The Waterboard Thrill Ride-"Fun for the whole family” (Coney Island, NY-July 26 to late Aug)

[kpete]

Steve Powers’ The Waterboarding Thrill Ride
The Arcade at Coney Island, New York, NY: July 26 to late August



Photo by Tom Giebel (atomische.com)

On Saturday, July 26 Creative Time and artist Steve Powers will open The Waterboarding Thrill Ride, an animatronic diaroma depicting a prisoner being waterboarded, installed in the Coney Island arcade, presented by Creative Time as part of its national public art initiative Democracy in America: The National Campaign. The Waterboarding Thrill Ride, which will boldly raise awareness of the issue of torture in the United States, will be open all summer long and is available for public viewing. In mid-August, the artist will produce a private performance wherein he and several lawyers will be waterboarded by a trained professional in a secret location in the heart of Coney Island.

.....

This will exhibit, which features a scene of an animatronic torturer and victim, will continue through the summer. Feeding a dollar through the slot in the front, will set the scene, viewed through jail bars, in motion.

Powers: “It’s about time that this uniquely American ritual of intense water horror, a practice long reserved for New England witches and Al-Qaida brass, was made available to the people. This project will give some everyday New Yorkers the chance to experience - for a few brief, bone-chilling seconds - all the thrills of being a prisoner under interrogation at Guantanamo Bay. And the installation is fun for the whole family.”

http://creativetime.org/programs/archive/2008/democracy/powers.php

Edited by Admin to give photographer attribution.

[Taverner]

1. Brilliant. Bloody brilliant.

[annabanana]

2. I predict that it will not survive the outcry that will arise when

people figure out what's going on . . (Coney Island? In Brooklyn?.. tough crowd)