Swap Coordinator: | hollyholly (contact) |
Swap categories: | Challenges |
Number of people in swap: | 21 |
Location: | International |
Type: | Type 3: Package or craft |
Last day to signup/drop: | May 21, 2011 |
Date items must be sent by: | June 18, 2011 |
Number of swap partners: | 1 |
Description: | |
"La BeautΓΒ© est dans la Rue", or "Beauty is in the street", was one of the famous slogans of the May 1968 student uprisings in Paris. For this swap, let's shut down our computers, engage with humanity, and bring some beauty of our own to the streets. This swap has a few stages, so bear with me. First, you will need to create a beautiful object. This can take whatever form you deem fit, but the important part is that you will be leaving it in public for somebody else to find, and it should be something that inspires some form of beauty or thought or passion or engagement in them, either literally or more metaphorically. So, for example, you could create a zine which is a guide to cultivating originality and creativity in one's life in an age of mass-produced dross. You could do a little painting on a postcard you've made, with a note on the back to the finder. You could make a matchbox filled with tiny found objects. You could create a revolutionary t-shirt with a screen-print of one of the original Paris '68 poster images. You could knit a colourful scarf. You can do whatever you like, but the point is that you make something that you think interprets the idea of "Beauty is in the street" for a stranger to find and hopefully love, that will inspire them in some way. Now, once you have made your object, you are going to need to go back and do exactly the same again. In other words, make its twin. Next, take your first object, and go and leave it for a stranger to happen upon. You can either leave it out in the open somewhere where it will be quickly found, like a park bench or bus seat, or you can hide it somewhere like in a library book or between the cereal packets at the supermarket. Where you leave/hide your object will of course depend too on its size. If you like, you could affix a label to your object to tell its finder that s/he is welcome to take it home, and perhaps include the slogan "La BeautΓΒ© est dans la Rue" for added excitement and mystery for them. Once you have left your object, take a photo of it in its new temporary home as a record of where you've put it. You might have to be a bit surreptitious whilst doing this. Finally, you will need to put a nicely-printed out copy of your photo, along with the object's twin, into a package that you will send to your partner. Please also include a note with your package to explain your thought processes behind both the object and the place you decided to leave it. So, to recap, you will make two objects, hide one of them, take a picture of it in its hiding place, and send the picture, a note, and the other object to your partner. Everybody, including newbies, is welcome for this swap, although I will ban anyone who looks dodgy. I will check all profiles, so message me with an explanation if you have an unfair rating or an average of below 4.5 but still want to join. |
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