Transportation Alternatives

It's bold and it's on view through the current celebration in my life, SUMMER2008.

Danish-Icelandic Olafur Elliason's Waterfalls, four large man-made falls temporarily installed in the East River and New York Harbor, started running today and I got my first glimpse crossing the bridge this morning on my way to work. Every photograph online and in print has been showing off gorgeous points of view, but honestly I was disatisfied with what I saw from the B train during this morning's commute. Fortunately, this map is available from the fabulously green folks at Transportation Alternatives. Even more fortunate is the fact that I now have a bike to play with close by.

It all seems a touch unnecessary these days in New York, which has seen rain storms every day for about three weeks straight. Can't complain, it's all quite beautiful around here. I've taken the official 2008 bike map of New York City and begun to highlight the routes I've taken. The plan is to cover as much of the route as possible before the end of the season. How far can I get? 20%? 40%?... 2%?

Olafur reafirmed my belief in contemporary art, or maybe it was MoMA and its retrospective of the man's work over the last 10 years. Some of it was dynamite (a cube made of smoke and lights; a waterfall of mist and lights; a cylindrical room with translucent walls that swayed colors as quickly as moods; a bright orange hallway that literally turned everything - and everyone - black and white. And that was just at MoMA. Over in Queens at the sister venue, PS1, one could find Olafur's smaller works: geometric sculptures made of everything from cardboard to paper mache; series of photography arranged to celebrate diversity in nature; patterns and shapes selectively appearing on walls; and the original upside down waterfalls that the world saw years ago in Germany.

Supposedly, a circular pond 135 feet in diameter with an island in its center started taking shape in March at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. Called “The Parliament of Reality,” the pond is to be the first permanent public installation in the United States by the Icelandic artist. It was expected to be completed in June and so now with my trip coming up next week, I’m excited to see for myself whether the rumors are true. I've read nothing else about this since the Times announcement in January.

So at some point this summer, I'll take the bike path offered as a delightful transportation alternative to the ferry that can take you around for $47. Then, there's the walk I plan to do down the water, and perhaps make my own path. Through the summer, I intend to catch those falls over and over again.

The sun's coming out, better head out myself. Where's my bike... where's my map?