On Hurricane Sandy’s anniversary, a Red Hook art installation calls attention to climate change

It hardly seems like it’s been five years since Hurricane Sandy swept through New York City, leaving some waterfront neighborhoods with damage that is still being mitigated to this day. To commemorate the superstorm’s fifth anniversary, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams along with the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) have announced a new public art project that they hope will raise awareness about climate change and the importance of infrastructural soundness.

WATERSHED Red Hook, as the installation is named, is the work of Brooklyn-based artist Anita Glesta and relies on a large-scale video installation to transform the sidewalk in front of the Brooklyn Public Library’s Red Hook branch into a “virtual seascape.” Essentially the installation will consist of projected images and texts about water on the pavement, with hopes that it will educate and provoke vital conversations on the action that is needed to protect neighborhoods like Red Hook from future storms.

Her stop in Red Hook is the latest of her WATERSHED series, which hosted a London exhibition in 2015 where the video was projected onto the the National Theatre.

“Red Hook has felt the devastation of Superstorm Sandy, and the succession of hurricanes across the Caribbean and the southeast United States reminds us that the ‘new normal’ is the unprecedented destruction wrought by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria,” says Glesta. “My goal in creating WATERSHED is to create a conversation that inspires action to help mitigate the effects of future storms in affected communities like Red Hook.”

The installation is being accompanied by a public forum where community members and local organizations, as well as Deputy Brooklyn Borough President Diana Reyna along with design and sustainability experts will host a discussion about climate change from various perspectives.

WATERSHED Red Hook is being presented by ArtW Global and will be showcased on Thursday, October 26 from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. outside of the Red Hook Library, located at 7 Wolcott Street. In the event of rain, the event will be postponed until Saturday, October 28.

• WATERSHED Red Hook [Official]