away from the children under the age of 5 on the back staircase, hovering over the flock of bicycles people were bringing along for their day in the 82 degree sun. We watched the wake give into both Manhattan and Brooklyn...and all of 2 minutes later, we arrived on Governor's Island. (the last weekend it was open for the season, nonetheless.)
We made our way immediately to get some snacks, of course, and they were pretty much right off the main path. Praise hands for one more cup of watermelon juice! I then wanted to b-line it for the hammock grove, anxious that there wouldn't be a vacancy. There was plenty of room, and we cozied into our books while basking in the September sun. From the point of view of my hammock with my bare feet perched up surrounded by greenery and canopied by blue skies, it felt pretty perfect. The city felt a bizillion miles away. (Probably remembering sunscreen would have made it slightly more perfect.) The only disruption to the quiet breeze would be the occasional helicopter overhead, which reminded you how close you were to the financial district, and then you'd glance up and see the Freedom Tower standing tall in all its glory. Meg wandered to find some shade, and when I was ready to join I followed her text: "Walk across the field towards lady liberty" and there she was. I mean, I guess you don't really text like that in other circumstances.
The more we made our way around the island, the more the apparent juxtaposition of old and new was. There are old buildings and forts and rows of houses I could imagine being dressed up patriotically for a summer picnic in the 1950s. It was as though nothing bad could happen here, though I remembered no one really lives here anymore. They don't let the space go to waste, though, as there are a plethora of free activities for the public to enjoy during the season. They also allow artists to use space in these buildings to create: talk about an office with a view!
The old buildings, the new contemporary art installations. It's like the two existed at the same time, but neither tried to meld with each other. It was strange, but it worked. As we crossed back toward the other side of the island wanting to frolic through the magic that was the KITE festival (Oh yes, did I mention there was a KITE FESTIVAL full of little ones frolicking in the fields with their kites floating like little dots in the sky? Magic.), we were allured into an interesting installation. We took the fork in the road on a sunny day, and it lead us into a dungeon, or what we later discovered is Fort Jay, a national monument, sorry to be dramatic. Someone asked us if we were here to see the documentary. "What documentary?" Well it was a 13 minute 3D film they were showing every 15 minutes ...why not? We stood in a dark chamber for six minutes with four other strangers and listened to the atmospheric music while our eyes adjusted to the dark and we all roamed around a bit wondering what we got ourselves into. When the music ended, we were told to go take a seat in one of the six small rooms in front of a white screen with our 3D glasses on. We proceeded and all had our backs turned toward the center as we filled the small chambers that probably held artillery back in the day. The film was a portrait of artist Marina Abramovic, and it ended with her standing nude in a large chamber filled with light while we stared deeply into her eyes. As it concluded, the door opened, and we exited the chamber and went back into our sunny blue-skied Saturday. Funny enough, we all shared how we were peeking over our shoulder during the film, waiting to see if something was going to pop out at us as though we were on the set of Sleep No More.
The point was to sit alone and absorb the intimacy and admiration. Instead, we were all secretly wondering what they were plotting to do to us next, "they" being the artist or the host of this exhibit. I caught myself too worried about figuring out the big picture instead of being absorbed in the moment. I imagine I do this all too often in my over-analyzed life. As we wandered back across the sun-drenched and family-filled lawn, we let ourselves give into the final hours of the last hot Saturday we'd probably have for months.
notes:
- when making the trip to governors island, check out http://www.govisland.com for a wide array of events, exhibits, ferry schedules, and hours of the week they offer free bike rentals. consider bringing your own bike on the ferry- there are nice paths on the island, though i think you'd make your way around rather quickly.
- gov island is quite family friendly. there's ample room for kids to run freely and many free activities set up to engage their creativity. while we were there, we strolled past composting workshops and kiddies being taught how to make kites out of recycled plastic bags.
- more on the portrait of marina abramovic by matthu placek here and here.