9 posts tagged “50 paces project”

What a whirlwind weekend.  As you probably know, I zipped down to Saint John to attend the opening of 50 Paces: an Installation.  I flew down the day of the show, and I was up at 4am to catch the recommended Airport Express for my 7am flight via Montreal.
For some strange reason, I wasn't able to sleep on the bus or on either plane.  It might have had something to do with my dire and unsatisfied need for imodium from the time I got on the plane.  

Luckily, once I arrived Sandy dropped me at his house for a rest before I was glaming myself up for the opening. My "rest" consisted of nattering with dad for a couple of hours, which was exactly what I needed... well that and imodium. (Quick tip: in a pinch apple sauce, apple juice and cranberry juice are very helpful in these situations because of their high pectin content.)

I know, I know, TMI about that and not enough about the show.

It went very well.

The gallery said they had almost 400 people through the gallery that night. At the beginning, I could stand back and watch people checking the exhibit out without anyone knowing who I was.   It allowed for some interesting insight into how people interpreted what they saw.  Which was, for the most part, positive.  The rest was either uninterested or confused. But given that everything else in the gallery were paintings and a few sculptures, this was kind of conceptual and required a bit of context to see more than just a random set of tiny photos hanging from strings across one wall.

However, once people started talking about it, things got really interesting.  As with the photographers who participated, everyone had their own spin on what the key elements were - safety, relationships, neighbourhood, nature, finding joy, the rhythm of life.

Part way through the evening, Kathyrn McCarroll introduced the shows and the artists... little did I know I would have a microphone thrust upon me.  After that I couldn't be the "fly on the wall" any more. But by that point there were so many people that knew me, or knew dad, I was outed anyway.

One of the really cool parts of the evening was that on top of curating the exhibit, Peggy arranged for a little space to be set aside for some live music where dad and Sandy led a jam session.  The sound of guitars, banjos and singing trickled through all the second floor of the gallery. It really brought an extra "island feel" to the whole event for me.

I have a whack of photos (big surprise), but I haven't had a chance to process them yet.  I'll let you know when they are up on Flickr.

We spent a big portion of yesterday pacing out the path to shore. Of course this could just as easily be called "crossing the river"
After some minor adjustments to how i count paces, we've figured we need 25 to 30 trees to build the path. (For those of you counting that's 1500 paces, not the previously guestimated 2000)

After our first count, we wandered up to Quispamsis for lunch with Sue. Enroute we ran in an x-newspaper man who is excited about spreading the word about the 50paces project. We asked him to hold on until we have the trees in place. Our plan is to install them today... Once we shake off the fog that comes with drinking wine and telling lies til 3am.

Yesterday, Nancy and the rest of the good folks at TPH finished printing the photos for the 50 Paces Project!

Printing 50 Paces

After a lot of back and forth trying to figure out the best way to print our photos with maximize resolution, consistency, and to minimize cropping, I finally decided to print all images at 2"x3". This will allow us to easily hang up to 15 photos per tree without them catching the wind and blowing down the river immediately. 

I may be doing a little packing tape lamination on them as well, since the weather in New Brunswick has been very wet and windy lately, and I'd like the photos to hold up for more than a day or two. Besides it would give me something use to hang them without punching a whole in the photos.

50 Paces Collection

A BIG thanks to gkaufman of the Monthly Scavenger Hunt who whipped off a program to generate labels for all the photos. Each photo will be tagged with the title, flickr photographer's name and where in the world the photo was taken.

We've got photos from Taiwan, Brooklyn, Istanbul, Melbourne, Cincinnati, Zurich, The Netherlands and even... gasp... Etobicoke. Sandy even submitted a couple of dad's hot dog stand on the river from the late '80s.

Now, cross your fingers that I get good weather, because there are some trees to be put in the ice before we can start hanging the installation!

To see all the photos that will be hung on this floating gallery check out the50 Paces Project on Flickr.com

p.s. keep an eye on www.unsweetened.ca to see what's happening over the next week. I'll be posting exclusively from my cellphone since it'll be my only internet access.

p.p.s No One Care What You Had For Lunch post 92 - Look Harder

Sunset

In order to know that the ice is safe to cross, you have to check it every 50 paces and mark the safe path to shore. That means chopping a hole in the ice to test its thickness.  If it is safe, you mark the path by putting small trees into the holes you've chopped in the ice, which will stay there until spring thaw.

After spending a month alone on an island, your mind starts to wander. (Hopefully not too far.)

As I was testing the ice, I started wondering what was 50 paces, or 100 paces, or even 1200 paces from my door at home? Or your door? Or someone else's door?   

And thus the 50 Paces Project was born! How cool would it be to cross the river and at the same time see the world 50 paces at a time.

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