We are all of us a by-product of pervasive leaks and the relentless effort to contain them as they appear. Often considered ‘a breach’, leaks take on many forms, and with each instance there is a permeation across barriers, beyond containment. Leaks are subtle in the whisper and sonorous in the geyser, they are concise in the laser, and contemptuous in the roof above one’s bed. Leaks are seen in bulbs of flowers, oil tankers, the spleen, skin, thoughts and intellect, culture, windows, clouds, atmosphere, information, persona, light, air, electricity, radiation, power, pistons and spirit.

The leaks we encounter provide opportunities to explore the boundaries of containing the ethereal. Be they psychological, cultural, biological, philosophical, humanistic, naturalistic, or evolutionary, these boundaries are anything but arbitrary. By exploring these relationships we choose to move beyond the containment within the boundaries of thought, emotion and the inexorable fluidity of life. 

Incubator: Leaks is the inaugural event in the Incubator series, and is an invitation to engage the ineffable nature of containment in all its forms and the apparent necessity of being masters of our own leaks, wherever they appear. This three week immersive residency experience will be hosted at the Arts Letters & Numbers campus in Averill Park, N.Y. where we invite individuals across all disciplines to collaborate and explore the angst, beauty, rigidity and malleability of containment. This project will encourage the development of curatorial works that express the nature of the exploration.

“Kilgor Trout…called mirrors leaks. It amused him to pretend that mirrors were holes between two universes. If he saw a child near a mirror, he might wag his finger at a child warningly, and say with great solemnity, "Don't get too near that leak. You wouldn't want to wind up in the other universe, would you?”

- Kurt Vonnegut