WATER ECOLOGY at 125th Street

A strange white metal construct of a geodesic dome out on the pier of 125th St. in Harlem accosts the biker. The object is on a wooden boat filled with strange looking objects: tall wooden structures that look like Pacific Island carvings. At first glance, one is reminded of both chinese junks and futuristic seafaring contraptions. On closer investigation, the boat is an experimental environment called the Waterpod Project. It is a utopian collaborative undertaking by a group of artists exploring the future and edges of viable sustainable water survival. The boat has its own eco system, vegetable garden, power source and research manifesto. It takes James Joyce's Ulysses as its departure point for its investigation into the junctures between technology, water science, climate change, enviromental sustainability and art. Outfitted as an self sustaining environment, the Waterpod Projects moors at each of the five boroughs of New York City, collecting information about the local water ecology along its path. The boat is open to the public on designated days.