Small arty presents for total strangers
It started as a joke, a mail out of twenty tiny presents enclosed in matchboxes to friends, containing gifts so personal that they could safely be tracked back to me, despite being sent anonymously. Then came the suggestion that I start leaving them randomly, like a kind of calling card, on a whim, wherever I went. Two years on and I’m still doing just that. Matchboxes containing everything from tea bags, miniature harmonicas, baby babushka dolls, Spiderman knitted fingerpuppets, ten-pin bowling sets and a crazy amount of novelty erasers have been left around Sydney and the world; their contents and locations blogged semi-religiously. After a year, the donations started trickling in. People who had found out about the project started sending their findings, little gifts arrived in international matchboxes or in paperbags with tiny hearts printed on them. Boxes have been left as far as Paris, dropped into the handbags of unsuspecting women, on windowsills and in galleries. Currently there is a slight problem of distribution, with excess boxes building up in my bag as I trek from work to home everyday. So if you want a box, or have any suggestions, I’m all ears.
Tagged: matchbox project
Also by SONYA GEE
Bams and Ted pop-up store in Sydney
It’s one thing to base a clothing collection on a film heroine, but Sydney art duo, bams and ted, have taken it one step further, dedicating the entire contents of their pop up store to a fresh fictional hero every four weeks. The bams and ted store, which is currently part of the three-month Arcade shop residency at the newly re-launched Gaffa gallery in Sydney has already paid tribute to the lovely but missing schoolgirl Miranda from Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock and Grace Kelly’s femme fatale Frankie from Hitchcock’s To Catch A Thief, with super sleuthing detective Jessica Lange of television series Murder She Wrote to come in April. Read more
Last week, a bunch of young Sydney creatives were asked to describe their vision for the city in the time it usually takes to run to the bus stop, boil an egg, or listen to a decent pop song. Three Minute Sydney launched the two week Creative Sydney festival, the city’s first winter festival to celebrate and promote local creative industries. Sydney’s acclaimed but extremely humble comic artist Matt Huynh stole the show with a three minute time lapse video presentation, a speedy sequence of comics created one frantic Sunday afternoon. From the iconic Eternity message chalked on the city sidewalks to scenes from the city’s late night meat-market bars, indie gigs and packed trains, Huynh explored the places and stories of Sydney in black and white. Read more
Bababa International: curries, manicures, pooch shows
Somewhere in a Sydney park, exact location undisclosed, sits a custom built wooden house fit for one. And if you happen to stumble across it, you simply lift it up, climb into the hole dug underneath it and make yourself at home. The makeshift shelter, which loosely resembles a human-sized kennel, is the latest work of Sydney art collective the Bababa International. The trio, consisting of Stephen Russell, Ivan Ruhle and Tom Melick (fourth member Giles Thackway has temporarily absconded to Mexico and is probably wearing a protective swine flu mask at present), say there are plans to install a radio at some point to make the shelter more homely and install similar constructions in parks across Sydney. And they reluctantly offer some hints of this particular houses’ location, saying it’s located in a park in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs, past a hedge and close to a tennis court. Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (2)
Sonya said | 12 April, 2009
Hey Katie!
The blog address is http://www.blurty.com/users/matchboxproject
I love found mag! And thank you for your offer of matchboxes, I’ve got heaps at the moment thank you. If you’re in Syd, I’m having a show with the project next week at The Wall:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=75984945755&ref=mf
Son
HAVE YOUR SAY
Al Farrow just did a show with me at the Martin Irvine Gallery in Washington DC. He builds religious reliquaries and mosques out of gun parts: AK47s and Uzis, in particular. They’re really beautiful. It sounds gimmicky but it’s actually extraordinary. The newer stuff that he’s doing is extremely time-consuming. His work is very meticulous, and the beauty of the craft is a striking contrast to how instantly and senselessly life can be taken. Read more
I’m loving Josh Smith’s temporary tattoos of classic Mac cursors, as designed by Susan Kare. Put them where you want them. Read more
How many times can we play the same song in different settings? Hmmm, I don’t know. But it is a hell of a song, from a hell of a band, as that uniquely English oddity, Jules Holland would no doubt concur.
My town is one of foghorns at five am, the smell of salty air and the sound of seagulls, Peets coffee, steep hills and die hard fans and loyalists. For those of us who have been here in San Francisco for some time now, we know all the secret gems of this small city — from Clarion Alley, to Army Street, from Irving to Broadway. Read more
Epsilon is a cool game inspired by the activation of the real-life particle accelerator, the LHC, in the CERN lab in Switzerland. Read more
The pan flutes can get a little much, but I still really like Mariee Sioux debut studio album Faces in the Rocks. I’m hoping she has a new album in the works. Listen to her cover of the Cure’s Love Song below.
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New York-based designer Ryan Sullivan’s shirts are printed in his studio in low runs. His latest batch works with geometric space on silky cotton poly blend shirts.
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
A little infectious lollipop rock anyone? Feel free to embarrass yourself singing along at the stoplight. If the other drivers give you that look, roll down the windows and spread the love.
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Honest Food Preparation Instructions
Yes, we’ve all been there: the chinese food from last week that still looks edible amongst the bare surrounds of an empty fridge. But really, we shouldn’t. Just let it be. Or College Humor will expose you! Read more
Pitched as ‘Ulterior Motives in Contemporary Art’, Disorder Disorder is running until November 14 at Penrith Regional Gallery. It’ll be well worth the trip out west of Sydney: the Australian, Japanese, American and European cast reads like a warriors of street art roundup and includes Mike Giant, Ed Templeton, Anthony Lister [artwork above], Ozzie Wright, and Jonathan Zawada. Read more
It’s refreshing to see artists like Joe Kievitt who are contented to explore the beauty in simple forms and asymmetrical patterns. Read more
Cookie Boy’s creative cookie designs
I don’t eat cookies, so good thing Cookie Boy’s cookies are little pieces of art too pretty and cute to eat. Read more
Using Kyoko Hashimoto’s popular design, these acrylic earrings are made with unique hand formed sterling silver sleepers that make them light enough for everyday wear. Part of Kyoko’s collection, I Blame the Uni, (pronounced ‘oo-nee’, the Japanese name for sea urchin) and inspired by her experiences in the underground club scene of Tokyo. Read more
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Katie Blake said | 11 March, 2009
Hi Sonya
I was happy to read about this ongoing project/ habit of yours. But am sorry I didn’t see where I could read more about it if that were possible. It’s interesting and given one of my favorite publications “Found” magazine I can’t help but want to tie the two together somehow if briefly as a showcase for you both.
Shall I send you my old matchboxes to be used or do you have so many you can’t use more?
Cheers,
Katie