Project Quark: August 2011

As this was the first event for the project, things were bound to go wrong and they did. The first event was held on Tuesday and everything went wrong, but most importantly, no one showed up to take part in my artwork. This artwork depends on others to exist, but it's up to me to get people to actually want to be a part of it.

1. Help
Friend are important here, that's something I had always taken for granted. A project of this size is practically impossible to pull off alone.

[Thanks Danielle, Kimberley, Kaitlyn, Donovan, Paige, Tamryn, Sibu and everyone else who helped!]

My friends helped me with setting up our shack-like gazebo, thinking of ways to lure people, making ads and getting people to participate by standing around and looking busy.

Friends luring people and participating!

2. A Reward.

People don't like doing things for nothing in return unless they know you. So, I rewarded people with lemonade. Luckily for me, it was quite toasty today, perfect for giving away lemonade.

3. Commitment.

I really, really wanted to give up on this after the horror that was Tuesday. I'm glad that I didn't, today was fun and I learned quite a bit about the people that I spend my day with.

Here are some ads Kimberley made for the project:

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Concept

Elemental Regeneration - Past Future

Everything in the universe is made up of energy. Energy cannot be made or destroyed, but it can be transformed. The elements present in your body at this very moment existed millions of years ago, in another form perhaps. The energy you are made up of could have been a part of more than one organism. The smallest known unit of energy is called a quark. Quarks come in 6 flavours - up down, charm, strange, top and bottom.

Every single person can be considered a quark of civilisation, a small unit of energy that (together with other units, people) make up communities - the molecules of civilization. When molecules combine they create life, whole organisms. Organisms have specialised cells for specific tasks. Cells that create energy. Cells that protect the organism and it's cells. Cells that are responsible for monitoring the outside world and reporting what they find to the cells in charge. We are all part of a much larger organism.

When something dies it's energy is returned to the vast melting pot from which another organism is born and will grow. The Past will give way to the future.

When an electronic device dies. We take their lifeless shells to scrap yards to be turned, transformed, into new devices. On an elemental level we are the same as every other object and living thing in the universe. During our perceived individual lifetimes we are always exchanging energy.

This sculpture is a collection of our collective energy. It will keep growing.

When a person chooses a piece to add to the sculpture, they may feel an affinity to that specific piece. A connection that binds them on an elemental level. They add a piece of themselves to the whole.

The piece they chose was discarded, used and unwanted. A piece of the past. By adding it to a solid work that is ever changing, that piece becomes part of the future.

This work is all about the people who participate in it. Without them, it wouldn't exist. It's about how every single one of us has some small part to give to society as a whole. Every single piece is bound to become a anchor for another.

The names of the people who participate in the sculpture will be recorded in a series of notebooks that will create a second artwork with the immense presence of hundreds of people.

I will continue with this sculpture until the day I am no longer able to, but hopefully by the time I can no longer take care of it, the sculpture has grown enough to take care of itself.

Labels

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Sunday, August 21, 2011