Swannatopia | December 2022

founded in 2019, Swannatopia is both a physical studio and an interdisciplinary collaboration. Members make use of light, sound, water, glass, porcelain, terra cotta, live plants, projections, reflections, textiles, movement, video, screenprinting, performance, etc to create experiential habitats and far out happenings as well as facilitate the free exchange of knowledge, experience, tools and materials.
In December 2020, they transformed their storefront studio in Historic Downtown Swannanoa,
NC into the “Swannatopia Department Store,”where visitors could shop for housewares,
chandeliers and fashions, peruse the “bolo buffet,” and get a greenhouse haircut in the
“Beauty Salon Of The Mind.”
In June 2021 they again opened their doors for “Marigold Daze,” a week-long marigold and
dolphin-themed happening which introduced the world to “Bannerland” and a new and life
changing multimedia attraction: “The Swannatopia Dolphin Experience”. Visitors were
treated to a “Rave” as well as live musical performances by Field Patterns and Avey Tare and
projection art by Abby Portner and sherbet floats at sunset.

In April 2022, they reunited with collaborators Daniel Abide, Byron Browne, Kaylee Dunn,
Christopher O’Leary, and Carley Dergins for the “Road Signs” installation at the Black
Mountain College Museum + Arts Center {Re}HAPPENING 2022.
Road Signs was an interactive experiment that explores the ways in which they search for
messages and meaning in the romantic notion of a road trip. Using imagery and sounds, from
symbolism to the non-sequitur, and transforming space through art, light, video, and
movement, they emulated the poetry in roadside culture and left the participants in a state of
wanderlust.
In May 2022, after a long incubation period, the “Swannatopia Experimental Art Club” was
finally hatched. My Terra Squirma invited members to build their own living sculpture out of
terra cotta and live and fake plants. The 8-week-long session culminated in a group
exhibition, with a “Plantwave” device on site to translate the plant biorhythms and
relationships into a sonic form, sherbet floats at sunset and live music. The current
installment of the club is stained glass and chandelier themed.