We launched from the Brooklyn Bridge Park; a convenient place, but a mile south of where I wanted to be.
It meant a tough paddle ahead, but we were a great crew: Michael Taussig, an anthropologist from Sydney Australia,
Lan Tuazon, an artist who I have explored with since 2001, and David Denz, an Austrian drummer who eats people like the rest of us for breakfast.
The water was rough and windy and I was worried about the boat.
We passed a group of kayakers close to shore. Their leader yelled something to us, but I couldn’t hear.
“I bet all those people wish they were out here.” I said, but I secretly wished that we were on the pier.
“Don’t worry guys, Â it will be smooth sailing in another few minutes.” I said,
but the crew didn’t seem to mind.
We passed the Con Edison substation, and admired its sprawling grid-work.
“It’s funny how the city always pushes mounds of rubble to the outskirts…” said Lan.
I thought she was speaking metaphorically, but then I saw the actual mounds.
The building that housed Kara Walker’s giant sculpture last spring was completely torn down to make way for luxury condominiums.
“It is terrible what’s happening to the city.” said Michael.
He told us about the transformation of Sydney in the 1980’s, from a working waterfront to a waterfront view.
The loss inspired his essay ‘The Beach: A Fantasy’.
He described how the sea has disappeared for us, for lack of direct experience, and how it’s been constructed again in our imagination.
“Do you remember the first scene of Crocodile Dundee 2?” asked Michael.
None of us remembered, but I went back later and looked it up.
The movie opens with ‘Mick’ doing something alone in a boat.
He is dynamite fishing,
a common practice in Australia, we are meant to think.
The camera pans back to reveal that Crocodile Dundee is in the New York Harbor,
and the police find out at the same time we do.
They have him surrounded,
but they like him, and he doesn’t get in any trouble.
As the movie advances, we find out that other things are wrong with his life in New York City; he doesn’t fit in, his job sucks, and there are criminals trying to kill his girlfriend.
“It is a terrible movie of course.” said Michael.
The other thing I noticed when I watched the movie later, was that Crocodile Dundee goes by the name ‘Mick’, just like Michael Taussig.
I couldn’t help but think that the connection went deeper.
Maybe our Mick was a little homesick, just like the movie Mick, and seeing this city change reminded him Sydney.
Maybe our Mick too, was waiting for a band of criminals to pull him back into the life he knew and loved.
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