INTENSIFIED REFLECTIONS is Hole 7 in “City of Dreams,” a nine-hole miniature golf course constructed and installed as part of the FIGMENT Festival during the summer of 2008. If there is any ‘sport’ that is emblematic of the spirit of democracy it is Miniature Golf. In 1867, when it was considered ‘unacceptable’ for women to swing golf clubs back past their shoulders, the Ladies Putting Club was formed in Scotland. During the period of the Great Depression, when American Society looked toward inexpensive forms of leisure, Miniature Golf took on the status as a form of entertainment for the masses, with the first corporate miniature golf franchise established in 1929. In 1926, the skyline of Manhattan was already subtly reshaped by over 150 rooftop miniature golf courses. By the early 1930s, over 25,000 miniature golf courses were in existence in the United States.

Today miniature golf is conceived of as a form of entertainment for the masses; inclusive of all, regardless of age, gender, or socio-economic status; equally enjoyed by jocks and nerds alike. This project addresses ideas of how mass entertainment can reflect the ideals of inclusivity today. The staging of temporal installations and events on Governors Island -- a former military base that is transitioning into a place for public leisure -- also speculates on productive ways of activating “unprogrammed” public spaces.

Responding to the course’s theme, “City of Dreams,” Intensified Reflections posits that a dream is often a reflection of reality, intensified to such an extent that it becomes a distortion of reality.