Brilliant! Just Brilliant!

The launching of the first week of the environmental project showdown of 9 1/2 weeks began in 1/17 - 1/24 in Union Square Park right by the statue of the peacemaker Ghandi.

So on 1/17, I hit a brilliant idea. I was living in a friend's pad in Union Square while he's away adventuring in some crazy festival in the Bat Caves of Malaysia. To drive the apathy away, I wanted to create something. I wanted to paint but a. don't really have my easel b. cannot randomly just set up large canvasses on my friend's living room and wait for oil paint to dry c. know how obsessive I am if I start oil painting--

So, I brained stormed a way to figure out how to be creative without any loot, without any baggages.

I need to make cheap work of art, that at most takes only one day to create, and that makes a lasting difference. That's when I connected over the web with Einstein, no not the scientist, the artist-- @Ula Einstein. Great last name, great energy, great artwork. Just one look at her work and I thought plastics. Why not make artwork out of stuff we throw away? Brilliant! Just Brilliant!

So this is who I am when I hit a brilliant idea. I don't think about the logistics, I don't sit around and plan every single last detail, I just do whatever is compelling.

I was compelled to volunteer with Solar Cookers International at the UN--where as usual during such events plastic cups were being thrown away. Plastic cups that looked perfect for my plastic sculpture. So, I stuck around until the very end of the event where a fellow volunteer, Nurunnahar, helped me collect precious plastic pieces.

When I'm creating something, I also visualize the most spectacular things. Like crazy spectacular things!!! But I'm open and thankful for the various manifestations of what those spectacular things end up being.

Like for instance, I visualized the first week to be a collaboration with friends. Everyone makes their own plastic sculptures and we all have a jolly good time having a snowball fights drinking warm coffee/tea with 20 plastic sculptures sitting on the nearby benches and people going "wow. That piece is cool" and another person goes, "that's brilliant!" and then someone asks, "why are you all doing this?" Then of course we'd all reply that we want more consumer activism, that we want legislation for biodegradable packaging replacing the petroleum based packaging that ends up as toxic waste in the ocean. Then friends who are photographers would take photos of this 20 plastic sculptures in Union Square and we'd all have started a movement. Yes! That was the vision!

But I don't recall telling anyone the plan, in those terms. I just daily wrote on facebook, and various social medias to keep everyone posted--I need red plastic bags (for my sculpture's intestines), I need plastic white wires (for the skeleton). I guaged from people's reaction and felt people don't really do things that are different, that people don't really do things for free, that some people are not really passionate about the environment, and ahem, I'm doing this on a Monday-- I had a feeling in the back of my brain that maybe today was not really going to turn out the way I visualized--that maybe I'm going to have to do this on my own. But that's okay! Fine by me!!

So 1/23 arrived. I made my sculpture in the living room, planned the sculpture to be easy to assemble, while dancing to some electronic music, talking to people, texting people. I checked the weather. Okay. Geeze that's just perfect. 1/24 is freezing with a high of 17 degrees. I invited some photographer friends to come and take photos. One said way, way too short notice, another said, will be at work, the other one said, will be there, but didn't show up, and another goes, I don't do anything without pay. Right on. Just as expected.

So the big day arrived. 1/24

I quadrupled my layer of clothes, I felt kind of like Raphie's brother in a Christmas Story. At 2:50p I set out with 2 plastic bags packed full of assembled plastic cups to the astonishment of the doorman who opened the door with a "yeah, that's weird" look on his face.

My brother in spirit, Saulius was there at exactly 3:00p--smiling. I didn't even text him the location. For some reason, he just knew it's going to be by Ghandhi's statue. So we set the sculpture in place and I stood there thinking "the cops will make me put this away!" I remembered the paranoia of my short lived days as graffiti artist a.k.a. rubbishriot, always looking over my shoulder waiting for a ticket or something. Then a policeofficer walks past and doesn't say a word. Perfect! This is brilliant!

We stood around for a little while longer and talked to some people who were really excited about the piece. I think we may have found further collaborators!

Saulius and I left the piece at its location for 3 hours while we browsed around Barnes and Noble. I had my phone on me the entire time, just in case friends showed up. We had some warm apple cider from the Union Square farmer's market and talked about writing.

At 6:00 pm. I disassembled the piece, put it back in the plastic bag and recycled.

I'm on two day rest before Week 2 preparations starts for a sculpture in Staten Island beach, and yes, I'll attempt better communication of visualizations.

And thinking about craigslisting or submitting this idea to a certain group of organized improv group... What do you think?

Brainstorming for the Staten Island Week! Join me for one of the weeks or all of the weeks for this mission, help me plan and organize, or refer friends who are into this type of thing. Thanks!