Artists in Time - Be a Part of History

I've always had a fascination with time. If you are a regular reader to my blog you know that I believe we are the first generation to become virtually immortal. With that thought has come my need to explore the immortality of art itself and what becomes of art after the artist is gone.

With this in mind I am creating (or have created depending on when you read this) the first in a series of "Time Sculptures".

This first prototype is a time capsule in the form of a sculpture. When completed this will be a series of 25 interlinked 5" cubes made of fired tiles and sealed with rock grout. Within each cube will reside a sealed packet containing a written statement and personal information for 25 artists who are currently a functioning artist in the year 2015. The statement will be short (1,000 words or less) written by each artist. Each cube will also contain a thumb drive containing the work of each artist.

Once each cube is sealed an engraved tile will be placed on the cube with a date upon it. The date will be the future opening date for that specific cube The date will correspond to the artists birth date. No other information will be provided on the front of the cube except the opening date.

The cubes will be arranged with the first opening dates being at the top of the sculpture which means that artists near the top will have their cube opened in the future first while artists towards the bottom will be some of the last to be opened.

How will they be opened? I suppose that is up to the persons opening them in the future. The grout could be removed thus loosening the top or a sharp hit to the topmost tile would shatter it. Again its up to the future to decide the best ways to do so.

Will the contents survive? I can't really answer that. It very well may be that the thumb drives held within will have degraded by then, or that the technology of the era may render them unreadable. But I will seal each thumb drive in plastic to keep it as safe as possible. Each thumb will also contain a text message duplicate of the artists written statement as well as a text message explaining the sculpture. Two hard copy versions of the artists statement will also be included, one on paper and one laser printed on plastic, in the hopes that at least one version will survive.

Upon the base of the sculpture will be the following words:

"Art is an extension of who I am into a future where my physical self cannot go"

It is my hope to do a complete series of these pieces, with each being donated to a museum or art institution once completed.

If you would like to be included in the Artists in Time project, please read the following carefully:

Entries can contain whatever the artist feels is most important to them but please limit it to text not photos and keep your entry to no more than a thousand words due to space considerations.

The following information should be included in your entry:

• Your complete name (or complete artists name)
• Your date of birth (this will be used to calculate the open date for your cube)
• The type of art you are most commonly known for
• The city and region of the world you are from

The rest is totally up to you. Be creative and think about what you would like a reader 100 or 200 or 500 years into the future to know about you and why you chose to be an artist. Be as personal as you wish. Keep in mind no one will read your entry except for me. Poetry is also accepted.

Each artist also has the option to include a thumb drive containing photos of their work and further information about the artist. Anything is acceptable to be included on the thumb drive.

Once the sculpture is completed you will receive photos of it and be kept up to date on where it is located (at least as long as its possible for this artist to do so).

Entries or questions for this project should be sent to the following:

gcsartno@aol.com

Thumb drives can be sent to the following address:

Grey Cross
1915 4th Street
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
70113