installation view

The Glass Sea

installation with looping video with sound, bricks, sand, handwritten texts detailing the schedules of workers, inmates, and patients on Riker's, Roosevelt, Governors, and Randall's and Wards Islands

video excerpt

The Glass Sea (2010)

The Glass Sea is an installation with sound and video that is the result of my five-month residency on Governors Island. Inspired by Governors Island’s history as a military prison – especially for deserters, the piece draws correlations among Governors, Riker’s, Randall’s & Wards, and Roosevelt islands, all of which are or have been used for isolation or confinement of prisoners, invalids, psychiatric convalescents, and other “disobedient” or “dysfunctional” groups.

Riker’s Island is home to New York City’s main jail complex. Randall’s & Wards Island has two residential psychiatric institutions, and Roosevelt Island is home to a complex of state-run hospitals. The video is the result of interviews with current and past residents in these institutions, who narrated their schedules, experiences, and locations to me. I used my studio and the breadth of the island to simulate and document these spaces, labors, and activities of island confinement, and created video from my perspective.

The structure is an amalgamation of the rooms on these islands where people live. Its dimensions match those of a Riker’s Island prison cell, while its materials echo the architecture of Governors Island.

The title The Glass Sea is the term given to the particular architectural and landscape design of the hills and moat surrounding Governors Island’s Fort Jay. The hill and moat create an artificial space that acts like another sea – providing an extra layer of distance, separation, and removal from oncoming forces. The Glass Sea is also the “killing zone” around the fort – a space that gives its constructors a tactical and perspectival advantage.

RIKERS ISLAND

4 BREAKFAST – JELLY WITH BREAD, APPLE
SIT AROUND AND WAIT
5:45 DOORS OPEN
6 LOCK IN / LOCK OUT OPTION EVERY HOUR ON THE HOUR
SHOWER
10 METHODONE
YARD – 1 HOUR, WALK AROUND BASKETBALL COURT
SIT AND WAIT
READ
OR CAN WORK: $0.10/HR TO WORK IN THE KITCHEN, DO SEWING,
LAUNDRY, SANITATION, BAKERY
SUICIDE AID – HIGHEST PAID JOB – MAKE ROUNDS TO PREVENT PEOPLE
FROM HANGING THEMSELVES WITH TOWEL, SHOESTRING OR CUTTING UP.
32 CELLS – MAKE ROUNDS EVERY 15 MINUTES.
2 MINS TO DIE BY STRANGULATION.
CALL OFFICERS TO CUT DOWN.
11 LUNCH
VISITORS, GO TO VISIT ROOM
WRITE DOWN THOUGHTS
4 DINNER
READ BIBLE
DO PUSHUPS
11 LIGHTS OUT, DOORS LOCK, SLEEP

GOVERNORS ISLAND

6 WAKE UP
SHOWER, DRESS
7:30 – 8:20 THERAPY
8:30 GET BREAKFAST + LUNCH
9 MEDICINE
GET ON SUBWAY
10 GET ON FERRY
10:20 STUDIO: LAY BRICKS, SHOOT VIDEO, ETC
1:30 LUNCH
1:45 CALLS
2 BRICKS
NOTES
KEEP THEM LEVEL
DON’T STOP TO THINK!
3:30 WHITNEY VISIT
BRICKS – ROOM SHOULD BE TO WAIST
5 GET ON FERRY
5:20 GET ON SUBWAY
6 ORDER BUSINESS CARDS, RUN ERRANDS
6:30 MEET KATY
WORK ON PRESENTATION / JOB TALK
8 YOGA?
9:30 MEDICINE
10 CALL SHAWN / WORK ON TALK
11 BED

RANDALL’S AND WARDS ISLAND

7 SHOWER – SHOWERS LOCKED AT NIGHT
8 ALL BE HERDED
BREAKFAST TOGETHER IN DINING ROOM MORNING

GROUP
PEOPLE TALKING AT US ABOUT SKILLS THAT WE NEEDED
ART THERAPY / LITERATURE THERAPY / JOURNALING

LUNCH

AFTERNOON

GROUP THERAPY
SNACK
GROUP THERAPY
FREE TIME TO DO DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES
VISITING HOURS – 1 HOUR / PERSON

DINNER

WATCH TV

ROOSEVELT ISLAND

5:30 WAKE UP
GIVE IT TO GOD – PRAY FOR 1 HR, READ VERSE OF BIBLE
6:30 BLOW MY HEAD OFF – GO TO SMOKE ROOM
7:30 FEED FACE – BREAKFAST
WATCH THE NEWS – CHANNEL 5
8-9 WAIT FOR MEDICATIONS AND APPOINTMENTS
10-11 GROUP – FEELINGS, DEPRESSION
11-12 COME BACK FOR MEDS
12-1 UNWIND
1-1:30 MEETING 1:30 COLLECT MY THOUGHTS
2:30 GET BACK UP
MAKE BED, LAUNDRY, SOCIAL WORKER, LIBRARY
3:30 SHIFT CHANGE
ROLL CALL
MAKE SURE I AM STILL PRESENT I’M STILL ALIVE I DIDN’T COMMIT SUICIDE
4:30 MEDICATION
6:30 NA
AA
8:30 MEDICATION
9 MY TIME
SHOWER, UNWIND
GO OVER MY THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY TRY TO WRITE IT DOWN
10 GOSPEL
TV
11 SLEEP

TRY TO STAY UP THE WHOLE DAY AND BE CONSCIOUS AND AWARE OF WHAT I’M DOING