The Great MYSTERY BUILD Reveal

When my kids were in elementary school they participated in a statewide project called "Odyssey of the Mind."  It was like an athletic team for problem solving.  They had to solve a problem and use certain materials in the solution.  I always recruited an engineer-type as a co-adviser but I loved the entire ordeal of watching the young brains go into creative/resourceful mode as well as the lessons learned in working with a team.

So when I read about the Mystery Build challenge for adults I began to salivate.  I knew it would be much more fun to tackle the proposal with a buddy so I recruited fellow artist Carmen Beecher as a partner in the project.  Basically the gig is that you receive a small box of materials and a theme and have about a year to create something along the lines of the theme using only the stuff they send.  Then you photograph it, video the process, write about it and submit.  Easy, huh?

Here are the contents of the box.  This years theme is "re-create a work of art."  The work of art was not defined other than to be a recreation of something else.  We decided that a noted masterpiece would be fun and, both avid readers, choose "Moby Dick."  I love brainstorming and kicking ideas around with Carmen was very stimulating.  I must give her huge credit however as her research included re-reading the entire novel while I settled for the annotated version.

Any depiction of Moby needed a great white whale.  Here is Carmen in my studio making a papier mache whale head over a balloon (that would have to be removed) from the elmers glue and the packing confetti.

The journey was wonderful - we tasked our brains, researched symbolism, learned new crafts, tried new tools, spent time together, built trust and learned how to make a (short!) video.  The journey was well worth every bit of time and the $35 spent.

But we are now at the destination.  And it sure would be nice to see a little something more, a little cherry on the top, for our efforts.  So we are asking you to choose us over the hundreds of other pieces submitted and help vote us into the People's Choice Award.  Any one but she or me can vote daily and award us up to 5 stars.  On November 20 the submission with the most stars wins $1500 AND bragging rights.  There are many other prizes awarded by the judges but this is the one for which we can campaign.

So click here, watch the video for #2, Thar She Blows, and click on the 5th star.  A little box will ask you if that is how you vote.  No need to register or share your email, but only vote once a day.  If you wish to jot down the voting address and do it with your morning coffee it is: http://mysterybuild.com/voting/

You can bet that Carmen and I will be forever grateful for your support....and of course, we will be sure to share "the rest of the story."

ARTfully yours,
Cindy

Still a Mystery

Remember the "Mystery Box" I received around the new year?  Where you are challenged to use the materials within to create a (this years theme) "reinterpretation of a work of art"?

My partner in crime Carmen Beecher and I have been hard at work imagining how this would go and experimenting with prototypes for our final work.  Yesterday we really dug in and made some progress which I will share with you here.

The cut up box has been gessoed, painted, painted and painted.....

Carmen has previously experimented with using a balloon as an armature for papermache (the balloon must be removed) so she starts in here confidently using the shredded packing materials for the paper and the elmers glue for the fixative.  Can you guess what this will be eventually?

 

Here's my little clay version of a boat with one of Carmen's figures in it...first several attempts to build a boat were busts: some wood way too hard to carve, the other wood just snapped and even after soaking would not bend...lots of failed attempts and we aren't yet settled on this one....

And now, a preliminary fitting.....what a long way we have to go!  Can you guess yet what work of art we are going to recreate?  Let me know....

Meanwhile, the fun of this challenge (besides the fantasy of winning $5000) is that we are forced to work with only the materials we are given....no running out to the hardware or the Dollar Tree to pick something up.  We can add liquids but that is all.

 I am reminded that this was exactly how the Apollo 10 (or 11?) astronauts were saved: the engineers on earth sat in a room with only what was available to the astronauts in space and they had to come up with a solution in a limited amount of time using only what was at hand.  Amazing!  And if more of us could think this way I bet our landfills would be half as full as they are now....just sayin'

Have a lovely Easter weekend, I hope spring finds you sometime soon.

Cindy

Mystery Build Challenge

Do you have it in you?  Something about the premise of the "Mystery Build" challenge appealed to me so I'm in.  Here's the gig:

Hundreds of creative folk across the nation sign up to receive a box of mystery ingredients from which they will construct something that expresses the theme for the year.  They submit videos, photos, stories etc about their process including a form with photos of the final piece.  All rules must be followed strictly (i.e. no additional materials may be used, etc) and all build kits are the same.  Prize money is awarded to 20 places including a People's Choice.  Doesn't that kind of ring your chimes??  I have to admit it was not the $5000 first place prize that reeled me in but the idea that we would all be working with the same materials and could see what emerged from 100s if not 1000s of right brainers.

I signed up immediately and even sent a box to my son, a real creative sort, for a little family competition.

Here's what I received:

 

 

This year's theme is: RE-INVENT A WORK OF ART
It may be interpreted any way you wish and any work of art (hint: not just 2D masterpieces) may be used.  The entry should not be a replica of the work and will be judged on the quality of technique and presentation.  Whew...there are several materials in the box (that huge hard lump of clay like material in the background) that I have no idea of what it is or how to manipulate it.  Not to despair however, we all get a "codename" and a password to go on-line and receive "hints and instructions" on some of the more peculiar products.  The education will be worth it alone, no?

Have I enticed you?  Want to join us?  Let me know and we can have our own sub-competition with an on-line vote.  I will feature your entry here...I'm in and my son is in...use any consultants you can find but just have fun with it.

Here's where to go for more info:  www.mysterybuild.com and deadline is not til Nov. 20, 2013.