Participants mount a pulse-jet-powered carnival ride which turns a blender to make delicious smoothies.

“A lewd Double Dare–like physical challenge involving a helmet, a water hose, and mannequin legs mechanically rigged to rise in response to aquatic ‘stimulation.’” – Artforum

A watery event featuring the thunder, pulses, screeches and colors of a fireworks display without the use of a single pyrotechnic. 

Photos by Julia Solis

Just as history is written by the victors, conflicting versions of the wide and varied history of Washington Square Park are resolved in a maelstrom of violence and hilarity.

• pictures and video from Laura Garcia-Barrio

A wave of mutilation on the streets of Philadelphia. With live bands, dead DJs, and the zombie death squad. Groovy.

A jet-powered carnival ride, built onsite at the Robodock festival in Amsterdam. Two booming propane pulse jets spun a 200-pound steel fish and a rider fast enough to turn the horizon vertical. Insanely loud. Radically unsafe.

Videos

and more:

Death Rattler

early jetfish run

first run of the pulse jet for jetfish

first jet test for jetfish

Three fleeting projects in one night, produced under one title. In Top Secret Project: Skorpion, Madagascar performed as a costumed marching band that played custom-built, portable flamethrowers and air horns. The site-specific sculpture A Short Room Full of Tall People gently lowered a 2,000 square foot red ceiling before dropping it on hundreds of partygoers. Finally, local police put the brakes on Jetbike, a jet-propelled motorcycle, replacing the evening’s exclamation point with an ellipses.

A large-scale, interactive sculpture in a park on the edge of the East River. Also practically the first thing we’ve ever made that could be touched by children. Twenty towers supported 10 panels of translucent color that zipped back and forth on cables. On a sunny day the panels cast rich shadows to collage at your feet. Part of the Waterfest Grand festival, in conjunction with WaterMonsters, Inc.

For all purposes, the first Madagascar event. The plan: A dramatic interpretation of the schism between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches in the 11th century, with drama, betrayal, and a whole lot of shit blowing up. The execution: Horrible delays followed by poorly aimed fireworks set to a boombox with faltering batteries in sub-zero weather on the Williamsburg waterfront. Now celebrated annually as the Coldest Day Ever.