Switch!

The upper third panel is blank (my face shows) while 2 friends' faces are hidden by canvases.
Today I (at long last!) installed my project, Switch. I have been working on it (admittedly on-and-off) since September, but today put it up with the help of students Hallam + Erik (movers) and Mr. Do (Art Teacher + photographer du jour).

My project was initially inspired by a quote from artist Claes Oldenburg, "I am for an art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something other than sit on its a** in a museum." I think art should, atleast sometimes, be playful, fun, and interactive - not something too precious. I invite everyone at school to use their camera(phones) to snap a shot of themselves interacting with the piece! My other inspirations were:

Mr. Do suggested that a staggered arrangement would look interesting too - what do you think of the result?
1) Those flippy books that are lazer cut into 3 sections -- you can flip the top, middle or bottom and different animal parts are revealed.
2) The face-in-holes at carnivals, fairs and festivals.
3) Those games that are puzzles with little sliding squares with one empty space so you eventually line up the picture.
4) At a summer art program, one counselor was expressing the importance of display in your work - the way that you literally hang up a piece can totally change its perception. My train of thought went: hanging idea --> dangling canvas in the air --> stand behind dangling canvases --> structure the movable pieces in mid-air --> the current idea, as seen above.

With help from Mr. Do, I created the wooden structure for the project. It fits 3 canvases per row, including sliding space. Outlets on either side of the structure allow the user to *switch* out the canvases and create their own arrangements.

All 9 canvases together - for the project to work, remove a selection of canvases and stand behind the structure!
Again, many thanks to art teacher Mr. Do and students Hallam + Erik for your help today! Also, thanks to B Period art/the lobby for letting me take up so much space with my project. :)

Happy Week!
Alice

Switch!