The first story-based community art project we're launching is #100DaysofFacingtheCoast, a Cascadian activation of #The100DayProject, a global participatory art project commencing April 6th, 2015, spearheaded by visual artist Elle Luna & publication The Great Discontent.
#The100DayProject asks the question of anyone who will answer.
What could you do with 100 days of making?
Who? Anyone.
Anyone who is hungry to jump-start their creative practice, who is curious about being part of a community that celebrates process, and those who are busy with work and family commitments, but searching for a bite-sized way to play creatively.
What? Anything.
#The100DayProject takes its inspiration from designer, critic and educator, Michael Bierut, who for years led graduate graphic design students at the Yale School of Art in a workshop that he called “The 100 Day Project.” The premise for the class was simple: each student chose one action to repeat every day for 100 days. For example, one student made a poster in under a minute every day for 100 days; another danced in public every day and made a video; another student picked a paint chip out of a bag and responded to it in writing for 100 days. The action, the outcome, ultimately isn't what matters most. The great surrender is in the process; showing up day after day is the goal. For the 100-Day Project, it's not about fetishizing finished products - it's about engaging the process, and where it takes you.
How? Face the Coast.
How do you reflect your connection to the coast?
For #100DaysofFacingtheCoast we're asking friends in the Pacific Northwest (or beyond - wherever you're connected to the coast, directly or indirectly, and consider yourself tied to the sea, and its stewardship and sustainability) to take some action, every day for 100 days, based on your relationship to the sea, and share it with us on Instagram, using the #100DaysofFacingtheCoast tag.
Your commitment may be to make the walk to the coast every day, or to take a photograph of it (or a single particular anemone in a tide pool), or to draw a single illustration, or to contribute each day to a painting created across the 100 days...or sculpt...or write a poem...or a bar of music...whatever it is, choose your action that you'll perform every day for 100 days between April 6 and July 14, let us know about it, and start the process.
We'll share a selection of submissions here and on Instagram each day, and will be curating a public exhibition for the end of the project. So join us - we'd love to see what you create.
(And if it happens that you don't want to share, or don't have an Instagram account, no worries. This project is yours, to do with as you wish, we're just happy to encourage your creativity and coastal connection. So take your action privately, or tell us about it quietly, or share here but excuse yourself from the public exhibition. Face the coast however you see fit. We've got your back.)
Questions? For more information, check out #The100DayProject page, TGD's feature on Elle and the project, our Facebook page, or drop us a line at contact@routetwo.com.