This summer, the New York City-based public arts organization Creative Time launched its quadrennial project Plot/09: This World and Nearer Ones at Governors Island. As if visiting a beautiful and relaxing oasis nestled in the Upper New York Bay is not cool enough, Creative Time makes it all the more great by installing nineteen artworks by prominent international artists inside and around the island’s ex-military facilities, some dating back to the early 1800s. Though the curatorial framing of Plot/09 states that many of the artworks are “enveloped in a pall of darkness,” don’t let this stop you from the joy and delight of stumbling upon such gems as Anthony McCall’s light and smoke installation inside an old church and Klaus Weber’s oversized wind chimes dangling from a tree.

I suggest passing up the free audio guide created by legendry rocker Patti Smith and her daughter Jesse. Why would you want somber piano noodling and the voice of Patti Smith reciting grave prose poetry when you can enjoy the birds chirping and the sounds of the river? Sure, it’s beautiful in an eerie sort of way, but it’s summer and a trip to Governors Island is all about forgetting the worries of the world.

Highlights of Plot/09: This World and Nearer Ones take the viewer by surprise, finding moments of wonder and mystery in the strangest of places. Several of the houses on the island are open to the public to drool over their beautiful hardwood floors and high ceilings, but one in particular (#404 on Colonels Row) leaves you with an unsettled feeling. Here, Edgar Arceneaux set up concealed speakers that emit infrasound suggested by researchers to cause anxiety, extreme sorrow, and even chills. The longer you stay in the house, the more unexplainably awkward you feel.

Anthony McCall’s installation inside the darkened St. Cornelius Chapel is not to be missed. There you will find two projectors facing downward that shine a beam of light which, over the course of time, traces patterns on the floor. Steam slowly fills the room, and when the projector’s cone of light hits the steam, it becomes visible, forming what appear to be tangible barriers. It is pure magic and something that artists, such as Olafur Eliasson, try to produce but typically come up short.

Another not-to-miss in Plot/09: This World and Nearer Ones is Nils Norman’s deserted tent city where you might be tempted to hide inside, intentionally missing the last ferry back to Manhattan.