Swoon: Swimming Cities of the Switchback Sea

In the early evening on Sunday, September 7th, seven hand made boats, or more precisely, seven floating sculptures by Swoon, will dock in front of Deitch Studios on the East River in Long Island City. Their arrival at Deitch Studios will be the final stop on a three-week journey down the Hudson River and around the tip of Manhattan. The seven boats, built by Swoon and her friends from scrap wood and other discarded materials, begin their sail down the Hudson River on August 15th in Troy, New York, stopping along the way for musical and theatrical performances. Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea is a two-part exhibition merging Swoon’s recent portraits, found objects of urban decay and a floating sculptural city. One part of the exhibition is on the water. The other is in the gallery.

Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea is the result of a year of design and construction and the combined efforts of seventy- five collaborators, working under Swoon’s direction. A crew of forty people will sail the seven boats down the Hudson. During the summer of 2006, Swoon and the Miss Rockaway Armada launched a similar project on the Mississippi River. For this year’s project, Swoon designed and supervised the construction of all the boats herself and will culminate the journey with an ambitious exhibition of her large wooden and paper constructions and her large-scale prints."
The boats will remain in Long Island City until October 18th. During that time a number of performances will be held, and more information can be had at switchbacksea.org.