Goverthing was a temporary art exhibit in 2009.
Goverthing was ostensibly a small town on
Governors Island
Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk ...
in
New York Harbor
New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States.
New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay, ...
in the United States, until 1954. Forcibly evacuated because the
city of New York considered it a safety hazard, the town was buried in sand rather than being demolished. During excavations for a planned park on the island, the town was rediscovered. The park project was put on hold and a full archeological restoration of the town was in progress.
Geert Hautekiet, who was in charge of exhibiting the site, is known in his native Belgium for "guerilla theater and sly conceptual art".
That and the coincidence between the town's discovery and the New Island Festival, a Dutch art festival on the island that ran from September 10–20, 2009, lead many to believe that it was an elaborate yet entertaining hoax.
New York City artist George Spencer created a similar exhibit which combined sculpture and performance art with a faux archeological theme in 2002.
References
History of New York City
Governors Island
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