Doug Aitken announces underwater pavilions

Doug Aitken Plans Underwater Art Installation. By Jori Finkel.

LOS ANGELES — In planning his hometown survey, which opens on Saturday at the Museum of Contemporary Art here, Doug Aitken decided early on that he also wanted to develop a separate site-specific art project to reach beyond museum walls. But instead of going into the desert to find a site, as so many West Coast artists have done, he went the other direction: entering the Pacific Ocean for his first underwater art installation.

Mr. Aitken has just finished designing and fabricating three mirrored “pavilions,” flashy geometric structures that are to be suspended next month underwater in a kelp-rich marine preserve off the touristy town of Avalon on Catalina Island, which is about one hour by ferry from the mainland. The idea is for snorkelers and divers to swim around and through the cavelike structures, set with the help of moorings at depths of five, 10 and 50 feet. Fish are welcome too…

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