We're looking for people who want to raft down the Mississippi with us this summer -- especially people interested in alternative energy and locomotion. We know this conflicts with Mutant fest and other worthwhile endeavors, but it's a good project and we'd love to have more West Coast folks.

The River Project

This summer we are building rafts and floating down the Mississippi River. The catch is that we don't know anything about boats, we don't know anything about rivers, and we don't have any money. We know we are blowing crazy hot air, but if the idea makes your eyes glow like coals then we want you with us.

So listen up: We meet in Minneapolis in late July. We build pontoons out of empty barrels and oil drums. We lash trash into barges. And we bring in anything that floats and add it to our junk armada, our anarchist county fair, our fools ark. Our precious cargo is everything we hold dear: pieces and parts of the culture we are already creating. Your zines and your puppets, your sewing projects and your poster campaign. Your mutant bicycle. Your punk rock marching band. Plus you and your thoughts and dreams and irrepressible energy.

Together we float down the Mississippi river, as far as we can -- all the way to New Orleans -- anchoring here and there to perform, give workshops, and create the big huge stinking spectacle we wished would have stopped in our hometowns. And at each place we invite anyone to contribute performances or workshops of their own.

Our flotilla is built green with recycled materials, compost toilets, rainwater collection, solar ovens, and steam calliopes. If we make it right everything will run on sunshine and french fry grease. We want a floating garden, a bicycle-powered sound system, and wind-powered lights. We want to steal hippie technology from the hippies.

We are a small group of people with extensive experience making big insane projects. In the past we have taken 20-person bands to Mexico, pulled off town square-sized guerrilla theater in Berlin, and fed hundreds of people with garbage and love. We know this idea is ridiculous and impossible. That's why we're obsessed with it.

Where are we at right now? We're inviting you. We are starting from nothing, and we are starting late. Anything you can contribute is valuable. We need builders and mechanics. We need people who know something about boats, people who know stuff about the Mississippi, people who can book shows. We'd take motors outright, but we'd prefer if they came with someone who wants to make them run on biodiesel and join us. We need big group camping supplies and big tanks for drinking water. We need a space in Minneapolis to construct our rafts, a source for industrial garbage, and a truck to move stuff around. We could use money, sure, but we know your connections and your resources will be even more valuable.

Although this a collective project we are demanding a tremendous amount of self-reliance. You are responsible for building your own raft. You are responsible for bringing a project that you can share with strangers. You are responsible for helping us build a ridiculous floating city -- and for bailing water when it starts to sink. We are in this together.

Why are we doing this? For a bunch of reasons. For the adventure. For the impossibility. But for more than this. We grew up in small towns. We remember the bookmobile and the punk rock band that seeded little pieces of something else. And now, even though we moved to big cities and found people like us, we still live in a country that fights wars so it can consume more. We are taking the urge to flee and heading for the center. We want to meet people who aren't like us. We want to meet ourselves at age 16. We want to be a living, kicking model of an entirely different world -- one that in this case happens to float. Plus we suspect that there is something wildish about seeing the stars night after night from the grand old Mississipi. Yeah sure, the Colorado is prettier, and the Rio Grande is its own divide, but the Mississippi has always been the main artery of this country. We want to start where the blood flows straight from the heart.

So what now? Sign up. Commit to five weeks in July in August. Mean it. Let's start making phone calls and drawing blueprints and testing vessels in the Gowanus Canal. Let's plan benefit parties and sock away brown rice and dented cans. We're organizing mostly out of New York because that's where we live. Expect regular meetings with working models and field trips. But anyone who wants to contribute is invited, no matter where you live: You'll just have to keep up with phone calls and email messages.

There is so much to do, and we can't do it without you.

Callie

swoonifer@gmail.com

Jeff

jstark@nonsensenyc.com