Image by Michael Gates

I'm headed out to show at

F

IGMENT

 this weekend, the participatory arts festival in New York! FIGMENT is a free, annual celebration of participatory art and culture where everything is possible. For one weekend each summer, it transforms Governors Island into a large-scale collaborative artwork - and then it's gone.

The

Archimedes Design

 team and I showed there last year, and I found it to be an extremely successful event. I'm really excited to be going back and working with them again. Last year we showed

Shade Archipelago

, four

Archimedes Design domes that had four different interactive zones. 

I showed the

Orison Dome

, which held the

Prayer Flag Project

. This was the project I showed across the country last year where people could add their own prayer flag to to chain of prayers that moved from festival to festival. 

Michael Gates was the brain child of the

Chromodome

. A dome that was set up without flags that people could add strips of fabric to throughout the festival.

 And Toby Vann made the

Soccer Dome

. A giant soccer ball that could be seen as either an obstruction, or an inspiration.

As well the Big Top was set up as a pop up space for theatre, juggling and flow arts. 

Image by Michael Gates

This year we'll be bringing back the domes, but each dome will have a different theme, with a separate artist taking on each space and a collaborative project in the middle.

We will have four domes, called the “chambers” around the middle largest dome. The whole installation will be about 60 feet square. 

Image by Michael Gates

Big Top

(Michael Gates, Jodi Sharp, Toby Vann)

26' diameter dome provides entrance to the Chambers. The Big Top will feature 5 pendulums hanging from the ceiling with 5 sand boxes. Sand boxes will be elevated at different heights to allow access to a broad range of interactions. The pendulums will be free swinging, giving opportunity for endless sand art.

Chamber of Exchange 

(Jodi Sharp)

This will be a dome that people can enter into to practice the skill of letting go of the bad and receiving the good. When we set the intention to let go of things we don’t want in life, we start the process that is necessary for removal, and when we ask for things we desire, we are making space to receive them. The intentional action prepares us to change the energy in our lives. The purpose of Chamber of Exchange is to help start this process for the individuals attending Figment.

A person will enter the dome and write down something that they wish to let go of in their lives. This piece of paper will be placed in an envelope and put into a sculptural form on the ground in the middle of the dome. The person will then write what they would like to receive on a tag that will be hung from the ceiling of the dome. 

Chamber of Belonging 

(with face painting by Debra Thimmesch)

Inside a tent with op art pattern of green spots on a black background, artists will be on-hand throughout the weekend to face paint participants. All participants will be painted to match the tent, i.e. with a pattern of green spots on a black background. Face painting offers an experience of anonymity through the expression of an alternate self. Chamber of Belonging offers the peculiar pairing of anonymity through the obstruction of identity alongside the recognition of belonging to a temporary community. 

Chamber of Reflection 

(

Michael Gates)

Dome interior will be lined with Mylar sheets. Reflections will be imperfect, highly subject to the environment, like the surface of lake. Participants will be invited to document a self-reflection on a small strip of Mylar, then tape it anywhere onto the strings suspended overhead. 

Mylar can be fragile and is very portable in the wind. Artists will be on-site throughout the event to maintain the Mylar sheets and the message strips. At night, the message strips will be untied and stowed in a bin, then restrung in the morning. Mylar strips will be stored in a lidded box with instructions, including Leave No Trace reminder. 

Chamber of Roses 

(

Toby Vann)

This space is for quiet reflection. The dome is fitted with a spandex tent printed with roses. The tent is completely enclosed with a sewn in floor and an elastic door. Participants must first remove their shoes before entering; a small mat will be placed outside the chamber. 

Text by Michael Gates

If you're in New York this weekend, make sure to come check it out!