Excess: The Suitcase Show
Why just view a performance, when you can interact with it and participate? As intended by the performers, of course. As part of the Auckland Fringe Festival, Conrad Coom and Ed made their way down Queen Street with 100 suitcases in tow. I took their word for it as I lost count at 80.
Upon stumbling across their stack of suitcases, I couldn't resist, I had to join in this piece of interactive art. They'd stopped briefly just outside Aotea Square with the suitcases lined up in almost a grid but as they were all different shapes, sizes and colours, it was visually very interesting: each time you looked, you saw something new.
I chatted to Ed for a while, inquiring of their journey. They hoped to eventually make their way down to Britomart and catch a train back home to Wellington but for now, they wanted to lock up the suitcases in the Town Hall for safekeeping overnight.
So with the help of many interested passerbys like myself, we then carried on the journey creating a line of suitcases up the stairs, along the footpath and the road (which was closed off at the time). So at once the suitcases were transformed into what was yet another very visually attractive arrangement snaking it's way up Queen Street. Once the chain was completed, they were compiled again, this time upwards into a circluar shaped fort.
At it's simplest level, it can be read as the commonly used metaphor of emotional and personal 'baggage' which we each carry with us which for whatever reason at times go into 'Excess'. Where the two lone men were overwhelmed by the vast quantity of suitcases, it was the interactive aspect of the performance which enabled the performance to happen and the baggage to be shifted. That is to say, it is easier to deal with our troubles with the help of those who are willing to share the load.
Another message which is good to take away is that of altruism. A selfless deed to help out even a complete stranger in need can have far reaching effects and is a quality perhaps not exercised enough. Even when just one person joined in to help out, other viewers then felt compelled to make the shift from viewer to participant and by doing so, is forced to engage with the work, think about it, and take away meaning, however they choose to interpret it.
This seemed to fit so perfectly following the previous weeks' acitivities of the first week of the BCT. We explored different ways of exploring, navigating and interacting with the city and with each other and this was yet another example of the infinite ways to journey from point A to B and meet people along the way. When we made the journey from Britomart to Aotea square, our route was defined by the protocol we had created. Likewise, the route Conrad and Ed take from Aotea Square to Britomart is defined by the protocol required to transport their suitcases also.
I have found that a lot of people don't actively make an effort to view art, arguing that they have never studied it and don't understand it so can't engage with it. I studied art history last year and rather than learning how to understand art, I learnt how to approach and read it. Exactly what constitutes as art is a heated and ongoing debate but what I like is that these temporary sculpture and interactive art exhibits help break down traditional mindsets of people that art should just be something you see in a gallery and can't physically interact with. I think that to overcome this mindset, people need to be shown different ways to approach and interact with art. So this fittingly brings me to a quote by one of my favourite artists, Claes Oldenburg, "I am for an art...that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum."
I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this event, it was definitely something a little out of the ordinary. I will add that, thankfully, the bags were in fact empty. And they say that girls overpack!
Why just view a performance, when you can interact with it and participate? As intended by the performers, of course. As part of the Auckland Fringe Festival, Conrad Coom and Ed made their way down Queen Street with 100 suitcases in tow. I took their word for it as I lost count at 80.
Upon stumbling across their stack of suitcases, I couldn't resist, I had to join in this piece of interactive art. They'd stopped briefly just outside Aotea Square with the suitcases lined up in almost a grid but as they were all different shapes, sizes and colours, it was visually very interesting: each time you looked, you saw something new.
I chatted to Ed for a while, inquiring of their journey. They hoped to eventually make their way down to Britomart and catch a train back home to Wellington but for now, they wanted to lock up the suitcases in the Town Hall for safekeeping overnight.
So with the help of many interested passerbys like myself, we then carried on the journey creating a line of suitcases up the stairs, along the footpath and the road (which was closed off at the time). So at once the suitcases were transformed into what was yet another very visually attractive arrangement snaking it's way up Queen Street. Once the chain was completed, they were compiled again, this time upwards into a circluar shaped fort.
At it's simplest level, it can be read as the commonly used metaphor of emotional and personal 'baggage' which we each carry with us which for whatever reason at times go into 'Excess'. Where the two lone men were overwhelmed by the vast quantity of suitcases, it was the interactive aspect of the performance which enabled the performance to happen and the baggage to be shifted. That is to say, it is easier to deal with our troubles with the help of those who are willing to share the load.
Another message which is good to take away is that of altruism. A selfless deed to help out even a complete stranger in need can have far reaching effects and is a quality perhaps not exercised enough. Even when just one person joined in to help out, other viewers then felt compelled to make the shift from viewer to participant and by doing so, is forced to engage with the work, think about it, and take away meaning, however they choose to interpret it.
This seemed to fit so perfectly following the previous weeks' acitivities of the first week of the BCT. We explored different ways of exploring, navigating and interacting with the city and with each other and this was yet another example of the infinite ways to journey from point A to B and meet people along the way. When we made the journey from Britomart to Aotea square, our route was defined by the protocol we had created. Likewise, the route Conrad and Ed take from Aotea Square to Britomart is defined by the protocol required to transport their suitcases also.
I have found that a lot of people don't actively make an effort to view art, arguing that they have never studied it and don't understand it so can't engage with it. I studied art history last year and rather than learning how to understand art, I learnt how to approach and read it. Exactly what constitutes as art is a heated and ongoing debate but what I like is that these temporary sculpture and interactive art exhibits help break down traditional mindsets of people that art should just be something you see in a gallery and can't physically interact with. I think that to overcome this mindset, people need to be shown different ways to approach and interact with art. So this fittingly brings me to a quote by one of my favourite artists, Claes Oldenburg, "I am for an art...that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum."
I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this event, it was definitely something a little out of the ordinary. I will add that, thankfully, the bags were in fact empty. And they say that girls overpack!
I saw this but i just passed it by- your right people don't actively want to view art but from now on im going to make an effort. Congrat on your first event you lucky thing!!
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