August 31: 8 Hour Projects

I admit, I did not do well with this. It wasn't out of disinterest--I was very intrigued by the projects and the assignment--I just forgot to read the instructions before taking part. Go there, take notes and maybe some pictures? Seemed simple enough. However, I failed to realize we should stay there for an hour each time, whereas my visits hovered around twenty minutes, or that we were to be taking note n the artistic process specifically, rahter than just how the projects were progressing. I also didn't know that we would no longer be able to visit after six, so I did not even get to visit all three times. In short, I have failed miserably at this relatively simple task and I am very very sorry.


I was surprised by the woman with the makeup. I'd seen so many photos online of people who had used makeup to completely alter their face, or even use their face as a canvas of sorts, that I automatically assumed that's what she was going to do. But instead she applied makeup to volunteers, to help them look their most masculine or most feminine, and took photos

There were several projects that I didn't even know where going to be there when I first visited: the drawing of the boxers, the painting of a headline, and the abstract painting loosely tracing a projection of a brain all caught me by surprise when I came for my second visit.

I especially liked the pieces focused on loss. The artist asked people to select items that represented things they've lost or are afraid of losing and place them on a wire, which was added to the piece. Decorating my wire was definitely an experience, as I have lost so many things and fear losing so many more.

During my first visit I noticed him using drills and hammers to nail the disks into the wall, using a string to ensure the columns were straight. I felt this was much more clever and simple than using a bubble level or laser. When I came back for my second visit, I was surprised to see what it had turned into, and also that there was a piece that relied so heavily on bystander involvement

There were several other pieces that required involvement as well. One artist took photos of people and, using photoshop or a similar program, split them in half and mirrored them, creating two photos which, depending on the person, could be almost imperceptibly different or dramatically so.

He sat at his computer, working on altering photos until someone volunteered to have their photo taken. Then he would seat them in the little photo-taking area, which I honestly have no idea what to call, and instruct them to move their head until it was perfectly centered, and take the photo. Once he finished a set of photos, he printed them using a photocopier or a similar machine, and pin them to the wall.

I thought this was a rather creative piece. People don't often think about their own symmetry, and this really highlights just how different two sides of the same face can be.

This is probably my favorite piece. When I first visited I wasn't even aware that anything was going to be in this area, but then I came back to this beautiful abstract piece. Though it's difficult to tell in this photo, an image of a brain is being projected on the wall and the artist is loosely tracing it. I saw the image get projected in several different spots on the wall, leading me to believe that the whole painting was done in that manner, tracing the brain's loops and curves into a piece that's at once haphazard and elegant, and very fun to look at. I can't help but wonder what inspired the artist to create something so strange and creative.

A particularly thought-provoking project was the collaborative dance. A video was taken of one person, and another person would be videotaped attempting to mimic everything the first person did. Seventy people later, it evolved into a bizarre, humorous, and very tiring sort of dance. Of all the projects I participated in this was certainly the most fun, and of all the artists this one was certainly the most approachable, because it was clear she was at ease and having just as much fun as the people watching and participating.

This was another project that was a surprise for the second visit. As a person who is very familiar with pencil art I was astounded by the skill this artist demonstrated on this piece. Something like that would probably take me three months, if I could finish it at all! 

The drawing is of a black man and a white man boxing, and the black man just landed a punch on the white man's face.

From what I can gather, this person started with a sketch and then a rough outline, and then began shading once the majority of the sketch/outline was done. Some details like the white boxer's other hand and his legs were still missing at the time of the photo, as you can see.

This project confused me. I'm not sure what exactly the artist has in mind. From what I saw, he was apparently grinding something to dust and brushing the dust onto the paper. Perhaps he intends to use the dust to make art, or maybe the patterns in which the dust falls onto the paper is itself the art. Also, what are the little shelves with the small objects for, as well as the scale?

The last project is this, which is apparently a recreation of a newspaper headline. I'm not sure what exactly the headline is, I'm afraid I'll have to wait until the projects are opened again for exhibition, but I noticed that the artists used a grid to ensure that the letters were straight and the right size/angles, which I thought was very clever. Lettering can be very difficult to draw/paint, especially if you're trying to make them look clean and printed.