Lah. Returning the spirit of Hal to the wilderness
Annual hike
2009 and ongoing each Spring
Lah is an annual 50-60 mile walk that commemorates the occurrence of Hal,
a coyote who appeared in Central Park in 2006 and who died shortly after
being captured by authorities. The three day walk investigates how a coyote
might have found its way onto the island of Manhattan by making a reverse
human journey off the island: starting at Hallet Nature Sanctuary in Central
Park (where Hal had made his home) and walking out of the city into the
wilderness. The route attempts to follow greenspaces and park corridors.
It changes each year to explore another possible course of coyote travel.
In addition to the walk, each year an ephemeral monument is created that
explores the idea of boundary between city and nature and the mythological
identity of the coyote as a transgressor or trickster. Other activities
also revolve around the project, such as a toe blessing performance at Fritz
Haeg's Dome Colony X at the X-Initiative NYC, November 2009, and an affiliated
class for the 2011 walk.