Step right up and catch a glimpse of Coney Island's "Waterboard Thrill Ride." Artist Steve Powers has created an installation at New York City's Coney Island beach and amusement park depicting the act of waterboarding on dummies in a freak show cage.
Says Powers:
"I wanted to make the perfect Coney Island experience. Something that
captivates, that's an immediate visceral reaction and that lingers in
the memory," he said, speaking in front of his booth, which features an
image of SpongeBob SquarePants saying, "It don't Gitmo better!"
As part of the project Powers and several lawyers subjected themselves to actual waterboarding in a private Coney Island demonstration.
"It was a terrifying experience," said Karin Kunstler Goldman, 64, an
assistant New York state attorney general. "The fact that it took place
near roller coasters and cotton candy sends an important message: We
here can engage in frivolity and fun at a time when in our name this is
happening to people somewhere else."
As Coney Island enthusiasts we're sorry we missed this (it left the park last Friday and is on view at the Park Avenue Armory, although we did clue you in on it it awhile back) if just to judge for ourselves whether it was sensationalist and gross or effective political art.
What do you think? Is a waterboarding carnival cell "silly and political and educational all at the same time" or "messed up"?
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