PASSAGES
101 Tales from the Sea
2004
Permantent Installation
bridge deck of the three new Staten Island Ferries
At the midpoint of every voyage, activated from a cue from the ferry’s GPS array, passengers seated on the bridge deck of the Staten Island Ferry hear one of 101 short, textual recordings, each selected for it’s capacity to tell some fragment of man’s ongoing relationship with the sea. Sources range from antiquity to modernity and are drawn from such diverse areas as nautical lore, history, myth, poetry, literature, philosophy and science. Thematically, the recordings take the role of New York Harbor in history and song as a point of departure, then move outwards to selections that identify humanity’s empathy with the sea as a source of inspiration common to all cultures and times.
The order in which the texts are played is controlled by computer which randomizes the order of presentation in relation to the ferry’s daily passages, ensuring a different listening experience from day to day.