Weekend plans feeling light? This Sunday, MoMA PS1 will unveil Rockaway!, where Fort Tilden fans can celebrate the long-delayed reopening of their favorite no-lifeguard beach with a free public arts festival featuring work from heavy-hitting artists Adrian Villar Rojas and Janet Cardiff, a large-scale installation by Rockaway resident Patti Smith, a poetry reading by James Franco, and...kayaking! Plus, about a ten-minute bike ride away, at the Rockaway Beach Surf Club, museum director Klaus Biesenbach will double dip with an additional group show in collab with the Honolulu Biennial, turning the spotlight on contemporary artists who helped rebuild the surf town, including Olaf Breuning, Ryan McNamara, Daniel Gordon, Lena Dunham's mom Laurie Simmons, and OC friend Tom Sachs.
So, grab some beer-boiled peanuts from The Cookout and head out to the beach. But before you do, get your preview of the Surf Club show via Sachs, who gave us a first look at his forthcoming work.
This is what he had to say about "Tides at Rockaway Beach":
"The subject here is our mortality. The main image is of the lunar module, the device by which we first landed on another world. Through this gesture, we expand our understanding of our place in the universe. And, we begin the process of spreading our DNA throughout the galaxy. This colonial gesture is overlaid with a social security actuary chart that tells us how long we each shall live. For example, if you are a 30-year-old woman, you will live 50.25 more years. There is also a chart of high and low tides as they cycle at Rockaway beach. These waves travel 5,000 miles across the ocean to crash upon our shores. The waves and our lives are very short, but they all continue with the cycle of life. We are at the shores of the cosmic ocean. We have waded out just a little bit and the water seems inviting. If we don't destroy ourselves we will one day reach the stars."
Rockaway! runs from June 29 through September 1
Rockaway Beach Surf Club
302 Beach 87th St.
Far Rockaway, NY 11693
MAP
Fort Tilden Beach
169 Slate Rd.
New York, NY 11697
MAP
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"Tides at Rockaway Beach," 2014, KRINK enamel paint and synthetic polymer paint on latex, and on plywood. Photo courtesy of Tom Sachs
So, grab some beer-boiled peanuts from The Cookout and head out to the beach. But before you do, get your preview of the Surf Club show via Sachs, who gave us a first look at his forthcoming work.
This is what he had to say about "Tides at Rockaway Beach":
"The subject here is our mortality. The main image is of the lunar module, the device by which we first landed on another world. Through this gesture, we expand our understanding of our place in the universe. And, we begin the process of spreading our DNA throughout the galaxy. This colonial gesture is overlaid with a social security actuary chart that tells us how long we each shall live. For example, if you are a 30-year-old woman, you will live 50.25 more years. There is also a chart of high and low tides as they cycle at Rockaway beach. These waves travel 5,000 miles across the ocean to crash upon our shores. The waves and our lives are very short, but they all continue with the cycle of life. We are at the shores of the cosmic ocean. We have waded out just a little bit and the water seems inviting. If we don't destroy ourselves we will one day reach the stars."
Rockaway! runs from June 29 through September 1
Rockaway Beach Surf Club
302 Beach 87th St.
Far Rockaway, NY 11693
MAP
Fort Tilden Beach
169 Slate Rd.
New York, NY 11697
MAP
"Tides at Rockaway Beach," 2014, KRINK enamel paint and synthetic polymer paint on latex, and on plywood. Photo courtesy of Tom Sachs