ArtPrize - an afternoon of pure elation :)

A couple weeks ago, my sister Liz and I ventured to Grand Rapids, MI, to see ArtPrize, a large art contest.  Not knowing exactly what to expect (nor having ever visited the city of Grand Rapids), I was overwhelmed with anticipation on the drive up there.  I'd always heard that GR was a fantastic city (second largest in Michigan), so naturally I was excited to attend a large art festival there. 

We arrived in downtown Grand Rapids and quickly found a decent parking spot (which didn't cost a thing, by the way!) and began walking around downtown.  ArtPrize turned out to be even more phenomenal than what I had envisioned-- we found ourselves immersed in an art festival that had completely consumed the buildings and streets of the city.  What's so cool about ArtPrize is the fact that it's a completely open competition-- anyone from any corner of the globe is welcome to enter, so long as he/ she can find space.  Any Grand Rapids-based artist is welcome to enter his or her work in a venue in the city, as long as there is space available.  And the winner is chosen by popular vote-- and anyone with a cell phone is welcome to vote.  Very cool.

I want to make this very clear:  I loved each and every entry that I saw throughout my ArtPrize expedition.  LOVED them.  Naturally, though, I picked my favorites :)

1) Beili Liu's "Lure/Wave, Grand Rapids" -- composed only of red thread and sewing needles.  Each of the red circles you see is made of red thread woven into a flat circle and suspended from the ceiling by red thread.  If you go to the ArtPrize website, you can research the meaning behind the red threads, which is pretty amazing. 

2) Nathan Kukla's "The Alphabet Book of War."  Each page in this "children's alphabet book" displays a different letter of the alphabet -- and, where you might normally see "A is for Apple" or "B is for Bear,"  you see war-themed things like "A is for Ammunition" and "B is for Bomb."  Pretty morbid, yes, but nonetheless very interesting.

3) Luke Jerram's "Play Me, I'm Yours."  Mr. Jerram bought/ found a bunch of old pianos, tuned them properly, painted them fabulously (all complete with the phrase "PLAY ME, I'M YOURS"), and set them up around the city, free to be played by any willing pianist who wandered by.  To me, this is an absolutely fantastic idea-- aestheticize the city with artwork that's both visually and audibly stimulating.  I enjoyed walking by the different pianos and seeing/ hearing all that was going on-- groups of people crowded around these wacky pianos, all laughing, singing, and playing together.  True definition of harmony.

4) David Schofield's "Confess."  This may have been my absolute favorite.  Ever seen the All American Rejects video for "Dirty Little Secret?"  This was like a physical representation of that entire video.  A huge blank white surface, mounted on the wall, with the word "CONFESS" embossed onto it, with Sharpies and pens provided, which which observers had the opportunity to write their own confessions.  Some made you laugh out loud.  Some made you think.  Some made you blush.  And some made you want to cry.  I like interactive art (and yes, I added my own confession to the wall).  Here are some of the most interesting confessions:

No caption needed-- FiveFingers DO rock.

FiveFingers rock.

At the time, I thought this was interesting.  Now I can't remember why.

I wrote this.  To satisfy Andrew.

Some people do prefer hanging out with all guys.  I can understand that.

I believe in all fairies.  Magical.

I can relate.

This one broke my heart. 

Perfectly put.

Funny.

I believe it.

Unfortunately, this is the sad truth.  More often than it should be.

Again, another sad truth.

Common.

Interesting.

I don't want to die either.  Not yet.