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Like it or spike it? Sharing a giant beach towel with strangers

Good luck getting the sand off that thing.

This is some sort of Miami-born art project that is embarking on a national tour of the East Coast this summer with a final stop here in Rockaway. Artist Misael Soto sets up his 56′ x 29′ towel and brings sunscreen, snacks, drinks and games to share for anyone who wants to sit on it. He says on the project’s site: “I hope to subvert the way beach-goers claim their temporary real estate on the beach.” You may ask yourself, does this have anything to do with capitalism? You bet: “I intend to indict and subvert typically American excess, in an attempt to not only comment on how we choose to share the wealth (or not), but to also provide a space where I create the opportunity for communal transcendence above the conditioning of capitalism.”

Wow, that’s a mouthful for what is essentially a big-ass place to sit. You can find it in Rockway on Aug. 11. So brilliant idea for reclaiming public beach space or overwrought art dud?

5 Comments

  1. conaldarcy

    Three things:
    1. Who shakes it out, and how?
    2. The Communist Party first attempted to subvert capitalism by means of big beach towels in 1917, but then decided it was more expedient to shoot their enemies.
    3: Ass-place

  2. adamcolon

    We are territorial because it is a fit evolutionary trait stemming from our primordial roots. This has nothing at all to do with capitalism other than sharing the same origin.

    What’s really going to happen is all the women are going to get on the towel and have a happy social time while the guys will either stake their territory as usual, or be aggravated by the concept of sharing territory.

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