Being on the Newtown Creek after 6pm, as the tide is going out, is like staying late at work when everyone is going home.
We watched the recycling barges head downstream,
it even seemed like quitting time for the rats.
“That’s the third one I’ve seen!” said James.
We paddled inside an old waste transfer station,
and imagined it as our dream house.
James and Alisa grew up in the Pacific Northwest around water, and Patrick fishes in the New York Harbor, so it was fun to compare our experiences.
We visited some of the famous Newtown Creek landmarks, like #shoppingcartshiva,
and turned around just as the sun was setting,
letting the last of the wind and the tide carry us back to Greenpoint.
“Do you ever take the boat out at night?” asked Patrick.
“I think we are about to,” I thought.
AÂ few days later IÂ visited Alisa in her studio.
She has been making paintings of the weird shapes that emerge out of ink pours. They seem to have all this illusion, and you look hard for an image, but the color and shape and physical properties of the paint take over.
It seems analogous to the instagram pictures she’s been posting, found images, zooming in on UFOs and other unexplained phenomenon.
We talked about how strange things seem the closer you look, and our stubborn dependence on rationalization.
“IÂ guess it effects our perception…” I said.
“It effects our experience.” answered Alisa.
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