Art Out of the Box Southside

My AOB residency is now over.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Sam McDonough for her amazing vision and hard work to make this project happen; and for making a part of her artwork that of supporting other artists.
I also want to thank Michael McFadden for his support and awesomeness.

On site, I constructed and installed a total of 13 Mini Sites in the corner of 12th and Carson.
Here is a selection of stereo images of the main sites (I like using stereo pictures because they come a little bit closer to capturing the three-dimensionality of the actual pieces.)

"Paper Boat Site 1"

"Paper Boat Site 2"

"Clothes Line"

"How to Fold a Paper Boat"

"Three Chairs"

"Picnic"

"Chess Game"

"Park"

"Park" detail

"Salad Bowl"

"The Cave"

"Pond 1"

To get an idea of the context where these live, and to see the public's interactions and reactions, check out this last of the photo videos:

Mini Sites 3 from Alberto J. Almarza on Vimeo.

I had a truly wonderful experience working in (and out of) the box; and plan to continue hiding more miniatures in the streets of Pittsburgh.
I also have a renewed interest in furthering the dialog with the public, building community and conversation around art and its great power to...
put a smile in someone's face.

AA11

Art Out of the Box Day 4

Another day out of the box, making art in the Southside.

Today was a busy, fun day.

I finished a number of Mini Sites, all made on site and semi-permanently installed within crevices in the corners of 12th and East Carson st.

The focus was paper boats...

A little beach scene...

And instructions on how to fold a paperboat.

Lots of visitors, both new comers and returning Mini Site watchers...

These guys (below) heard the word from Pat (my new argueing friend from day 3...)

And THESE guys, were Geocachers! who actually came in search of a different treasure and accidentally found one of the Mini Sites!

They became only the second noted case of accidental Mini Site finding (to my awareness).

The first noted case of an accidental Mini Site discovery, apparently, might have been that of Mr. Esser himself, tending to the park's flower garden and stumbling across "the cave" Mini Site. I have to say, for ANYBODY to accidentally find this particularly-hidden site seems VERY impressive to me. I have yet to walk in to his flower shop tomorrow, meet him, and learn the full story first hand.

At the end of this long, eventful day, I got hungry and fixed myself a salad bowl...

...on top of this fire hydrant.

A mini site like this one, one might wonder if it will even be there tomorrow, or if it might be brushed into oblivion by a sudden force: a dog tail, a low hanging purse... or a sneeze.

And yet, and yet...

Nothing is really permanent.

Alberto's first day!

(Hey, if you don't feel like reading, just skip to the cool video at the bottom!)

Allright!

I started my Art Out of the Box residency yesterday June 14, 2011. It went very well!

So here I am, working at the box, in the corner of 12th and Carson in the Southside. Not much foot traffic at first, but soon things started picking up.

I had the idea to put my sketchbooks out to attract people, which worked great.

Kids are always a great audience; curious, and not afraid to be social and ask questions.

My project involves creating miniature scenes that are hidden within wall crevices, sidewalk cracks, etc. This is what my work space looked like in the first hour or so.

The wind was a pain, and it claimed one of the mini chairs, but overall I cannot complain about the weather, and the box was well equiped and comfy.

I spoke to all sorts of wonderful and friendly people; didn't have a single akward interaction!

Ok, so, THE ARTWORK....

Would you guess that there is a hidden installation in the following image?

Without further ado: A pretty fun photo-video of the two mini installations I created, plus some public reactions and participation, check it out!

Mini Sites 1 from Alberto J. Almarza on Vimeo.

So two mini sites where set in place, and a lot more to go. My plan is to make enough that I kind of forget which ones are where. They are made to be fairly weather resistant, so if all goes well they should stay there for quite a while. Aren't you curious? Do you think you can find them? I dare you!

At the end of the day, Samantha found this cool bug on the side of the box; what I consider to be an auspicious omen!

That was a peek of day 1; now I gotta run to the Southside again, will be there till Sunday...

SEE YOU THERE!

AA11