The High Line: A River Runs Through It…Both Ways

Native Americans dubbed the river we know as the Hudson “Muhheakantuck,” meaning “the river that flows both ways.” That fluvial versatility inspired Brooklyn-based artist Spencer Finch‘s “The River that Flows Both Ways,” the just-announced public art project that will inaugurate New York’s High Line Park next fall.

Sponsored by Creative Time, Friends of the High Line, and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, the project will transform an existing series of windows with 700 individually crafted panes of glass that represent water conditions on the Hudson over a period of 700 minutes on a single day. Finch plans to photograph an object as it floats down the Hudson, following its path from upriver down to New York City and past the High Line. Once he’s captured 700 minutes worth of the journey, he’ll carefully match each image to a pane of glass.

The work will be located in the semi-enclosed loading dock through which High Line-elevated freight trains once ran. The cavernous industrial space is now part of the Chelsea Market building between 15th and 16th Streets. Note to Eleni’s (also located in Chelsea Market): start working on the 700 shades of river-hued icing for the commemorative cookies now!

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