Summary.
Driftwood collected in the New York harbor
will be transformed into sculptures and drawings by the festival goers.
When the pieces are finished they will be documented with
pictures and descriptions and set adrift in the harbor where they can be found
by someone else.
Each one will carry the address of an interactive website so
that the person finding it can contact the original artist.
Detailed Info.
Project description
The project allows Figment participants to create sculptures and
drawings on an unusual medium, and then share their work far beyond the
festival itself via the random currents of the harbor and the Internet.
Participants will transform pieces of driftwood that
have been collected from the New York harbor into sculptures and drawings.
After being photographed each piece will be re-released into the harbor so that
someone else outside of Figment, at a different time, and in a different place
can find it, and report back to the original artist how it affected them.
Each piece that is released will contain a burnished stamp that
instructs the person finding the sculpture in the water to go the project blog
www.windNwavesONwood.org to find out
more about the piece they have found, and report back
to the original artist their thoughts. They
will also hopefully report the location where the item was found.
Driftwood starts out as angular hard pieces of
material, but over time the wind and waves shape it by smoothing out rough
edges, creating new contours and very very slowly transforming them into new
shapes with new finishes. This transformation will be further enhanced by the
festival goers as they make the material into sculptures in both two dimensions
and three dimensions.
The most intricate part of the work will be done by nature before I
collect the wood and the festival goers leave their mark on it. Some of the
wood will have come from up to 1,000 miles away and has been circulating in the
harbor for months on end.
The Goal
The project goal is to inspire people to think about the most dominant
natural force that is around them on their day at the Island, the harbor’s
dynamic moving water.
The harbor is a wonderful recreational resource that all New Yorkers
can enjoy, and we want to get that message out to the general public.
Some basic facts will be presented on signs that describe how the tidal
currents flow in the harbor, and the impact of trash and pollution on this wonderful
recreation and transportation medium.
While all of the material we will use is natural non-polluting material
that will eventually break down, the same forces that shape and distribute the
driftwood also spread trash throughout the harbor. On many shorelines in the
harbor there is far more manmade trash than driftwood.
The Mechanics
The raw material will all come directly from the NYC harbor, less than
10 miles in any direction from Governor’s Island. It will consist solely of
driftwood. I will collect up to 100 pieces in every size and shape.
The festival goers can draw on the wood using paints, markers, and the
sun. They can also attach pieces together with wooden dowels.
I will provide a wide variety of sample pieces, and as each artist
completes a work it will remain on display for the rest of the day.
When each piece is finished I will encourage the artist to: 1) Supply a
name for it. 2) Record some poignant written thoughts about the piece, or life
in general. 3) Pose for a picture with their work.
The driftwood will all be branded with a wood burning tool BEFORE the
festival listing the website:
www.windNwavesONwood.org.
Each finished piece will be put back into the harbor so that someone else can
find it.
As the pieces are recovered in the months and years that follow the
people finding it will be able to comment back to the blog and continue the
fun.
How Interactive
As an artist I am acting as a facilitator. I will select and partially
sculpt the raw materials, but much of the art will be done by the festival
goers.
Anybody who attends the festival will be able to produce a piece of
art, share their written thoughts, and then be open to someone else finding and
enjoying the work at another time.
