"Moving Islands" [Rafts]

Now open at LEA20 is a project conceived and curated by Eupalinos Ugajin entitled Moving Islands that will continue on display through the end of December. Twenty-three artists accepted an invitation from Eupalinos to participate in this collective artscape, and in order to come up with something in which everyone could freely participate he chose the concept of rafts, or moving islands, floating in a large space. In free word association, "raft" might conjure up all sorts of things—rescue, abandonment, solitude, safety, ocean, water, floating, hope, and on and on, and the artists were able to put their own spins on what a "raft" might even be. (A few of the rafts, by the way, appear to have sunk, so be sure to head underwater when you visit.)

This is an extraordinarily busy space, and truly collaborative, with contributions from absencen (maclane Mills), Alpha Auer, Artée (Artistide Despres), Aston Leisen, CapCat Ragu, Cica Ghost, Cutea Benelli, Derek Michelson, Eupalinos Ugajin, Haveit Neox, Kake Broek, Kikas Babenco, Livio Korobase, Marmaduke Arado, Maya Paris, meilo Minotaur, Merlino Mayo, Oberon Onmura, Ole Etzel, pallina60 Loon, Scottius Polke, Simotron Aquila, Takio Ra and Uan Ceiaptrix. As I write this, three creators haven't yet rezzed their creations: absencen, Merlino Mayo and Simotron Aquila. And it's possible that others maybe added—even you, if you have an idea—just pitch your concept to Eupalinos. Additionally, the project received contributions from Derek Michelson (scripts) and Takio Ra (sounds), along with a soundtrack selected by Eupalinos, lasting about 3 to 4 hours and ranging from Bach to Zappa.

As you might imagine, very few of these "rafts" look like real life rafts—they're often fanciful, humorous and quirky, but some have a serious edge to them. They're often interactive, particularly in the case of works by Marmaduke Arado and Eupalinos Ugajin, in which sitting on one object may cause others to appear. I was particularly delighted with pallina60 Loon's nautilus raft and Cutea Benelli's quite silly raft, which rests on the bottom of the ocean floor. When you arrive, be sure to grab the free gift folder, which includes creations by many of the artists—Eupalinos tells me that more will probably be added over time. Also be sure to have your local sounds turned up, especially for rafts by artée and Oberon Onmura.