Videographer: Cristobal Vivar

I enjoy collaborating with artists and musicians. Ras (X), pictured in the red jersey, made a custom soundtrack for the Magic Machine Artist D.I.Y. Artist Residency. It was played loudly on the closing night!

Closing night at The Magic Machine at Coney Island 2015

BerdsCarnival is meant to travel, and it has undergone many iterations over the years. Sometimes, it is conceptual travel; sometimes, it is actual travel, and sometimes, it’s both.

In 2015, I launched my artist residency because there were no residencies for the full-time worker. Magic Machine at Coney Island Artist Residency blurred the line between artist residency and carnival games. It was housed in a game booth at Bowery and 12th St. at Coney Island behind the “Bump Your Ass Off” (El Dorado) bumper cars, run by Gordon Lee and Louis Beard.

The project highlighted El Dorado Bumper Cars on Surf Ave.., a small business pertinent to Coney Island culture. Businesses like El Dorado hang by a thread amongst the ever-changing landscape and real estate development that threaten the future of America’s famous seaside attraction.

I worked in the trailer 3 days a week for one month in August 2015.

BerdsCarnival explaining the “No Color Game” on closing night.

Photo documentation of Magic Machine Artist D.I.Y. Artist Residency on closing night, 2021, Location: Coney Island, NY

Photo credit: Jane Huntington contact

From left to right: Sidra Lackey, Ras (X), BerdsCarnival, No Color Game players