Some Moving Crew members are going to Indy at the end of January for an install. at Big Car. More information to be posted as it happens.

ephemera, books, crates

A while back I was part of a show called "F is for Free, Eph is for Ephemera." The idea was that each participating artist made a multiple of something that would be distributed as part of the show. The curator actually made an online catalog of the project plus a CD version that was distributed. Check it out here: F is for Free

I was thinking maybe we could take this idea and use it for a publication somehow. Each crate that gets created (if we go that route--I like the idea) could have a distributable component--to be decided by the artist. Then we can scan or photograph or otherwise get the "ephemera" into a format that can be used for a book. The ephemera could be something truly cheap and easy to reproduce--if you wanted to make a print, the distributable part could just be a photocopy but the actual editioned print could be included in a portfolio that could then be for sale... The ephemera could be, as Lydia said, a way to brainstorm ideas for the actual project. Then the ephemera could actually travel to Croatia as well... or, it could be another fundraiser?? A complete set of ephemera included with the deluxe edition of the book?

Also, I visited a really great gallery in Zagreb called galerija miroslav kraljevic. They show work and work with artists doing really interesting, interactive, outside-the-gallery kind of stuff. I wonder if we can collaborate with them somehow...

galerija miroslav kraljevic

Croatia/Funding Brainstorm from Damenkonfektion

The crate idea is fantastic (I always gaze at those Pods that people use to move lately and it reminds me of Bruce Tapola's use of the U-Haul to set his show next to the Walker Art Center-but better).

What about mini crates that we construct and fill with specific work for the show-- the work doesn't have to be an art object itself, it could be a project, material and instructions--something like the kits Jeremy developed for ICRAPT--but a standard crate, a module, something to ship and unpack--into the larger crate or as is. I'm thinking of this as a start (as we're in a place without funding right now, without the means to purchase and store the larger crate). This may also remedy our constant lack of finished components that frequently freaks us out when we're doing the projects.

If everyone completes a crate, we have a base to start with and build off of when we arrive. The crates, as they're completed, will also act as documents and output to demonstrate our activity, even when we aren't in the same place as members--the show won't be just a figment on paper or a proposal, but a project in motion, changing, a chance for call and response--the crates could be shipped from one of us to another, requesting the skills of another to complete the contents. The smaller crates might even be saleable--John Freyer style--ebay fundraiser?? Who wouldn't want to buy a crate that has been to Crotia, exhibited, and back?

Also, after talking with Maggie about fundraising (I think David mentioned this in his email about the CBAA conference), the idea of a print portfolio or a book project seems like a great source of revenue and another example of our work--to be exhibited in Croatia, as a means to request funds (our ongoing activity)--especially as some of us are in the same state right now--with access to great facilities and resources. I also think a book might help to consolidate and focus our ideas. It's always hard to get everyone to participate and it most frequently happens when we're in the actual space setting up the show with a deadline. A book project or portfolio (something like Circular Ruins or The Land of Wandering) could act as a precursor, a chance to brainstorm and develop our plans prior to the actual project, but also create a great, accessible piece (there could be a hand-made version and a more easily printed/distributed version—Maggie and David have already offered their Epson).

Finally, let’s think portable, maybe a video project that would be tied to Croatia. I know we don't know what Croatia will become quite yet, but there are a few short video submissions out there that might give us structure for deadlines, potential exposure, and help us create work for the Croatia shows to boot--like Ninth Letter--maybe even Wholpin--not sure.

Croatia 2010 project brainstorms

Let's start brainstorming. If a project is good enough we'll find the money.

Let's keep our options open and ambitious and then think of the barriers later.

PLEASE ADD TO OR REVISE THIS IDEA!

PLEASE ADD OTHER IDEAS FOR CROATIA PROJECTS!

Here is a crazy idea.

I have been thinking about ports and shipping containers. See wikipedia for a bit on these ITU's, ISO's or Isotainers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Containerization

Rijeka is a port city on the Adriatic.
http://www.portauthority.hr/english/rijeka/news_07.shtml#2003
Rijeka will change dramatically when Croatia enters the EU.

What if we bought, rented, or leased a shipping container here in the states and built a show and activities out of it and shipped it to Rijeka?

Options:

• If we bought, the show could be housed in the unit itself and painted on the outside. We'd have to buy it (around $1200 each used and $6000 new) and arrange shipping ahead of time (truck, train, boat there. Then truck to show site somewhere in Rijeka.) There will be additional shipping and customs charges. Questions: do we pack a show in it-- traveling style-- or do we pack it like a crate that gets unpacked? Would there be a spot in Rijeka or Opatija or Zagreb where we could put it? What would the show be like in the inside? Could it be a mobile Moving Crew unit that we could load on a truck and take to two sites?

• This is obviously not a cheap proposition but also not completely out of range either I believe. Hopefully ambitious. I think the biggest financial issue is still getting people to Croatia.

• Rent a shipping container and pack all our supplies inside of it to have shipped to Rijeka. What if we packed it full of all types of transport-- a boat, bikes, mopeds, motorcycle, skateboards, scooters, etc.? Use these around Rijeka, Opatija or Zagreb in some way. Commute, shuttle back and forth between Rijeka and Opatija. Make videos, performances, 2-D and 3-D artwork, installations out of these activities?

• There are services where they can drop the container off at your house for two days, we load it, and then they pick it up and off it goes via truck, train, and sea to Croatia. Or services where they stop by your house for a few hours and we load it up and send it off to Croatia. Amazing.

• Buy one and move it temporarily somewhere in Croatia and live and work out of it? Just work out of it?

• Obviously this kind of thing would take some prep on our part. If we buy one we'd have to find a way to sell it back to the port in Rijeka. Not sure if this is possible. In the U.S. and much of Europe (countries that export little) they are trying to get rid of them versus shipping them back empty. These suckers weigh 8,000 lbs (3,500 kg) empty.

• Would the shipping container be an ideal format for bringing ICRAPT back? Collage work inside? Or perhaps some sort of library? Or a technical support center of some kind? Or a passport office? Could we make it into an office? (UN or NATO office, landmine office selling landmines for people to plant, Blackwater office, Halliburton office. An office trying to get Croatia to join a new group similar to European Union called Jugoslavia. Other ideas relevant to Croatia? Perhaps some of these listed here are offensive?

• Steel containers. Could we dismantle it and do something with it? Transform it into something else relevant for the sites in Croatia? Salvage?

• Best to use a worldwide friendly size of container (no bigger than 40' (12.2 m)long. Inside dimensions approx. Length 39'5" x Width 7'8" x Height 7' 9" with door size height 7'8" x width 7'5"

Other info:
http://www.shippinginternational.com/fullcontainer.htm

http://www.boxdeposit.com/

http://www.containercity.com/index.php?id=1

http://www.tempohousing.com/projects/keetwonen.html

PLEASE ADD TO OR REVISE THIS IDEA!
PLEASE ADD OTHER IDEAS FOR CROATIA PROJECTS!
Let's keep our options open and ambitious and then think of the barriers later.

Wake up bloggy heads!

Hey Moving Crew!
Croatia 2010. It starts now.









Funding ideas that people have mentioned:

1. Creative Capital grant. I think their next round is for early 2010 and concentrates on Film, Video and Visual Art. I'll try to find out more specific deadlines but their last round outlines a lengthy process with the first round due in March of the year.

http://www.creative-capital.org/index.html

2. State Arts Council grants. Individuals from various states would need to look into the funding from their state. Iowa, Washington, Illinois, CA, NV, PA, NY, MI, etc.

3. Grant support from your college/university if employed or student there.

4. Puffin Foundation (smaller amounts)

5. Gunk Foundation (smaller amounts)

6. FACE Croatia. I think we need to be a non-profit for this though.

7. Franklin Furnace. (smaller amounts)

8. Meet for production this summer-- making stuff-- entrepreneurial approach? Print exchange or fine artist books to approach special collections?

9. Other grants?

10. Other ideas?