Destroying New York in Art
Maybe other people are ready for this, but I'm pretty sure I'm not. I've seen previews for this "Day After Tomorrow" flick coming out -something about global warming causing the oceans to rise and destroy New York. Thanks, but no. I've got the 9/11 hearings on the TV in the other room and just listened to the commissioner say the terrorists will attack again and New York is still at the top of their list.

There's a new mural at the Brooklyn Museum with a similar theme. Alexis Rockman's "Manifest Destiny." The artist's statement describes it as the "radically transformed landscape of a future Brooklyn three thousand years from now." The Brooklyn Bridge has collapsed and nearly everything is underwater save for the tops of a couple bridges and tips of skyscrapers. The living creatures consist of seagulls, rats, cockroaches, seals, catfish, and creatures living on the underside of a rusted-out oil drum.

I'm guessing both the film and the painting are supposed to get me thinking about stopping global warming, but I have a hard time getting past the idea that these artists selected New York as their targets. I mean, come on, if it's global warming it's not like we're the only city that's going to be destroyed. If I want to picture what it's like to see my city under siege, all I need to do is walk back in the other room and watch the 9/11 hearings again.
- posted by Amy @ 5/18/2004 11:13:00 AM