A floating island was his home. Then the phone rang off the hook and Hot Cha had to ... change his name to Robert Smithson?
My camera was dead at the opening of "Floating Island to Travel around Manhattan Island", so pardon the pilfered Times image. To really apprecitate it, though, it helps to see Smithson's drawing at the Whitney exhibition, and then marvel at how the Whitney, Minetta Brook, Nancy Holt and a team of landscapers that include my neighbor enacted the quirky, silly, cute, and profound floating sculpture concieved by Smithson in the 1970's.
The opening lacked wine or breathing room but still had a carnival atmosphere created by a bunch of jaded New York art people overcoming their skepticism and experiencing true surprise and glee to see something unique and actually, ahem, fun.
I still want a ride on it, though.
