Four Days in May, 2006. A few years ago I stumbled across an extraordinary event that happened in France to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the publication of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days. A friend sent me an image of a building sized mechanical elephant, carved from wood, powered by hydraulic and steam, and manned by a team of uniformed performers. Initially I was shocked. I could not believe my eyes. The scale and magnitude of what I saw boggled my mind and plastered a permanent smile across my face. Everything about them was completely charming. Their gesture, their movements, their expression, all appeared so lifelike. How can something so mechanical, with its wires, pulley's and cranes, be so alive? Every image I dug up thrilled me more and more. There were no signs, no sponsorship adverts, no commercialism. There was little public notice, just one morning in May a large space capsule appeared to have landed in the street, a little giant of a space traveler climbed out 2 days later, searching the city for her Elephant friend. I was fascinated.
Eventually I discovered that a performance troupe, The Royal De Luxe, had built and displayed these over-sized street puppets, and that they have been doing similar events since the 1970's. The Royal De Luxe went on to bring this show to several other cities. I never managed to see it in person but have managed to find a book, published by the events promoter, Artichoke, chronicling the lead up to, days of, and conclusion of the 4 days in May. The book has interviews with everyone from the creators of the giants, to the unsuspecting public who happened to stumble on a 60 foot elephant strolling down the street. The book tells of many smiles, from many different points of view. The magic of the puppets, and the sense of wonder they seemed to evoke, managed to charm an entire city.
Thinking of how I might put this inspiration to work, I immediately thought of the Mermaid Parade here in Brooklyn. Saturday June 21st. Every year thousands pour onto what is left of Coney Islands old boardwalk, to sit in the sun and be entertained by a passing ramshackle float, or starfish covered sea maiden. I have done some floats in years past, and brought a few smiles along the way. Without knowing, I was looking for the same thing that was shown in London, we as both spectators and performers are drawn to that feeling of awe, that sense of wonder. Something that Coney Island has done for New Yorkers for the last 100 years.
