Swoon's Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea officially set sail last Friday, and the fleet is slowly making their way to the final destination of LIC--where the artist will have an exhibit set up at Deitch. The NY Times checked in on Swoon and the collective joining her on the floating art adventure, consisting of "artists, carpenters, musicians, filmmakers, seafarers and hangers-on." She told the paper that the boats were built with the environment in mind, constructed with salvaged material ("plywood from construction sites, old two-by-fours and packing plastic foam") and are even powered by "recycled motors, one from a 1968 Mercedes, another from a Volkswagen Rabbit. One uses a gasifier, which burns organic waste materials." The seven vessels hold 9-13 people each, and will float back into town on September 7th. Take a look at their voyage thus far in this slideshow (more at Flickr, and in video!). more ›

Swoon has a new installation coming up that will take her work to the sea, or at least the Hudson River. Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea "is a flotilla of seven intricately hand crafted vessels that will navigate the stretch of the Hudson River between Troy and the New York harbor this August 15th - September 7th." The vessels are powered with alternative energy sources and will be making stops in towns along the way; those aboard will be bringing live performances to the sea and shore alike, courtesy of playwright Lisa D’Amour, the band Dark Dark Dark and circus composer Sxip Shirey. Their ultimate destination is Long Island City, where Swoon will have created an "invented landscape" at the Deitch Projects space along the East River. This is all somewhat similar to the Miss Rockaway Armada, which Swoon has been a part of in the past; last year Tod Seelie discussed the Armada experience, which takes place along the mighty Mississippi. more ›