The Gowanus Canal, ripe with gonohorrea, served as a very unlikely muse for artist David Eustace. He worked on his Gowanus-drenched art project for two years, so technically he started before the canal's STD was diagnosed (but really, who didn't think it a possibility at that point). So, in the market for some art? These pieces were, in fact, dipped in the canal -- and will be again!
The exhibition revolves around four large works hung in the canal at three-month intervals. Each canvas was primed beforehand with symbols, notations, & references used to account for and keep track of time, such as lunar phases, tide tables & constellation movement. Raw iron filings were used in each work, to help develop the central image.
After the canvas was removed to the studio, each canvas was marked again. The time and date of each high and low tide (120 in all) was written at more or less at the height the respective tide occurred.
An intriguing idea, with references to astronomy and geophysics, but submerging things in the canals and rivers of New York City is never really a good idea.
His exhibit opens on May 15th, with free boat tours giving visitors a chance to "experience the tidal canal for themselves." The canvas pictured is currently in the water, installed for the event, and is visible from the 2nd Street Public Dock.
