2/20/2007

Art and Design in the Social Sphere - Project#2

Art as a collaborative effort between producer and viewer/receiver.

valentine cards
I handed out hand made Valentine's Day cards to everyone in my class, as an example of the practice that often happened when I was in grade school where we had to hand out Valentines to everyone in the class, whether you liked them or not, just to be sure no one would felt left out. How we were, in some ways, being brainwashed into buying into the bullshit concepts of romantic love. Seriously, no wonder so many people want what they can't have, or think that that's the only kind of real love there is.

Inside each card was a quotation about the notion of love in a few different contexts, minus the romantic aspect. The crass commercialization that is displayed every February nauseates me, but I didn't want to the project to be too cynical about it either. My hope was to provoke in the receivers some kind of thoughts about what love meant to them.
valentine cards
OK. So, it was kinda simplistic, but the idea was to present a prototype of a larger project I could do outside of the school setting, with enough time and effort, based on the ideas of unconditional love and random acts of kindness. I could randomly pick names out of the phone book, take their address and send them a pretty handmade card on Valentines Day (or any other holiday or for no reason, really), with no expectations for anything in return. Since I didn't sign them, I told my classmates that they were free to pass the cards on to anyone they wanted, sort of paying it forward (so to speak).

Anyway, it's giving me a few ideas of a couple of collaborative projects I can do with the great folks I've met through blogging. That means you!

I'm still working it out, so stay tuned for that.

4 comments:

Hedy De Vine said...

poopee! my mom has a pair of those zigzag scissors that i used to play with all the time. i can't believe you have a pair, too. that's awesome!

poopee shmoopee said...

hedy: they're actually pinking shears (for sewing), i just used them to cut paper.

lesley said...

I had those growing up...I used them to cut paper until my mom yelled at me and then taught me how to sew.

Dave said...

*frowney face* I wish I had gotten a shmoopee Valentines Day Card!!!