Yet another view of Newtown Creek – the Newtown Creek Armada

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    Image source: Newtown Creek Armada

    Get ready for the Newtown Creek Armada, an “art installation that invites the public to explore the past, present and future of this contaminated New York City waterway.” It launches tomorrow – Saturday, September 8 from 1-4pm, and repeats throughout the month on the 9th, 15th, 22nd, 29th, and 30th. It will take place at the Newtown Creek Nature Walk, which is a paved trail that goes along a section of Newtown Creek. We recently spent some time by Newtown Creek exploring its industrial context; the Creek is, of course on the border between Queens and Brooklyn

    steps-into-newtown-creek-from-newtown-creek-nature-walk-greenpoint

    Here’s how it’s going to work:

    Visitors to The Armada will pilot a fleet of artist-made, miniature, remote-controlled boats along the surface of the Newtown Creek while documenting the hidden world of its waters using waterproof cameras and microphones.

    According to their Kickstarter page (they raised $3,955 for this project – IOBY helped, too), each boat has a different role, representing a particular element of the Creek’s past, present and future. You’ll be able to use that aforementioned waterproof camera to record and explore the depths below, which are pretty murky, yet fascinating. These videos that participants make will be accessible at the boat pond, so you can see what it under the toxic waters that are home to what is considered to be the largest urban oil spill in the US (the Deepwater Horizon spill was out in the Gulf of Mexico and does not count as urban), with 17-30 million gallons spilled.

    The video made by the people behind the Newtown Creek Armada, artists Laura Chipley, Nathan Kensinger, and Sarah Nelson Wright, is also pretty amazing. Take a look:

    We’re excited and curious to see what the participants/visitors come up with.

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