13 Jul ILLEGAL ART
Illegal Art was founded in 2001 in New York City by artists Otis Kriegel and Michael McDevitt. This collective’s goal is to create participatory-based public art that inspires self-reflection, thought and human connection. Each piece is presented or distributed in such a way that the public’s involvement is straightforward and encouraged. Their projects have been installed is the United States, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
In November 2018, the collective’s co-founder Otis Kriegel spoke about Illegal Art’s work on TEDx Manhattan Beach. Their work has been published in several catalogs throughout the United States and Europe.
On September 2019, Illegal Art’s founders Otis Kriegel and Michael McDevitt will present for the first time their projects in Mexico City:
• Last Word
• Suggestion Box
• What Color Are You ?
• Measure Up (An installation commissioned by < Arte Abierto >)
The four public art pieces will be inside the premises of Artz Pedregal. Each one seeks the public’s participation as an experience with a creative-collective effect.
For more information, visit www.illegalart.org or on Instagram @illegalart2001.
THE LAST WORD
There are always things left unsaid. The perfect ending to a conversation with a stranger. A clever comeback in a debate with a colleague at work. A farewell bid to a loved one. Missed opportunities to get in the last word.
What do you wish you had said? Now is the time to say it.
The Last Word, a project by the public art collaborative Illegal Art, provides a private moment to recapture what was never uttered. Hundreds of tightly rolled pieces of paper, dyed red on one end and left untouched on the other are placed white-side out within the honeycomb chambers of a cardboard wall. Participants remove one of the pieces of paper, write down their “last word”, and then replace the paper with the red side exposed. The public may write their own unfinished business or read how other people’s conversations might have ended.
Everyone is free to take part in this piece or to just read other people’s thoughts, to share, to write, to reflect collectively. The words respect the individuality but they also reveal that the experience is greater when there is collective participation. The artwork grows with the public’s contribution.
These exercises may perhaps bring us closer to understanding concepts such as happiness, sadness, desires… a moment of self-reflection one can find in art.
The Last Word will be activated from September 14th to October 12th, 2019. The piece will remain until November 9th, 2019 at Artz Pedregal.
SUGGESTION BOX
A cardboard box (45CM X 45CM X 45CM), painted in white with the word “SUGGESTION” printed in black letters on all four sides. On the lid there is a small slit where the public can insert their suggestions.
The box is transported together with a clipboard, paper and pens. The public is asked to make suggestions, propose any idea or thought of any kind, with no limitation or guide, with only the box’s invitation to participate.
Once the box is full with suggestions, they are compiled and many of them are published on < Arte Abierto > social media, as anonymous thoughts.
Suggestion Box has been carried by volunteers through three continents, collecting suggestions from tens of thousands of people, in many languages. In 2005, Chronicle Books published a collection of suggestions made in New York City called Suggestion.
< Arte Abierto > will activate Suggestion Box from September 20th to October 12th at different locations in Mexico City.
WHAT COLOR ARE YOU?
What Color Are You? provides individuals the opportunity to share the color that they feel represents essentially who they are. No matter where they are from or where they are going, participants will define who they are and how they want to be seen with a simple square of color of their creation.
Day by day the work keeps expanding, creating a mosaic full of different color tones that represent hundreds of people, all of which are linked by a physical space. As a result, both participants and spectators can admire the diversity of personal expressions.
< Arte Abierto > invites you to participate in What Color Are You? from October 5th to November 9th. The piece will remain on display until November 29th, 2019 at Artz Pedregal.
MEASURE UP
Measure Up is a new proposal. The intention behind this piece commissioned by < Arte Abierto > is once again to promote the public’s participation.
Several wooden frames will have the name of different personalities from the world of culture, science, and history written on them, and depending on their height, the public will be able to identify with them, thus creating a connection with famous individuals by playing with the idea of body heights as a sort of togetherness.
Measure Up will be on display from October 12th to November 30th, 2019 at Artz Pedregal.
