Kinetic Steam Works / Miss Rockaway fundraiser June 29, 2008

Fundraiser for KSW and our role in the Miss Rockaway Hudson River Aramada. Join us for the squiffy smashing of a champagne bottle on its bow at 4PM.

We would like to invite you all to come and see what we've been working on. We will of course have some of our other steam equipment up and running, as well as a few surprises and entertainments.

It began three years ago as the Miss Rockaway Armada, a group of New York City area artists and assorted others who decided to travel down the Mississippi on very handmade rafts bedecked and festooned with art... equal parts continuous happening, Vaudeville happenstance, and Mark Twain gumption.

The Mississippi has long been the Country's psychic dividing line between the past and the promise of the future. The highfalutin idea was to, "solicit dialogue around subversive and constructive ways of living." The impetus was to explore America outside of the bohemian boundaries of the NYC hipster arts milieu by taking it to middle America.

The neat thing was that it was intended to be a two-way street. From all reports, Middle America gave as good as it got. Boundaries were blurred; social interactions occurred that would not have otherwise. Bohemia infected the broad banks of the Mississippi and the communities along the way infected Bohemia right back.

In August of 2008, the Hudson River will be the canvas, from Albany-Troy all the way down to Brooklyn. Seven crafts are scheduled to float down the river the Mahican confederacy called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk. The boats will be powered by alternate energy systems, which is where K.S.W. comes in. We're going Out East for three weeks! We've been hard at work restoring an old paddle-wheel steamboat (see above). In New York, K.S.W.'s steamboat (arriving by truck) will support an enormous sculptural array installed by an artist named Swoon, the larger project's creative leader.

Speaking for the Bay Area, a powerful ethos behind the art we create is to build community and real connections between people. We welcome this rare opportunity to collaborate with a new group of people, combining steam and art. Speaking of which, Art, it costs money, steam too. The water won't heat itself. We've never worked with Swoon & Crew before so there are no guarantees; then again, many successful Bay Area projects started out this way. We hope it works, though there's a chance it might not. If you'd like to make a donation to help KSW defray costs associated with this project, we'd be very glad to accept it with our thanks.

Official Website: http://www.kineticsteamworks.org