Taking new dimension, Quark Park set to enter … ‘The Twilight Zone’

Rod Serling episodes to be screened in outdoor sculpture garden

By: Hilary Parker
   Quark Park already blurs the line between art and science, and on Sunday it will enter "The Twilight Zone."
   Starting at 7 p.m., three episodes of Rod Serling’s "The Twilight Zone" — "Walking Distance," "In the Eye of the Beholder" and "Monsters on Maple Street" — will be screened in the outdoor sculpture garden located on Paul Robeson Place.
   Michael Weinstein, the founder of the Rod Serling Museum Project who plans to open a museum in the late Mr. Serling’s hometown of Binghamton, N.Y., will be on hand to offer remarks about Mr. Serling between the episodes.
   Though the original television series ended in 1964, its themes are as appropriate now as they were then, according to Quark Park volunteer Janice Hall. As proof, she cited something Mr. Serling once said about his series: "I found that it was all right to have Martians saying things Democrats and Republicans could never say."
   Hosting an event to honor the cult classic was a "no-brainer," said Peter Soderman, who developed Quark Park along with Kevin Wilkes and Alan Goodheart, and will provide a bit of a "psychic homecoming" to those who attend the event.
   Mr. Soderman said he’d been thinking about it for over a year, since the time he read about Mr. Weinstein’s project in a newspaper article and stored it away in the back of his mind in case his idea for Quark Park ever became a reality.
   The evening is sponsored by The Rod Serling Museum Project, Thomas Sweet Ice Cream, the Nassau Inn and Quark Park.
   Less than 24 hours later, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Quark Park will turn its focus from "The Twilight Zone" to muscle tone, with a boxing demonstration featuring coach Hector Roca. The trainer behind the workout to prepare Oscar Award-winning actress Hilary Swank for her role in "Million Dollar Baby," Mr. Roca will be joined by Bruce Silverglade to answer questions and sign copies of their recent book, "The Gleason’s Gym Total Body Boxing Workout for Women."
   "Boxing is known as ‘the sweet science,’" Mr. Soderman said, when asked about the event’s connection to Quark Park’s theme. While the event may seem like an anomaly, he added, Quark Park is all about opening people’s minds to all sorts of possibilities, as did the scientific themes behind the park’s installations.
   "Truly, Big Bang theory is about mankind knocking out that bullying cretin called ignorance," he said.
   Copies of the book will be available for purchase from Micawber Books.
   Both events are free and open to the public. For more information about these and other events taking place at Quark Park, visit www.quarkpark.org.