The Mythology of Cleo & Optimist Dinghy: from the Eternal Optimist Series

Installation Details

Scottsdale artist, Erin Sotak transformed two vacant storefront spaces through installation and performance over the course of one year. As part of her on-going Eternal Optimist Series, the artist spent months building an Optimist Dinghy in the first space featuring diagrams and poetry, fabricated lemons, nautical objects, a live lemon tree, and video art depicting previous chapters of the series.

After utilizing the first storefront as a performance space for the construction of the Optimist Dinghy, an 8-foot wooden sailing vessel traditionally used by children, Sotak created a second installation showcasing the completed boat that also featured secret sounds of the ocean a more prominent display of the artist’s video work. Following its appearance as a part of IN FLUX, the boat sailed on to subsequent chapters in Sotak’s myth of the Eternal Optimist.

This artwork was commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art.

More about Erin V. Sotak