By Biennale of Sydney
23rd Biennale of Sydney: rīvus
The View From The Mouth Of The Newtown Creek During Final Days of Battle (2022) by Duke RileyBiennale of Sydney
About the participant
Duke Riley
Born 1972 in Boston, United States of America
Lives in Brooklyn, United States of America
Duke Riley gained wide public exposure in 2007 when the Acorn, a wooden submarine he built based on descriptions of a vessel from the American Revolutionary war, was seized by the United States Coast Guard for coming too close to a moored ship in the Brooklyn harbour.
Duke Riley has always been interested in marine and riverine lore as well as stories of stowaways, naval battles, mutinous crews, island dwellers, and the life of individuals that often live at the verge of legality and the social norm.
'Transgression has two definitions:
1. "An infringement or violation of a law, command, or duty"
2. "The spread of the sea over land areas and the consequent unconformable deposit of sediments"'
—Duke Riley, 2021
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Navigate around Pier 2/3 and explore The View From The Mouth Of The Newtown Creek During Final Days of Battle (2022).
The View From The Mouth Of The Newtown Creek During Final Days of Battle (2022) by Duke RileyBiennale of Sydney
Duke Riley’s works for rīvus focus on the Newtown creek in Brooklyn, originally an estuary where pure spring water emptied into the East River. In 1950 it became the site of the largest oil spill in U.S. history when a pipe burst, unsurpassed until the BP oil spill of 2010.
It remains the second largest oil spill in the history of the U.S. The area has never been remediated and remains highly toxic with alarmingly high cancer rates in the surrounding communities.
The View From the Mouth of the Newtown Creek during Final Days of Battle (2022) features images and stories from the Newtown creek in Brooklyn, home to many people that illegally moor their vessels there.
'At first glance, the people that remain there are living out a romantic maritime dream. In reality, for most this alternate existence is coupled with harsh winters without heat and a lack of plumbing, running water and basic amenities that many of us take for granted'
'The most notable downside is the continuous and potentially lethal exposure to a highly carcinogenic environment. Most have no financial means to leave and live elsewhere, but are constantly in fear of being told to leave in the in the middle of the night.'
—Duke Riley
Echelon of Uncertainty (2021)Biennale of Sydney
Echelon of Uncertainty, 2021
Nearby, Riley presents a group of 'scrimshaw' objects on recovered plastic bottles depicting some of the worst oil spills globally and the people in power responsible for them, ...
Monument to Five Thousand Years of Temptation and Deception (II) (2021)Biennale of Sydney
... and a series of lures crafted from garbage collected from the Newtown creek in Monument to Five Thousand Years of Temptation and Deception (II), 2021.
Tap to explore
Look around and discover more of Duke Riley's work inside Pier 2/3.
