Get in loser—we're playing ping-pong. At Beach 67 in the Rockaways, amidst the sunbathers, sand-castle builders, and surfers racing to catch some sick waves, six unique ping-pong tables have been planted in the sand. Far from the standard flat regulation tables, though, these are art; one particularly large sculpture depicts a purple sea monster sprouting up from the beach and grabbing a life-size, recovered boat next to the table itself. Players up for the challenge can play an exciting game while skillfully dodging the tentacles poking through the tabletop.
The tables, a visually stimulating array of bold concepts, striking colors, and geometric shapes, are part of a Public Art Fund installation called "Between Tides," which opened at Rockaway Beach on June 27. Dreamed up by Gabriela López Dena, the Public Art Fund's Associate Curator of Public Practice, the exhibition is meant to foster community through ping-pong, while showing the work of artists from New York and around the world. "I really love ping-pong, because it has a very low barrier of entry and almost everyone can be a part of it, regardless of their age or gender or nationality or class," López Dena told Hell Gate. "It's just something that's very accessible."