Alberto AOB Day 2

WOW, what a day was yesterday... (don't miss the video at the end)

Talk about audience interaction:

I am crouched down all the way to the ground talking pictures of one of the mini sites, and this woman sees me from inside a bar across the street, and decides she needs to come out, cross the street and...

GIVE ME A WEDGIE!!!!!

(Here is me in a wedgie; I acted real mad for this picture. In reality it was all laughs)

It was epic!

Fortunately Chris Ivey was right there with his camera, and he captured the whole event!

We were laughing so hard.

Later she came back with her friend and took advantage of my celebrity ignorance and claimed he was Chris Farley???!!! I totally believed her too.

Such fun and crazy people... giving artists wedgies.

Only in the Southside!!

So in the first part of the day it was really slow, but it was good because I got a lot done, and it also gave me the chance to hang out with Chris (not Farley, but Ivey) and get some good pictures and conversations on film. Pretty soon people started flowing, and many conversations were had.

Later, my number one fan base AND superstars of my Mini Sites video came back for the second day, demanding for more Mini Sites to be seen.

I found that one of the installations was already compromised, and was missing a chair. I remade the chair and replaced it. Later, I decided to look for the missing chair, and unbelievably, I found it amidst a pile of crumpled leaves about the size of my thumbnail.

My plan is, while I'm on site till Sunday, to continue to install, repair and add to the pieces. Once I'm gone, It's all up to the wind.

I really like that aspect of it; it is ephemeral art and its impermanence gives it an extra value. Talking to Chris, I realized that one of my favorite things about this project is that the art can hardly be taken for granted: it is not immediate and in your face, but the viewer has to work a little bit for it, and it seems like people enjoy having that aspect of challenge. People also have been loving the novelty of being amongst the few who know the locations of the sites. While I'm there, I've been telling the people where the sites are, so there is a word-of-mouth propagation taking place. Those who know the secret are eager to tell their friends. FUN!!

Yesterday I installed two new sites, which is less than what I wanted to make, but a good ammount of time was rightfully spent talking to my visitors. From here on, it seems like it's going to rain a lot, which will significantly complicate things. We will see what happens.

For now, I have another video to share the documentation of artworks and some reactions from the public. These videos also will help treasure hunters locate the pieces.

Enjoy!

Mini Sites 2 from Alberto J. Almarza on Vimeo.