Duke Riley, the artist best known for his getting a little too close to the Queen Mary 2 with his Revolutionary War-era submarine, is taking over the Queens Museum tonight for a Roman-style naval battle. From the museum's site:
Those About to Die Salute You, a battle on water wielded with baguette swords and watermelon cannon balls by New York's art dignitaries, will take place on Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 6 pm in a flooded World's Fair-era reflecting pool in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, just outside of the Queens Museum of Art. Various types of vessels have been designed and constructed by artist provocateur Duke Riley and his collaborators: the galleons, some made of reeds harvested in the park, will be used to stage a citywide battle of the art museums in which representatives from the Queens Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, Bronx Museum of the Arts, and El Museo del Barrio will battle before a toga-clad crowd of frenzied onlookers. The event is free and open to public. Dress code: Toga. Live music by Hell-Bent Hooker. Beverages will be served. RAIN OR SHINE.
Photographer Matthew Rodigheri got a behind-the-scenes look at the war preparations yesterday. Check out the pictures below for a taste of battles yet to come:
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