This week’s NY Times ArtsBeat video features a site specific installation at Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens.
Originally scheduled for Sunday August 28, the event has been moved to Monday the 29th due to inclement weather.
On August 29, PAW transforms Socrates Sculpture Park into a performance installation that rediscovers the history of New York’s forgotten islands through the lens of Homeric myth. Integrating pageant puppetry, intersecting micro-parades, and looping performances, Odysseus at Hell Gate pairs texts from the Odyssey with historic accounts of North Brother Island, Hart Island, and other forgotten places in the city’s maritime shadowlands.
Park visitors will assume the role of the homeward-bound hero, using fragmentary charts and haphazard guidance to navigate the capricious currents of New York’s complex island history, from potter’s fields to pleasure parks to penitentiaries. There is no order or sequence, as characters appear and disappear throughout the park, leaving lost mariners free to wander through a shifting immersive narrative. Odysseus at Hell Gate runs continuously throughout the Park, from 6 to 8 PM.