What is the “In Memory of Collective”?
Definition; the IMofCollective is an organization composed of individuals employing artistic expression to mark a location. The choice of location is initially personal, honoring the unique memory and perspective of the creator. Once it has been consecrated as public art it becomes part of a wider audience, reborn as a fresh experience.
When I read this definition it dawns on me that the IMofCollective includes not only the artists voicing their experiences. It includes, in equal part, the people who interact with the work, photograph it, or are simply moved by it. To those of you regularly making public art this concept is probably self-evident. Public art is, by definition, collective art. Being new to this particular process I am embarrassed to admit that when I came up with the name the IMofCollective, I was thinking primarily of the people constructing the installations. I am already learning so much.
Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action. -Peter Drucker
Soon I expect to have a renewed appreciation for social media platforms, on which the broader Collective can contribute. I’m really looking forward to learning from other people as well as from my own process.
I mentioned in an earlier post that I would eventually elaborate on my New York IMofCollective project. The header image for this blog (a nighttime shot of the intersection of Spring and Mercer, the corner where I grew up) is a nod to my past, and to that of countless artists living and expressing themselves in the Soho of the 1980’s. To those of you lucky enough to grow up downtown, you know that graffiti, sculpture, and various other manifestations of public art were part of your daily experience. As soon as I was old enough to walk home from school (PS3 on Hudson street) I would drop into the galleries to take in a quick exhibition. Art was accessible. It was commercial but it was also free. The streets with their buildings, pavement, lampposts, etc. were the platform for people to voice their opinions. And they did, in every shape imaginable.
What about the unnamed artists? Does anyone remember the footprint guy? For years, the sidewalks of Soho (and elsewhere, I imagine) were dotted with flourescent painted footprints. I could follow the feet, from the exit of the 6 Train on Spring and Lafayette, directly to my front door. One day a sidewalk would be empty, and the next there they would be, leading us somewhere exciting, telling a story about a voyage that was soon to become ours. My friends and I would wonder who this footprint guy was. Someone once told me that they had spotted him late one night riding a bike, with feet (made of what?) rigged to the spokes of his bike, magically applying paint as he pedaled along his path.
Reminiscing recently with my friend Daniela, she told me that the artist’s name was Adam Purple, and that we were friends with his son. Who knew?! That was the world we lived in, an intimate setting where artistic blood ran deeper then we could possibly imagine.
This is one mystery solved, but what of the countless other artists that unknowingly shaped me and my friends? What about the artist that created those amazing wire sculptures hung high on corner lampposts. We used to marvel at how in the world he/she had manged to touch the sky. How many people created the ever-changing landscape of graffiti dotting the walls across Mercer street, so lovingly observed from the fire escape on my bedroom window?
Here is a fascinating article written by my friend Kyle Spencer for the New York Times. It describes a project (begun by a Yukie Ohta) memorializing Soho:
The memories described above (and many more) form an integral part of who I am, and so directly influence ideas for installing work in my old stomping grounds.
As I continue to scope out locations and plan out the work, I will continue to post the process. Stay tuned for more, and please feel free to share those neighborhood stories you hold close to your heart. I can’t wait to see them come to the surface.
-Aria Doner Tudanger
ariatudanger@gmail.com
IMofCollective 