MARTUCKET EYELAND RESORT & THEME PARK
In March 2006, Jay Critchley filed a permit application with the US Army Corps of Engineers to build Martucket Eyeland Resort & Theme Park. This family friendly “floating jewel” would be anchored by the proposed turbine towers of a different project: the Cape Wind development proposed for Nantucket Sound, near Cape Cod, MA. Critchley’s new “third eyeland,” together with Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, would create a healing, pyramidal energetic field, and become a tourist destination, recreating the maritime and cultural history of the region.
Martucket Eyeland was an outlandish mirror for outlandish proposals like Cape Wind, which aimed to scatter wind turbines 420 feet high throughout the ecological sanctuary of Nantucket Sound. Using his trademark style, Critchley manipulated the lexicon of large-scale development proposals and crafted one of his own. The result was a Disney-inspired destination park with attractions like the Tower of Terror, the Climate Change Casino & Sweat Lodge, and the Vanishing Oyster Bar & Grill.
“Combining energy production with the pleasure principle is a win-win for the economy,” said Critchley in the original press release for Martucket Eyeland. This type of relentless satire in the face of equally relentless development earned the project a special citation from the Boston Society of Architects and the slightly bewildered admiration of the media. “Artist, Deadpan, Floats a Proposal,” wrote the Boston Globe. “Master of situational art skewers the wind farm process. . . this time Critchley has gone too far,” wrote the Cape Cod Times.
Despite the humor, Martucket Eyeland was no laughing matter. If the project was deemed fraudulent by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Critchley risked a fine of $10,000 along with five years in prison and investigation by the Department of Justice. His 3,000,000 square foot theme park, his “third eyeland,” was an urgent call to arms in the face of unrestricted corporate development.
Martucket Eyeland was an outlandish mirror for outlandish proposals like Cape Wind, which aimed to scatter wind turbines 420 feet high throughout the ecological sanctuary of Nantucket Sound. Using his trademark style, Critchley manipulated the lexicon of large-scale development proposals and crafted one of his own. The result was a Disney-inspired destination park with attractions like the Tower of Terror, the Climate Change Casino & Sweat Lodge, and the Vanishing Oyster Bar & Grill.
“Combining energy production with the pleasure principle is a win-win for the economy,” said Critchley in the original press release for Martucket Eyeland. This type of relentless satire in the face of equally relentless development earned the project a special citation from the Boston Society of Architects and the slightly bewildered admiration of the media. “Artist, Deadpan, Floats a Proposal,” wrote the Boston Globe. “Master of situational art skewers the wind farm process. . . this time Critchley has gone too far,” wrote the Cape Cod Times.
Despite the humor, Martucket Eyeland was no laughing matter. If the project was deemed fraudulent by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Critchley risked a fine of $10,000 along with five years in prison and investigation by the Department of Justice. His 3,000,000 square foot theme park, his “third eyeland,” was an urgent call to arms in the face of unrestricted corporate development.
