CONSTELLATION

Staying updated

2009-12-18T23:19:00.000-08:00

Although the Constellation blog may no longer be updated - I do regularly update an online journal about my personal and collaborative projects at brianbixby.com - and here is a direct link to a post about the Wonderland project; http://brianbixby.com/?p=136

You can keep up to date with Sydney at her website; http://sydneycooper.com

De-install and some last photos

2009-11-20T00:15:00.000-08:00

The installation will be de-installed within a few days. Thanks again to everyone for all your help and cooperation with this project. A special thanks to the Hastings staff for their help with the deinstallation and to our volunteers for taking down the drawings.

Constellation, Installation view

Photo Credit: Doug Cody

Constellation, Installation view

Photo Credit: Doug Cody

Monday / final day in san francisco

2009-10-19T22:37:00.000-07:00

installing plastic over the interior windows on the final day

installing plastic on the interior windows

Saturday / Opening Day

2009-10-17T22:50:00.000-07:00

installation view, project description and photos

installation view, window with tape, stickers, drawings and photos

Sydney Cooper and Lance Fung talk during the press tour

Lance Fung visits our space during his press tour

At several points there were not enough seats for everyone waiting to do drawings

Brian assists some of the young artists who showed up

Sydney talks with Elaine from CBD and other visitors

People were sitting down to do drawings long past 5pm when we were supposed to close

Friday / installing the drawings

2009-10-16T23:55:00.000-07:00

Sydney and Brian begin to arrange drawings in windows

Sydney cuts tape and applies it to the window

Brian cuts tape and applies it to the window

working late at night installing the tape on the windows

Thursday / more drawing

2009-10-15T23:45:00.000-07:00

Another action packed day walking all over the Tenderloin. After picking up some additional art supplies in the morning we met with some of the staff at YWAM, Youth With A Mission. This was a great session lasting several hours - we had so many interesting conversations and feedback from everyone who participated and we are going back again tomorrow.

We also managed to make it back to the Vietnamese Youth Development Center and RoadDogz to create additional portraits. At one point Sydney and I went to separate locations so we could make it to all the appointments today. I ended up having a great discussion with a couple of girls at the Vietnamese Center - ranging from art, career choices, robotics, future wars and the military. It was cool to discover that we had so many common interests and beliefs despite our completely different backgrounds.

We wrapped up the evening with our first visit inside the space where we are installing all of the portraits. We ran some tests and made measurements until 11pm when the building was shut down and we had to call it a day. Tomorrow will be the big push to finalize the presentation of our project.

youth with a mission

Working on portraits at the YWAM

One of the very detailed portraits we received today while working at the YWAM

an artist displaying her portrait at the YWAM

We put several pieces on the wall at CBD in order to sketch out some display ideas

This is the site where we will display the portraits

Wednesday / working in the community

2009-10-15T00:10:00.000-07:00

Today was a whirlwind of activity.. starting with meetings in the morning with University of California Hastings College of the Law building manager Sunny, a meeting with the Police Department, the Vietnamese Youth Development Center and Road Dogz, an after school program for homeless teens. We will have more comments later but for now I will post a few photos and would like to thank everyone who has volunteered and helped us to collaborate.

Brian Bixby and Sydney Cooper. In front of our location which is a part of the Hastings Law School

Sunny and Sydney

Vietnamese Youth Development Center

One of the artists/participants from the Vietnamese Youth Development Center

Sydney working with artists at the RoadDogz center

Sydney working with artists and the Director of RoadDogz, Machiko Saito

Curator Lance Fung speaking to all of the artist teams at Wednesday nights BBQ

Tuesday / project begins.. setting up

2009-10-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

CBD

Drawing (portrait making) supplies

Our conference room at the CBD

People standing in line for the soup kitchen, across the street from the CBD

Self- portraits

2009-10-10T11:18:00.000-07:00

In contrast to traditional self-portraiture with Constellation we are helping others to create self portraits which require little or no "artistic expertise". The portraits will be generated using language as drawing- the form will be established on the ground- we will present options visual and structural but are very much interested in the project being a true collaboration. The portraits will be created in dialogue- over a cup of coffee or in the streets using conventional interview techniques and random chance elements as well. We'll start with obvious things; Gender, name, occupation, where they were born- then move out to more specific and we think more telling details...over the week we expect to find patterns and relationships we didn't expect, to meet interesting people, to learn by meeting residents of the Tenderloin something about the nature of the place- and to create a way of mapping ourselves as a collaborative effort.

Material

2009-10-05T21:12:00.000-07:00

Today in the studio we were experimenting with various types of materials to see which would work best for the project space. We are combining a variety of low cost techniques and materials to compose portraits that are visually exciting, easy to create and able to function as a chart of data about the community and individuals who participate.

Grids & Maps

2009-10-02T23:08:00.000-07:00

In our work sessions in preparation for Constellation we have been looking at different grid and mapping systems. There is often a coldness to forms, documents, surveys and the like. We are working to create a form which is both flexible and interesting- which has enough structure to allow an ease of creation, but not so much structure so that it impedes creativity. Our assumption is that the form will change as a result of working in the community- with each portrait that is created we will solicit feedback that can be integrated into the project immediately. We will use stencils and spray paint to generate new forms on the fly. Constellation will become an installation of the portraits illustrating the the communities eccentricities as well as commonalities - an amalgamation of complex data in a way that is easy to read. The final installation will take form in real time as a result of the week of working with members of the Tenderloin community and will serve as an illustration of the collaborative process as dynamic and layered.

Project Overview

2009-09-17T01:18:00.000-07:00

Through working within the Tenderloin community we intend to engage and enlist citizens to participate in the Constellation project. Our process will allow anyone to create a self-portrait with a minimum of tools or special knowledge. The Drawing will contain questions as well as areas that can be completed in an ad-hoc way. The portraits will be constellation like in their format, words will create the image. Their creation will be an additive process started with our help but completed over time upon reflection, in private. Participants will describe who they are, beginning with basic identifiers (man, woman, mother, father, sister, brother), moving on to more defining categories (Buddhist, accountant, plumber, engineer, artist) and finally toward the esoteric characteristics which describe personality and humanity (pizza lover, Baseball fan, hypochondriac, person who sings in the shower). It is through these specific details we believe that the unique qualities that make us who we are can be revealed and understood as defining characteristics. Our thesis is that it is this process of reflection and investigation that is the hallmark of art and artworks. Each self-portraitist will become the creator of how they are represented.

Inside the unfinished building will be the remains of our activities which include the portraits made during our stay in the Tenderloin. At night the room will be illuminated.