Monday, February 25, 2013

Repetitive Creation

A glimpse of our campfire site
Repetitive Creation was a twelve-hour event that was composed of a group of five artists that sought to create original works inspired by the building of community.  Our name, Repetitive Creation, derives from each artist’ own unique practice of making, and the repetitive elements that are held within it.  As a small collective, we intended to create an experience that engages with the public by inviting the community to view our private practices of making.    

As a group of young emerging artists we approached this project as an opportunity to experiment with new innovative ideas while still under the umbrella of an institution.  Much of our process involved embracing methods of design thinking, building our skills in collaboration, while also agreeing to adapt and be flexible with thinking outside of the traditional “Pop Up Retail Event.” We fulfilled this process by choosing to design our event in a way that opened opportunities for the community to engage with our creative process.  Rather than focusing our time on creating a retail event, we were more inclined to plan an event that bridged the relationship between makers and consumers.  In order to make this event a reality, we connected with local parks that value community events and initiatives to make our project a reality.   

Yummy hot chocolate, donated by Lettieri Espresso + Bar, heated over the campfire; preparing our display of home made objects in a tent; an abundance of dry wood donated from family and friends. 

Our artwork and items for sale were set up in a tent a few feet away from the fire, and was kept open all day to allow visitors to enter and explore what we had created throughout the duration of the day.

Karen and Sam working hard around the campfire; glimpse into some of the work we had on display; Cheyenne also hard at work.

Throughout the duration of the day, we filled our time with demonstrations of our own individual practices of making. Alongside our own campfire studio we also set up a tent with handmade objects, wearables and small gifts that were available for purchase (our prices ranging from $25-$100).  Our intent was to showcase some of the work that we were working on in the park to bridge the relationship between makers and consumers. 
 

Karen enjoying some yummy hot chocolate; keeping warm by the fire; Jocelyn stirring the hot chocolate over the fire

Colleen demonstrating the table loom to families that stopped by the park; a young family member enjoying a yummy s'more


Repetitive Creation was a pop up shop event that targeted a wide demographic of people; including young professionals, artistic/eclectic people, and families.   Our event began as a community focused initiative that sought to bring creativity to Dufferin Grove Park in an innovative way. The people that visited our event included many locals walking through the park from their Little Italy and Little Portugal neighborhoods.  We also had the opportunity to share several conversations with young children, curious groups of friends and a few individuals that had followed our event online. 

 
Throughout the day updates were posted on social media networks, Facebook and Instagram, displaying current pictures and comments on how the day was progressing.  As we braved the -20 degree weather, and when the snow began to fall a bit harder, we decided to cut the day short, ending at 7:00pm, instead of 11:00pm.  Facebook was a great way to advertise this for those who may have anticipated attending the event later in the evening – because of the poor weather conditions, our guests had already started to slow down, making  it a good time to start packing things away.


Overall, Repetitive Creation proved to be a unique experience, and when debriefing how the event flowed, we believe we were able to accomplish what we had originally set out to do.  Repetitive Creation plans to repeat this event in the summer of 2013. We plan to invite other local artists to take part in collaborations and hope to draw a much larger community presence.

No comments:

Post a Comment