No artist claimed this piece. Someone made it, but chose not to leave a name card attached so all would know the maker of the piece. Maybe the artist was too shy, maybe the artist forgot. Or maybe it was a statement. This interactive work of art is collaborative - all who contribute are the artists. The original creator formed the skeleton frame of the piece; the rest of us gave it life.
Visually, the piece is mostly a neon orange traffic cone, contrasting brightly against the light brown wood frame of the piece, the light brown wood floor, and white paint walls. The frame holds up the sideways cone a few feet off the ground on a rotating pole. A stack of index cards sits on the frame with instructions to write something inspirational. People can write notes and drop them into a slit in the top of the cone. Then they can rotate the crank, stick their hands inside the bottom of the cone, and pull out words left for them by someone else.
I loved this piece. Compared to the pictures and paintings hanging neatly on the walls, this bulky artwork seemed almost out of place at first. Certainly not a piece that, at first glance, one thinks “that’s great art!” Once I engaged with the piece, I thought it embodied the idea of Terrain. The piece is unique, not one usually seen at an art gallery. The piece is made by a local, and then added on by several locals. The piece gets people self-reflecting. What inspires me? What words of wisdom do I have for someone else? The piece leaves people with thoughts to ponder after they read thoughts from others. The collaborative nature of the piece and the fact that each person walks away with a different card of wisdom embodies a key characteristic of art: how art is experience based. People experience the same piece in different ways. For this piece, people also left their mark in different ways. Before leaving the piece, I scribbled in my bit of advice: “keep moving forward,” Walt Disney.
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