From the Boston Center for the Arts Call for Entries – Occupy 539 - April 2011
The Boston Center for the Arts (BCA) is accepting applications for Occupy 539, a unique platform for artists to engage with audience through public art projects that explore ways in which people congregate and linger in public spaces. Artists are invited to submit proposals for a temporary public art project that will be exhibited on the BCA Plaza campus for Summer 2011 (July through October).
I just received an email on May 27th 2011 form the BCA letting me know that my proposal has been selected.
Title: Life is a stage by Philippe Lejeune
Staging the street
through the angle of reflective surfaces
that produce natural effects [images] in real time
Walking along the Boston Center for the Arts is a simple moment of life,
people crossing, cars rushing by, a tree, just there, a light reflecting in a window, the sounds of the street--all of this creating a moment that cannot be fixed,
where all is both separate and mixed
How can an art form be a part of this?
I found out that reflective surfaces can act as a powerful medium--something between the reality of the street and the viewer’s mind--
seeing our own image mixed within that reality and the possibility
for playfulness!
Here, images are not fixed on a support, but are very much about the present moment, and can provoke new ways of connecting
visually and physically.
Creativity begins when you change your mind
“Art is what makes life more interesting than art” - Robert Filliou
“Illusion is the first of all pleasures” - Oscar Wilde
about my Concept
I am an image maker. The images that interest me are "natural images" created from reflective surfaces like glass, mirrors, etc... In a few words: putting together what is and what is not, inverting roles--the public becoming the "performers." I would like the viewer to become center stage, to become the subject. Everything is organized for the possibility of his or her engagement. The installation is less "aesthetic” than "functional,” carrying a sense of re-presentation of a real space through the reflective surfaces, in real time.
To make things more:
in·ter·re·lated
“To bring or enter into reciprocal relation. To make, be, or become mutually related”
It’s fun to mix everything together and confusing!
Proposal maquette (Possible location on map of plaza: between H & E)
An installation functioning like a "public stage." The public will be able to play freely and to relate with their own images/reflections... to shift from a passive to a more active experience, and to engage not only visually, but with the body as well.
The public will be invited to take photos/videos, and to share them online through various social networking applications. It could be nice to install a webcam connected for online viewing.
The installation is also open for musicians, dancers, etc., to perform within the installation. The glass can also be used as a support for “graffiti” expression.
