October | 2013 | Amusing the Zillion

Archive for October, 2013

Art of the Day: John Dunivant’s Bizarre Midway

Posted in art, Events, tagged Detroit, Halloween, John Dunivant, The Lodge Gallery, Theatre Bizarre on October 4, 2013| 3 Comments »

John Dunivant at the Lodge Gallery in New York City, through October 12, 2013

Once upon a time, there was an enchanted amusement park, hidden on the edge of a ragged city. For one night every year, this secret kingdom made itself known and sprang to life with fire and music and dance. – until the day it was exposed – and cast out.

The Expatriate Parade began as a single sketch of a scapegoat with a ferris wheel on its back. It bore my burden as it was driven from its home by an unfeeling and unseen power. This sketch led to many more, and the resulting parade of drawings – with its ceaseless forward motion in spite of the ever changing circumstances of the moment – led me to reflect on my own life. –John Dunivant

A few years before Detroit’s Michigan State Fair, the oldest in the nation, closed forever, I had a blast working a game on the midway. “It’s Crazy Ball Fun Time! You pick the colors the crazy ball picks the winners. We’re giving it all away today at the Michigan State Fair!” Friends who lived in Detroit’s suburbs wouldn’t venture to 7 Mile and Woodward Avenue to visit, which helps explain why the fair’s attendance had plummeted to a mere 217,000.

Meanwhile, across the street, artist John Dunivant spent a decade building what he calls an abandoned theme park using iconography from Coney Island and other places. In this video by Makezine, you’ll see a Hell’s Mouth sign that takes its inspiration from the neon THRILLS sign at Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park. The artist lists natural history museums, dioramas, Halloween, souvenir postcards, the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch, roadside attractions, reliquaries and religious iconography, and traveling carnivals among his obsessions and fascinations.

The drug wars in Dunivant’s neighborhood made it possible for his friend Ken Poirer to buy up property and once a year, on Halloween, their midway came to life with a phantasmagorical underground party called “Theatre Bizarre.” In addition to elaborately costumed performers, there was an operating Ferris Wheel and a homemade roller coaster. In 2010, the same year the state fair shut down, Dunivant’s illegal amusement rides and funhouses were discovered by city authorities and shut down for code violations.

John Dunivant’s “The Expatriate Parade,” a series of paintings and bronzes inspired by the closure of Theatre Bizarre, is on view through October 12 at the Lodge Gallery at 131 Chrystie Street on New York’s Lower East Side. The artist will give a talk on Saturday, October 5, at 2 pm.

Yet Theatre Bizarre lives on, at a new location –Detroit’s Masonic Temple–and won a $100,000 grant from the Knight Foundation for fostering the arts. This year the party is set for October 18 and 19. A documentary film is also in the works–here’s the splendid trailer…

Photo Album: Coney’s Rebuilt Steeplechase Pier Opened Today

Posted in Photo Album, Photography, tagged Charles Denson, Coney Island, Coney Island History Project, LTL Architects, pier, post-Sandy, Steeplechase Pier, Superstorm Sandy, TB Penick, Triton Structural on October 2, 2013| 4 Comments »

Steeplechase Pier reopened today with a wavy new lounger and other amenities. October 2, 2013. Photo © Charles Denson, Coney Island History Project via flickr

Coney Island’s Steeplechase Pier, which has been under construction since March, was inspected and reopened today to the delight of visitors enjoying the summery weather. The reopening happened without any official fanfare nearly a year after the pier was damaged during Superstorm Sandy. Today, the construction workers simply left for the last time and the sunbathers, fishermen and photographers returned to their usual spots and found some new ones, including the wave-shaped bench seen above. Among the first to set foot on the sleek new pier was the Coney Island History Project‘s Charles Denson, who shot these amazing photos.

View from newly reconstructed Steeplechase Pier, Coney Island. October 2, 2013. Photo © Charles Denson, Coney Island History Project via flickr

New amenities on the 1,000 foot long pier include a communal lounger made of wave-shaped wood and a variety of seating options. The wood on all the benches as well as the handrail wood is reclaimed ipe from the old decking that was on the pier. There’s also a shade structure with letters spelling out CONEY ISLAND that cast an elegant shadow on the pier and can be viewed from above by seagulls, helicopters and the gods of the air.

LTL Architects custom designed the benches as well as the overhead screens. Their redesign for the reconstruction of the pierwon Special Recognition at the 31st Annual Awards for Excellence in Design by the New York City Design Commission. Vibha Agarwala of LTR Architects told ATZ the construction is complete but there will be some final touches, including bait cutting stations. The work was carried out by T.B. Penick and their New York division Triton Structural. The construction company was awarded projects totaling $120 million for repairs to New York City’s Superstorm Sandy damaged beaches.

Coney Island’s Reconstructed Steeplechase Pier. October 2, 2013. Photo © Charles Denson, Coney Island History Project via flickr

Over the weekend, word on the Boardwalk was that Steeplechase Pier, which has been under reconstruction due to damage sustained last October during Superstorm Sandy, would reopen this week. The Parks Department confirmed the pier would open soon but did not announce a date. October 29, 2013 will be the anniversary of the storm surge that devastated Coney Island. Steeplechase Pier had to be completely reconstructed post-Sandy and was originally expected to be finished by July. The rebuilt pier and the landmarked Parachute Jump are the sole survivors of Coney Island’s Steeplechase Park, which closed in 1964.

Workers leaving as reconstructed Steeplechase Pier reopened today. October 2, 2013. Photo © Charles Denson, Coney Island History Project via flickr

Photo of the Day: Cotton Candy Vendor

Posted in amusement park, Food, Photo of the Day, Photography, tagged cotton candy, vendor on October 1, 2013| 2 Comments »

Sunny, summery weather is back this week with temps in the low 80s forecast for Monday and Tuesday and high 70s the rest of the week. There’s plenty of freshly spun cotton candy for sale in Coney Island, too. What’s open? Check out our post “Coney Island Always: Visiting the Big CI Year-Round.”