Story Info
Story Info
Federico Hewson & Maggie Jones
Coney Island, NY
2014
Type of Wounded Place
Story & Experience
We went to Coney Island on the date of the annual Mermaid parade which according to their website: “is the largest art parade in the nation. A celebration of ancient mythology and honky-tonk rituals of the seaside: it brings mythology to life for local residents who live on streets named Mermaid and Neptune; it creates self-esteem in a district that is often disregarded as “entertainment”; and it lets artistic New Yorkers find self-expression in public. Unlike most parades, this one has no ethnic, religious, or commercial aims. It’s a major New York holiday invented by artists!”
In the early morning before the festivities, Maggie, Federico and Brandy the dog cleaned up part of the beach making a bird from the local “trash” and reflecting on meanings of the ‘island’ as well as generating a deeper connection to the earth and its regenerative core in a meditation. According to Julia Butterfly Hill—in most, if not all, indigenous languages there is no word for ‘trash’—everything is recycled or reused. Maggie, who has lived in Brooklyn for six years, talked of her fondness for the rawness of Coney Island and particularly the beach. Seeing the trash (which has greatly decreased in the past few years) as a reflection of humanity—the way a messy apartment reflects our honest selves, the debris is a mirror of this historic location with its dark history, corruption, clean-up and serpentine journey from treasured amusements, to gangs, to a Mayor’s dishonest fight for a ballpark to a recent new roller coaster called Thunderbolt- the place is charged with New Yorkness and the Mermaid parade a reflection of current color and pride.
We made the RadJoy bird, Brandy dug herself a deep hole and upon removal of the bird into a bin and a glimpse of the parade getting ready to start I reflected on the area’s cycles and constant renewal, the earth itself and its long history before (and soon after?) man. A friend stated recently ‘the environmental movement seems to be moving from action to elegy’. The end of an era—or dawning of a new age? We noted the bird’s simple beauty out of waste, the energetic parade goers gathering and the continual feeling on this long Solstice day—an air of hope.Federico Hewson & Maggie Jones
We went to Coney Island on the date of the annual Mermaid parade which according to their website: “is the largest art parade in the nation. A celebration of ancient mythology and honky-tonk rituals of the seaside: it brings mythology to life for local residents who live on streets named Mermaid and Neptune; it creates self-esteem in a district that is often disregarded as “entertainment”; and it lets artistic New Yorkers find self-expression in public. Unlike most parades, this one has no ethnic, religious, or commercial aims. It’s a major New York holiday invented by artists!”
In the early morning before the festivities, Maggie, Federico and Brandy the dog cleaned up part of the beach making a bird from the local “trash” and reflecting on meanings of the ‘island’ as well as generating a deeper connection to the earth and its regenerative core in a meditation. According to Julia Butterfly Hill—in most, if not all, indigenous languages there is no word for ‘trash’—everything is recycled or reused. Maggie, who has lived in Brooklyn for six years, talked of her fondness for the rawness of Coney Island and particularly the beach. Seeing the trash (which has greatly decreased in the past few years) as a reflection of humanity—the way a messy apartment reflects our honest selves, the debris is a mirror of this historic location with its dark history, corruption, clean-up and serpentine journey from treasured amusements, to gangs, to a Mayor’s dishonest fight for a ballpark to a recent new roller coaster called Thunderbolt- the place is charged with New Yorkness and the Mermaid parade a reflection of current color and pride.
We made the RadJoy bird, Brandy dug herself a deep hole and upon removal of the bird into a bin and a glimpse of the parade getting ready to start I reflected on the area’s cycles and constant renewal, the earth itself and its long history before (and soon after?) man. A friend stated recently ‘the environmental movement seems to be moving from action to elegy’. The end of an era—or dawning of a new age? We noted the bird’s simple beauty out of waste, the energetic parade goers gathering and the continual feeling on this long Solstice day—an air of hope.Federico Hewson & Maggie Jones
Coney Island, NY
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