 This week saw an explosion of media coverage about Seattle's favorite artist prankster trio....Culler, Sutton, and Beres. Coming off the win of the Stranger "Genius" Award for Visual Art, the intrepid sculptors launched an island environment which was anchored in Lake Washington by the 520 floating bridge. I usually comment that you have to commit murder to get any Visual Arts coverage in this town but now I have to add or stall traffic on the sacred commute. Watching the media feeding frenzy over this latest project, I realized that these artists are more able to manipulate the media than the average non-profit PR flack
 Early Monday Morning the Harbor Patrol visited the floating island/sculpture to see if the trio needed anything. The artists had done their homework to make sure that the island met all the safety regulations. To do this kind of in your face art, you have to know where the line is between art and illegality. They had the idea for Desert Island two months ago and it took them about two weeks to build it. It is 20 feet in diameter, supported by a frame of 2-by-10s and plywood, glued and wrapped in canvas and bed sheets, and covered in yellow paint mixed with sand. Eight empty 55-gallon barrels are underneath to make it float. It was towed onto the lake by Vital 5 Productions' Greg Lundgren, who helped produce the piece.
Here are some media highlights:
 King County Journal "Call them castaways from Cornish".
KUOW weighed in with "some kind of performance art island... causing a huge distraction"
King County Journal Headline "Trio's island art has drivers staring; traffic snarls on bridge during rush hour; police say island is not illegal."
The Stranger observed "Sutton, Beres, and Culler have been building environments and taking them out of context for years."
King County Journal For a time Monday night, The Island made the State Route 520 rush-hour traffic stand still,``It made an impact.''
KIRO TV "Ben Beres, Zac Culler and John Sutton are floating on the island to honor the waning days of summer. The artists plan to stay aboard the island until Wednesday or Thursday depending on the weather."
 KOMO TV "SEATTLE - It's not an overturned boat, it's performance art."
Web India "The floating island has been docked at the Warren G. Magnuson Park in Seattle and the artistic trio were deciding what to do next."
Matt Goyer Blog "There's a fake small tropical island with one palm tree anchored about a hundred yards north of the 520 bridge. I first noticed it Sunday and saw it again today on the drive to work. Both times small boats were tied up to it.
What's going on?
The island isn't on the lake anymore, but you can see their mobile living room installation, There Goes the Neighborhood, today parked outside the Broadway Grill (314 Broadway E) from 5–8 pm.
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