The Coney Island waterboarding thrill ride was a work in Coney Island,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

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conceived by

conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

ist Steve Powers in mid-2008. As originally conceived, Powers saw the public watching volunteers undergoing actual

waterboarding Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the person to experience the sensation of drowning. In the most common method of waterboard ...

. ''

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'' reported that on August 17, 2008, Powers brought in

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, a former US official experienced in administering waterboarding, for a one time demonstration of waterboarding on volunteers. This demonstration was not open to the general public, but rather for an invited audience. Powers himself was one of the volunteers. As built, the thrill ride was a diorama, where viewers would mount stairs to a window where they would see a tableau of two models, one a captive, one a masked interrogator. The captive was wearing an orange uniform "non-compliant" captives wear in the

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' Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in

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, and was spread-eagled on a tilted table. When the piece was installed, in July 2008, viewers inserted a dollar the interrogator figure would pour water onto a rag over the captive figures' nose and throat, upon which the captive figure would start convulsing. The piece was installed in a row of ordinary Coney Island freak shows and concessions. When installed the thrill ride triggered coverage and commentary around the world. The installation's last viewing was on September 14, 2008. Powers told ''The New York Times'' his purpose in preparing the display was educational:

References

Political art Animatronic attractions Coney Island Waterboarding {{art-stub