Proposal: Spectacle on Bumpkin!

Maria Molteni

Describe your project.

Given my interests in object performance and public space as well as the absurdist and activist approaches to the “unreasonable side of Puppetry” (as it’s been called by Peter Schumann of Bread and Puppet), I will attempt to recreate an American myth and social spectacle in the form of a 20-30ft inflatable Montauk Monster on the banks of Bumpkin Island. The original cryptozoological phenomenon washed ashore on a popular Long Island vacation spot in 2008 and became a scientific and pop-cultural mystery upon it’s disappearance and suspicioned connections to the nearby Plum Island Animal Disease Center. Such a modern day beast conceptually manifests a mutation of information modes, as blogging accelerates or replaces storytelling; and history as it evolves and contorts through reenactment and replication; It also represents the what-IS-it-ness of our rapidly changing American societal, cultural, and political climate. The creation of this inflatable will draw from the physical form and communal performative context of Tony Sarg’s Inflated Sea Serpent of 1937, that rested on Nantucket. The artist was an illustrator, puppeteer and creative mind behind the first Macy’s Day parades but this particular New England hoax had no strings attached. This will be a community event, created for the bewilderment of the masses, and will hopefully appear in scrapbooks from our era as Sarg’s Serpent was an historical marker and marvel. I would like to situate this reenactment on the banks of Bumpkin Island because the mysterious connotation of island folklore pairs appropriately with the reality of environmental abuse that islands such as Moon and Spectacle have faced. The ambiguity of both public and private communication and performance as it relates to Island venues or the Art world is also noted.

How will you use Feast funding?

I would plan to use money from Feast on materials. The correct fabrics for inflatable functionality can be quite expensive. Also, printing processes, paint, paper, etc used for mysteriously distributed “advertising” will also need to be financially accounted for. My current estimate for the project is about $500-$700. I am willing to put some of my own money toward the project, but would struggle to afford the entire endeavor. The Berwick Research Institute may be able to contribute up to $100.

If you win, what is the expected status of your project by the time of the next Feast?

The piece must be finished before June 14. My project will be affiliated with the following events: Sweat Lodge: An Inflatable Intervention (Friday May 21–Sunday May 23); and the Berwick Research Institute’s Bumpkin Island Art Encampment public visitation (Saturday, July 31–Sunday, August 1).