I'm up...

...to my eyebrows in a project that's due this weekend, and it's a corker.

On January 20th, 2017 some 70 local artists were invited to an evening for the second Call & Response event. At the end of this post, I've placed an extensive blurb about the process for this evening (as written to a friend the next day) just so you can see what transpired this year.  Suffice to say that my short version come-away from that evening was a feeling of abundance.

As the next fifteen days flew by (I was prepping and presenting a workshop in Kimberley on the fourth and fifth of February), my back-brain was wrestling with a way to combine the feeling of abundance with the Full Plate concept, as well as some of the items that were in my box.

The last ten days have been a whirlwind of creativity, and in the works (due Saturday) are a series of boxes that are representative of the abundance in this lush valley, from peppers to tomatoes to nuts - eight boxes in all.  As everything is still in a stage of undress, I thought I'd give you a quick preview of the chaos:

Of course, there will be a post next week which goes into much more detail and shows the individual boxes, but in the meantime just below is a feeling for how this all came about.  Stay tuned for more on The Box Project and my entry, Valley Fortune.  

'Gary Detheridge and Alison Masters had quite the evening planned for the second Call & Response. 

They introduced the title for the show – The Box Project – and set out the parameters.  Each artist received a cardboard box of ‘goodies’, and were encouraged to use them as a springboard for creating a work of art to be delivered by February 19…i.e. less than a month.  The show will be 2 days, March 3 & 4, with the March 3 being the live performances (3 minutes or under) and March 4 display of the the 2 and 3-D pieces.  The sixty artists in attendance were invited to  trade with others to get what inspired them.  We could collaborate, create more than one piece, and are encouraged to go outside our own genre.

As we arrived, our name was put on a list, and we were then called up to the front to choose one of the closed 70 boxes available, ranging in size from 5 x 7 x 7” to a man-sized luggage box.  We were asked to leave the boxes closed until everyone had received one.

Each box contained:

• A secret envelope with a saying, closed/sealed with a guitar pick  (My saying was ‘Listen to the quiet voice.’ from  Oblique Strategies by Brian Eno & Peter Schmidt
• A plastic sandwich bag with a cotton ball soaked in ‘something smelly’ (pinesol on mine)
• A piece of candy as a taste stimulus
• A raw potato (at the request of the Canada 150 Art & Agriculture Full Plate committee, who were co-sponsoring the event
• A DVD of inspirational stories, paintings, music, nature sounds, poems, paintings, etc. 
• A fortune cookie (my fortune reads ‘Golden investment opportunities are arising.’ and carries the lucky numbers 9, 17, 19, 22, 29 & 37 on the back)

In addition, my box contained:

• 2 pieces of neon yellow/orange cotton broadcloth
• A used Labatt’s Blue beer can (traded with another artist to score a long-handled plastic shoe horn)
• A 4 x 4” acrylic painting on MDF board (also traded with an artist for a blank white 4 x 4’ canvas
• A package of birthday candles, 3 each of white, blue, orange and purple, covered in sparkles
• A single pack of Stash Licorice Spice tea
• A decades-old light switch
• A mini yellow bulldog clamp to match the broadcloth

I requested, and received in trade for hugs, more of the guitar picks, scoring 14 in total.

I was gifted by by yet another artist:

• Volume 18 of Jeopardy, a 4 x 6” book of writings published by Western Washington University in 1982
• A bright yellow (definitely the theme colour) plastic Y thingy  with black switches on each arm of the Y that John scored – apparently it’s good for something manly
• A pen-like incense wand about 5” long carved from several exotic woods laminated together

When everyone had a box, we were encouraged to open them and then go around to see what others got in their boxes – there was an astounding array of items, as you can imagine, plus there were several very large items at the front that were free-for-all pieces to go to whoever desired them, including but not limited to a purple vacuum cleaner, 3 sewing machines, two 3’ tall wrought-iron candlesticks, etc.  It was suggested that we might think about the Canada 150 Art & Agriculture Full Plate theme when fostering our concept as well.

Trading was hot and heavy, although I don’t know that anyone had (or has yet) any idea what will come of all the craziness.  It was, in other words, great fun to see some of the items, ranging from a single sneaker (very battered) to a 1964 craft magazine (I tried to barter for that, but my artist friend refused to give it up!) to plastic bugs and more.  Goodness knows what this show will be like, but it’s definitely going to be out of the box (pun intended).'  

Edit:  Note that nothing, anything or everything from the box could be used to create a final work...the box of 'goodies' were there to tickle the muse and get a project started!