Gowanus, 2016, TRT: 10:26, two channel video with audio.
GOWANUS was filmed at the Gowanus Canal (Brooklyn, NY), a Superfund site that is currently being studied by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the science community to develop a plan for remediation. This two channel video was filmed using wearable and underwater sports cameras used to explore areas at the bottom of the canal and its edges that are not accessible to the human body. The exploration of the edges of the canal was made possible using a map of secret entry points provided by local hydrologist Eymund Diegel, which provided entry to the private industrial complexes that border the canal. The subtitled narrative was extracted from an interview I had with Eymund, which touched on issues of water access and availability, toxic remediation, the future, his personal relation to the neighborhood and the canal, and his ongoing mapping and exploration of the area and its underground streams. The underwater footage was taken from a canoe on the canal, provided by The Gowanus Dredgers.
Initial research and site exploration was organized by The Canary Project, which involved a day of meetings with The Superfund organization, science researchers at NASA, local residents, and architects who have proposed designs for the waterfront property.
Trespassing The Gowanus was produced for American Domain, an exhibition at The Museum of Capitalism, June 2017. The free takeaway will be presented with the projected video.