Works on Water – Collect Pond walk!

Some would propose “water art” as a new movement along the lines of “land art.” This show in NYC, Works on Water, has so many great projects that would lead you to conclude just that! Check out my walking tour of Collect Pond.

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Join interdisciplinary artist Rachel Stevens on a walking tour, discussion and augmented reality visualization of Collect Pond, tracing the edges of this lost body of water and unpacking histories and futures tying water to finance and speculation, from Collect Pond to Hurricane Sandy and beyond.

Since Europeans arrived in Lower Manhattan, water has been a contentious commodity and continues to be a flashpoint for struggles between private enterprise and human rights. Collect Pond, a 48-acre, 60- foot deep freshwater pond, used to occupy the land from the court houses to the edge of Chinatown in Lower Manhattan until it became polluted and then filled in. Chase Company, founded by Aaron Burr, was a private water distribution company that hoarded profits meant to provide clean water from tributaries feeding Collect Pond and used those funds to start Chase Bank.