'Island' of artistic expression runs into a sea of troubles

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

By REGINA HACKETT
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER ART CRITIC

The island was a party, but the anchor stuck in the mud, bringing the festivities to an early close.

The Seattle art team of John Sutton, Ben Beres and Zac Culler launched their homemade island into Lake Washington late Sunday afternoon, planning to stay there until Thursday.

Don't mess with Mother Nature. Early Monday night, with a wind from the north and choppy waves soaking them to their skins, they realized their anchor was sliding along the lake floor and picking up debris.


		Joshua Trujillo / P-I
	John Sutton soaks his feet as Ben Beres, left, and Zac Culler pace around on "The Island" Monday.

Because of the muddy debris, they couldn't lift the anchor for repositioning, and because of the wind, the cheery yellow pseudo-land mass with a 12-foot palm tree was edging ever closer to the Evergreen Point Bridge.

Big signs posted just about everywhere warned boaters not to glide, motor or paddle within 100 feet of that bridge.

Islands weren't warned away, but after talking with the Harbor Patrol, Sutton, Beres and Culler knew theirs wouldn't qualify as an exception to the rule.

Greg Lundgren, producer of the event, showed up in an inflatable and tried to unstick his friends. No dice. Lundgren called a friend with a bigger boat, who also had no success.

Nothing to do but cut their losses. The anchor's still there in the mud, but the island's docked at Warren G. Magnuson Park. Sutton, Beres and Culler met with Lundgren Tuesday afternoon to figure out a next move.

"My only regret is that we're not still out there," Sutton said.

Their island is not the only watery art project in the news. Robert Smithson's "Floating Island" is currently being towed on the Hudson River around Manhattan.

Sutton, Beres and Culler's island doesn't echo Smithson's. His is a forest floating on a battered industrial vessel.

Theirs is more Gilligan's Island, playful rather than seriously environmental.

It will remain at Magnuson Park for a few days, until the trio figure out what to do with it.

In the meantime, they'll be towing a living room around town, sponsored by the city's 4 Culture. Titled "There Goes the Neighborhood," this mobile living-room project will launch Friday, 5 to 8 p.m., on Capitol Hill in front of the Broadway Grill, 314 Broadway E.

More headlines and info from Sand Point, University District.