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MINNEAPOLIS, Aug 10, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Dozens of artists from New York, San Francisco, Seattle and elsewhere have built three 20-foot rafts to float down the Mississippi River displaying artwork.
Plans call for "The Miss Rockaway Armada" to present workshops and give performances at stops along the way.
The "armada" is powered by two Volkswagen Rabbit engines that run on biodiesel -- but the crew was having some trouble getting the contraption to work.
"This is a logistical nightmare, but it is a set of problems I want," said Jeff Stark, one of the organizers. "There is very real value in people having a primary experience, the experience of making something beautiful and improbable."
There appears to be no plan and little expertise, The New York Times reported. Over five days, piles of junk have been used to assemble the crafts.
The artists came together after a statement went up on the missrockaway.org Web site last winter.
"We grew up in small towns," it read. "We remember the bookmobile and the punk rock band that seeded little pieces of something else. We want to meet people who aren't like us."
As the rafts took shape, an elderly neighbor said: "Wow, they really got something here. What is it?"
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
