Robert Moses Bench 01 2023, horse leather, cherrywood, found bottles, webbing

 

Dead Horse Bay was once a stinky little commune that comprised of a few thousand people who lived and worked at the animal corpse and refuse processing plants that dotted its shores in the late 19th century. As transportation shifted from horse and buggy to automobile in the early 20th centruy most of these businesses dried up or moved elsewhere. Those unfortunate enough to stay were met with the Robert Moses' infamous campaign of land acquisition. In a time when rules and regulations were either non existent or in their infancy many of these poorer families did not have the resources to properly move their belongings in the time allotted to them. The result is a weathering mass of shoes, bottles, clothing, silverware and every item imaginable strewn across this Brooklyn beach. In Robert Moses Bench 001 I created a cautionary storytelling piece out of found bottles and a full horse hide that both celebrated the macabre beauty that is Glass Bottle Beach while criticizing the existence of such a place and the circumstances of its creation.

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All of the wood pieces are wrapped in American appaloosa horse hair. The seat of the bench is comprised of 64 bottles found by me on the beach, resting on an elastic upholstered frame. They are held in place by a cherrywood lattice that allows them to be depressed when one sits down on them creating a comfortable and ergonomic seat. 

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