Blind Men and Elephant in Brooklyn's McCarren Park Pool

Javier Téllez, Games are Forbidden in the Labyrinth
November 2007
McCarren Pool, Brooklyn

Artist Javier Téllez brings the ancient parable of the ‘Blind Men and the Elephant’ to life. In keeping with various versions of the tale, from a Buddhist fable to the 19th Century poem by the writer John Godfrey Saxe, six visually impaired people will touch a different part of an elephant, just one part, and then describe the experience. Their responses illustrate how reality and understanding are shaped by perspective and the relativity of absolute truth.

Téllez’s action will take place on a closed set where it will be filmed and screened for the public at a later date. Games are Forbidden in the Labyrinth is the final project of Creative Time’s ‘Six Actions for New York City,’ co-curated by Mark Beasley and David Platzker.