6
BROOKLYN WEEKLY, FEB. 24, 2019
WALK THIS WAY: The narrow structure invites visitors to engage
with each other as they traverse the span, according to
curator Nicholas Baume. Timothy Schenck
It’s Doc’s holiday
Burlesque troupe’s host launches just-for-fun sci-fi series
WELCOME ABOARD: A new intergalactic web series set aboard a go-go powered spaceship will touch
down at the Way Station in Prospect Heights for its launch party on Feb. 27. Doc Wasabassco
BRIDGE
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The bridge was fi rst
displayed in a Minneapolis
public park in 1970,
when the idea of interactive
art was radically
new. The piece literally
bridged the gap between
the general public and
works of art, according to
Baume.
“Today we’re all about
immersive experiences
and interactivity, but
in 1970, artists were not
thinking about sculpture
in that way. A sculpture
was an object on a pedestal,”
he said.
Armajani fl ed his native
Iran in 1960 due
to his pro-democracy
stance, and the political
connotations of his work
— a reminder not to foster
division — is even
more relevant today, said
Baume.
“In an era obsessed
with walls and fences, the
bridge-building public
work of this Iranian exile
is perhaps even more
urgent now than when
fi rst conceived in 1970,”
he said.
With its trussed sides
and shingled roof, the
structure stands in stark
contrast to the twin behemoths
of the Brooklyn
and Manhattan bridges,
which straddle either side
of the park.
On a recent Tuesday
morning, children
climbed up and down the
steep steps in the middle,
pausing to take in the
vista of the Manhattan
skyline. In the half-century
since “Bridge Over
Tree” debuted, the public
has grown closer to public
art, and art become more
accessible to the public,
Baume observed, especially
in the Big Apple.
“I think it’s fascinating
to see how the public now
responds so warmly, actually
does recognize that
this is a work of art, that
this is something to be
appreciated and engaged
with,” he said. “And I
think there’s a wonderful
respect now and appreciation
in New York City by
the general public of what
it means to have art as a
part of our daily lives, not
just something that you
go to a museum once in a
while to experience, but
something that’s free and
open and available.”
“Bridge over Tree” at
Empire Fulton Ferry Park
(1 Water St. at Dock Street
in Dumbo. www.publicartfund.
org). Open daily
through Sept. 29. Free.
Continued from page 1
BY JULIANNE CUBA
He’s having a blast-off!
A new intergalactic
web series fi lled with alien
babes and goofy monsters
will touch down at the Way
Station in Prospect Heights
for its launch party on Feb.
27. The creator and star
of “Outer Space with Doc
Wasabassco,” who started
working on the silly sci-fi
variety show last summer,
says it has been a joy to
bring life to a project that
is close to his heart.
“This is made entirely
of all of the things I love,
that friends I love have in
common,” said the Park
Slope performer. “This is
really a labor of love project
— things that crack us
up and things that amuse
us, which is very freeing.”
Wasabassco is best
known for the elaborate ,
themed burlesque shows
that he produced through
his company Wasabassco
Burlesque, but said that
after 15 years of being a
nightlife impresario, it was
time to move on to a more
rewarding project.
“It’s harder and harder
to get younger demographics
spending money to
come out. It was no longer
as viable to run the kind of
shows I was running and
this project is more of a joyful
thing, just for fun,” he
said.
Wasabassco and his
team have already fi lmed
fi ve episodes of “Outer
Space,” two of which are
now available on Youtube .
The show is set aboard a
go-go powered spaceship
called the Dorothy Fontana
— named for a writer on the
original “Star Trek” series
— and has a retro vibe that
evokes that series without
trying to copy it, said Wasabassco.
“The aesthetic is 1960s,
’70s, so it’s sort of that aesthetic
meets science fi ction.
We’re not pretending to be
Star Trek,” he said.
The launch party will
feature screenings of videos
from the web series,
themed cocktails, go-go
dancers, a space dating
booth, and a chance to interact
with Wasabassco’s
character “Captain Doc,”
he said.
“We’ll have a video dating
booth reality shows,
where people go in and create
dating profi les in character,
and we will do a question
and answer, which I
will do in character,” Wasabassco
said.
The Way Station, known
to a large segment of science
fi ction fans as “the
Dr. Who bar” because of its
decorative time machine,
is the perfect place to celebrate
the show, which
features a recurring segment
about an ever-changing
character named
“Professor Whom,” said
Wasabassco.
“The Way Station has a
huge science-fi ction following,”
he said.
“Outer Space” launch
party at the Way Station
683 Washington Ave. between
Prospect and St.
Marks places in Prospect
Heights, (347) 627–4949,
www.thewaystationbk.
/www.publi-cartfund.org
/www.publi-cartfund.org
/www.publi-cartfund.org
/www.thewaystationbk
/www.thewaystationbk