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The Wetlands Project barge docked at the floating commercial dock off Long Wharf. Michael Heller photo[/caption]
By Stephen J. Kotz
Sag Harbor residents accustomed to encountering the gleaming white hulls of mega-yachts moored at Long Wharf got a little jolt last weekend when a rickety-looking houseboat was towed into place at the dock.
No, it’s not a commune of hippies squatting for the summer or a set from a “Mad Max” movie, but “Wetland,” a key installation in this summer’s “Radical Seafaring” exhibit at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill.
“Wetland,” the work of Brooklyn artist Mary Mattingly, resembles a ramshackle house either sinking into the water or rising from it — it’s your choice how you want to look at it or even if you want to look at it in an entirely different way, she said this week.
The work is intended to offer a lesson in sustainability and the use of recycled materials. Herbs and other vegetables grow in repurposed military cases. Solar panels provide enough electricity to heat the water for a bathtub on board as well as lights at nighttime. A gymnasium floor, salvaged from a school in Iowa, has been used for the deck inside the cabin.
A mallard duck evidently found the boat an attractive place to nest. On Tuesday, she sat on a clutch of five eggs she had laid in a small planter near the bow of the boat.
“My idea was to express some sort of sadness for environmental loss,” said Ms. Mattingly of the design. She said she had grown more concerned over climate change and sea level rise after a visit to Alaska, where she actually saw houses tumbling into the water because of severe coastal erosion. “Plus, you’ve got that whole thing about houses under water as a result of the mortgage crisis,” she said.
“Wetland” will remain in Sag Harbor through Thursday, June 23, although it will only be open to visitors through Monday. The hours are from noon to 5 p.m. Ms. Mattingly will be on board to greet visitors from Friday through Monday.
And there has been a steady stream of them, she said, with most offering a favorable response.
One of those who likes it is Trebor Barry of Sag Harbor, who poked his head in on Tuesday afternoon. “A lot of people might object to it being here,” he said, “but I love it because it is exactly the opposite of what has been happening in Sag Harbor. They have been trying to turn it into an exclusive club.”
Andrea Grover, the Parrish’s curator of special projects, who curated the “Radical Seafaring” exhibit, and said she was gratified the “Wetland,” and the entire exhibit, was getting favorable responses.
The show will remain on view until July 24 at the Parrish Museum of Art on Montauk Highway in Water Mill.
