WaterFire, What the Fuck?: WhatertheFiruck
It’s contradictory, it’s got weird capitalization, and it raises a couple of questions. It’s the epitome of middle school band names and odd, successful Providence art installations. It’s WaterFire!WaterFire is an almost-weekly public art piece down the Hill, in which 83 fire pits float on (or in some cases, protrude out of) the rivers of Providence. There is an eclectic playlist of charming foreign music drifting across the river, gondolas, and an odd little man dressed as a mime imitating a clown (imitating a pirate) piloting a little boat around. You really feel like you’ve been duped into going to some sort of Saturday-night Renaissance rager. At least that’s how I felt when the friends I managed to scrounge up during my first week at Brown took me to this event.
I was originally floored by the entire experience and filled with a burning curiosity for the history of this spectacle. So I asked my friend (a Providence native) about WaterFire’s past, and it turns out that a Brown student was at the helm. (Note: most of this is from Wikipedia, because my friend only knew the bare bones of the story.) Basically, Mister Barnaby Evans ‘75 decided that Providence needed a great big free art installation, and so he did it! And now we have WaterFire.
There were several mindsets that can be used to approach WaterFire, and if you go I’m sure you’ll encounter one of the following:
- Appreciative/Nostalgic: Something about the bonfires, the atmosphere, and the music makes you feel incredibly nostalgic. For what? It differs by person, whether you’re longing for home, those high school bonfire kickbacks, your dog, that arson spree of ‘09, your friends and family, or nothing in particular. It’s a magical sort of emptiness in your heart, or a healthy sort of catharsis.
- Confused: Why are people enjoying this? You just want to go to the food and vendor booths away from the river. Your sweater is going to smell like smoke after this. What purpose does the boating-mime-clown-pirate serve? You really don’t get why your friends are acting like they actually enjoy this.
- Enjoying it (too much): Man, something about this just really lights up your soul. Water and fire? Genius. It’s kind of nice to just sit there and imagine eating the flames. “There aren’t many foods that lick you back,” said one of my friends who belongs in this category. You just really love this installment, and wish you could absorb the essence of it up and take it with you.
- Let’s leave: “Let’s go!” You lightly suggest maybe sixty times. “There’s a pregame going on in Keeney right now!” You consider the logistics behind taking the clown-pirate’s boat and making a run for it, but decide against it because he seems like he’s well-educated in how to take down any unwanted boarders.
Ultimately, I recommend checking WaterFire out at least once this year! The last one for this fall is scheduled for Saturday, November 10th. Lighting commences around 5:30, but I don’t recommend making the hike down the hill until after sundown. Images via, via, and via.
