Leandro Erlich's Swimming Pool

In April 2009 I found myself underwater but dry as a bone: Swimming Pool is an ingenious two-level interactive art installation from Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich.

From the upper level, a smart wooden deck, it looks like a normal swimming pool - that is, until you spot someone walking, not bobbing, around on the pool floor. You might marvel at this optical illusion a while before curiosity gets the better of you - once you've descended the wooden steps into the room below you see that Erlich has carved out an empty swimming pool, with blue paint, lights and ladder, and whose ceiling is super-duper strong acrylic which supports a few inches of water. The only thing missing is the smell of chlorine.

I was with a few people, including a 5-year old boy who zoomed around the pool floor pretending to be a fish, an octopus, a ship, a pirate... For once, we didn't need to see something through the eyes of a child to appreciate its novelty, charm and magic, but having a kid with us was a great excuse to linger a little longer as we played at hydronauts.

My friend, Boo, took this picture of me pretending to be a mermaid. I hadn't experienced such underwater wonder since I took my first underwater breath learning to SCUBA dive back in '96. So, go! It's on view at P.S.1 in Queens until October 24, 2009.

(And for those of you who can't get to NYC in time, you might enjoy this Build Your Own Swimming Pool link!)