SWIMMING CITIES is a diverse group of artists, builders, and performers who come together each year and embark on a challenging large-scale project. Originally united through the international artist Swoon, the group traces its roots to the DIY raft project on the Mississippi River, the “Miss Rockaway Armada.”
From their press release:
Taking a new waterway each year our projects create a vivid community of artists floating into towns to present an interactive environment which encompasses art, sculpture, music and performance. The uncommon talents of our members interact in an organic design process in a unique form of living art. Our previous projects include THE SWIMMING CITIES OF SWITCHBACK SEA on the Hudson River for Deitch Projects and THE SWIMMING CITIES OF SERENISSIMA across the Adriatic Sea for the Venice Biennale.
Below THE SWIMMING CITIES OF SERENISSIMA at The Grand Canal in Venice.
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE
For Swimming Cities upcoming project, they will construct a fleet of small sculptural river craft at the foothills of the Himalayas, in a cultural exchange with local South Asian artists and artisans. The hand-crafted boats will traverse the Ganges River from Kanpur to the holy city of Varanasi stopping at towns and villages along the way to meet locals and commission crafted embellishments for the boats in the local styles. Upon arrival in Varanasi the boats will merge together into a great floating island stage. In collaboration with local artists and musicians they will produce a performance inspired by their adventure and the immense cultural history of the Ganges.
Street Artist Imminent Disaster will have the piece below up for auction to benefit the “Ocean of Blood” project.
Complete list of artists to be included in the auction:
Swoon, Tom Beale, Imminent Disaster, Tod Seelie, Ben Mortimer, Ben Wolf, Ero, Andrew Poneros, Tony Bones, Jeff Stark, Isaac Aden, Ariel Campos, Greg Henderson, Doyle S Huge, Leslie Stern, Lopi LaRoe, Katelan Foisey, Iris Lasson, Spy, Sarah Atler, Matt Curtis, Petric Seeley, Zev David Deans, Elizabeth Bentley, Hannah Mishin, Orien McNeill, Ksenija, Angie Kang, Ben Devoe, Czak Tucker, Heather Jones, Noah Sparks, Porter Fox, Tim Treason, A’yen Tran, Dan Sabau, Virginia Reath, Clair Huntington, Kara Blossom, Martina Mrongovious
For information about this organization go here:
http://weareswimmingcities.org
FRIDAY MARCH 05
56 Walker St, Tribeca
7pm-1am, $10 Door, Open Bar
DJs Small Change and Shadetek
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
Street artist Swoon’s Heliotrope Foundation continues to add artists to its lustrous roster of prints and projects with a new program of pieces for you and your kids to color in. “We worked with ...
All the Works Completed for Project M/7 at Urban Nation with BSA Our trip to Berlin with 12 of Brooklyn’s finest street artists was a quintessential cultural exchange; bringing together artists, cura...
Six years ago these boats of salvaged materials were floating down the Hudson, teaming with twenty-something sea-worthy souls and bohemian performers in costume aiming for the dock at Deitch Studios. ...
Shout out to all the great Swoon fans we met last night during the artists talk with her. All the seats were filled so it was standing room only in the back but yet it felt so intimate. Ya'll ar...
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities. Now screening : 1. Medicos Del Mundo #Esperanza #AlwaysHope2. SOFLES / The Minibus (feat. Treas)3. SpY / Luna ...