Sketches and Spraypaint for Gratitude Migration
Sometimes I am just absolutely astounded by what comes out of my head.
Headed down to New York to help
for their biggest installation to date; nine art domes that would be heading out to
.
We were working for days, manufacturing each and every little part for these domes. I had just come off of a 73hour work week for my own practice in Montreal, and the pace did not let up when I hit New York.
14-16 hour days of just
. And on one of the last days Toby says that he thinks that the Wellness Temple needs some art on the outside, and can’t I just grab a couple cans of spray paint and do something quick?
I have three hours, I am not a spray paint artist, I am exhausted, and I have no ideas. So up to the attic I go with some kraft paper, pencils and a knife. “This is going to be terrible,” I’m thinking to myself. I’m going to make something half-ass and bad, and people are going to have to look at it all weekend.
And then I start to draw. Lines and shapes crossing over one another, cutting out overlapping areas, and something starts to develop. Each idea feeds off of the other, but I still have no idea how it’s all going to go together.
Out to the backyard where it’s starting to get dark, and I look at these huge panels. I am grumpy. I don’t want to be doing this. I do not feel inspired.
And then I pick up my first can of spray paint. The click, click, click of shaking paint into existence does something to my brain, and suddenly I seem to be in full artist mode. Every layer adds to the next, and I’m barely conscious of what or why I’m making the choices I’m making. Something is coming out of my brain from somewhere, and whatever it is, I feel high and elated.
An hour later I look at the finished panels. It feels like someone else has made them, I have no idea where those shapes and images came from.
The next day we head out to the festival grounds for our
. As I put the panels on, I feel pretty awed that this was something that came out of my head in only of couple hours of exhausted intensity.
I finish up some extra touches on a couple more panels to draw the whole dome together. And there it is, an artwork. Not just some bad drawing in the middle of the night, but something I feel semi-proud of. Wether that was all my arts training background coming into play, or some channel from an otherworldly genius, I’m pretty happy that, even under pressure, I have the ability to make stuff.
More pictures of the full installations at Gratitude coming soon. More on the
!
And what I'm listening to today as I work-