Bosch on Ice - Aesthletics and (other) b.s.

It was a breezy day. I dropped off Tom Russoti at the Protec Hockey rink in New Brunswick New Jersey and we unloaded sleds, pre-fab costumes, 'aesthletics' equipment and other props from the back of his family car and then off to CSB where I picked up Jesse Douglas, John Peltonen and two of their friends for a 15 min ride back to the rink where we would engage in Bosch on Ice, the culmination of Russotti's MFA thesis exhibit, a 'Garden of Earthly Delights' inspired broom-ball variant.

We made it in time to begin suiting up for the first period: Eden. Tom explained the rules pertaining to each creature. Some could run others had to crawl, some could hold the ball while others could only kick it. B.s. was going to take the field during the second and third periods, Earth and Hell. Eden saw one goal and the antics of aesthletes trying to sport while honoring their archetypal character from the Bosch painting! Swaddeling ducks, lurching beetles and two-person elephants grappled and slipped about the ice while mirthfully trying to score!

After a brief rest Earth began. I remember slipping on the ice and my drum flying onto the rink as Olchar lead Steve Dolnack, John Peltonen and others onto the ice from the other bench. Drumming, shouting, and hijinks of every kind made the game nearly impossible as aesthletes began partaking in the anarchic spleandor! Ah, humanities wrath upon the garden! Jen Park was in the midst of the action filming with a video camera dodging sled-bound creatures and rubber balls! Tomislav Butkovic and Olchar grabbed a traffic cone and transformed it into the North Winds of the impending apocalypse. While mercilessly bashing the purple drum (by now a b.s. hero) I saw from the corner of my eye Hector Clam's torso shattered in twain by some mysterious reveler! With quick thinking Reed Bingham bound him up with a snake so his torso would hold out until he could be properly looked after. We cleaned the ice and waited for Hell.

After some negotiations the apocalypse was staved off for 15 minutes allowing the opposing Brooklyn and New Brunswick teams to have at one another without any b.s. Hell arrived with Crista Lenze and I dragged out as mock-corpses on a sledge. B.s. stomped and drummed out the dead for another quarter hour until time was called.

Some Photos:

Anne Percoco as a leopard!



Members of the Brooklyn team