my new installation: redux

i am gratified at the number of responses i have had to my inviatation to collaborate with me on my next installation. i have had responses from around canada, the united states and even australia! there have been a number of questions that i didn't address in my initial request so i'm going to try and address these additional questions here:

when is the exhibition?
the exhibition is still 6-8 months away, but i know i will need time to achieve the kind of visual critical mass i'm hoping for.

how will you acknowledge the artists?
it will be somewhat generic -- for instance, i won't be attached name tags to every piece contributed by other artists. i will acknowledge them in my statement, and i will document the individual pieces for my own files, which means that the information will be available upon request (or be on the 'blog). remember however, the installation is about the tension/ relationship between the individual and the communal.

what will the space look like?
currently, the exhibition is intended for a space that is quite 'lo-fi' -- cement floors, drywall and rough timbers and metal posts. my intention is to have a wall of ojo de dios, with a grouping of the figures assembled in the space to create a [symbolic] relationship between the two. that grouping is dependent on the pieces i receive and generate, and how many.

how many pieces do you want?
ojo de dios: literally, and truly, hundreds. a thousand if possible.
figures: 100 minimum. depending on responses, and what i also generate, that number may change. but 100 is the current goal.

what size do you want the pieces?
ojo de dios: i would like them to be fairly consistent (i.e. the popsicle stick template) but i am more than willing to allow for variations. then again, i don't really have a choice, do i?
figures: i'm thinking "actual size" - roughly 4" high by 3" wide - but if participants feel particularly moved to make a shift in scale, i'm absolutely in support of that. after all, it's about the response to the figure and the emotional [symbolic] responses they elicit.

again, feel free to respond with scale and material changes.

what will happen to the exhibition afterwards? and, will you return the work?
to be honest, i hadn't hadn't even thought about returning the work -- i suppose i could, but i would prefer that the pieces remain as part of the piece. however, it may be several years before that happens, as i would like to exhibit the installation in several settings (i have a "3 times and you're out" rule for installations).

some other notes:

part of my [ongoing] project is about 'erasing' the individual (or perhaps, ego) - much of my work is about hiding "the hand", the autographic signature. the art really isn't about me (mostly), it's about the viewer (and their engagement). i want the pieces to be about the ideas and content, not about how well so-and-so can draw, paint, whatever. hence the templates and frameworks -- they allow individual engagement, and even expression, but without making it about 'performance'.

how the exhibition came about is that i was invited to exhibit based on recipes for kneeling, a previous installation involving lightbooks. i just thought i'd change things up a bit...play with lighting a little but still engage the space and the viewer. i love accumulation, and this seemed to be a great opportunity to work more collaboratively, with more excess, and with 'warmer' materials. and do a little drawing. i've been engaged with other collaborative projects, but collecting a series of pieces using templates is different than working together on the same piece (which becomes much more about the psychology of collaboration, perhaps even more than the process). there are still issues about the [individual artist's] work disappearing into the larger piece, but it seems easier for people to handle (though i find both ways of working interesting).

i'd like to explore the whole notion of collaboration further. any thoughts?