Praeterita

... was actually three days ago. I didn't remark on it, as I've been so busy that I lost track of the numbers recently. And with the blogging I've been doing for Hyperallergic , it might take a bit longer for me to get to 1000. But it will definitely happen this year, and in under three years since I started this blog seriously. Meanwhile, here is something that happened today. Someone who lives on the east coast of the USA sent me the following image: It's his version of the giant luminary which has been at the centre of my two public art projects since 2010 (pictures here and here ). This chap constructed his copy from east American cedar, which he says he grows on his property, and burlap for the panels. It looks like there's a light inside it, too. As they say here in the USA: "Nice jaaab!"

On Friday night, I drove down from Chicago to Urbana, IL, with Patty, in order to get to the farmer's market early on Saturday morning. After talking to the public arts co-ordinator and the city officials who run the Market on the Square, we were allocated a a spot near the north-west entrance to this vibrant market. Here are a few shots of the market in progress: We looked the part with black clothing and lanyards that I had made for us. I also had the idea on the way down of bringing a whiteboard, to which I stuck the words "IN URBANA, I..." in blue letters. This introduced an element of play, as people could write their ending to the project's phrase on the board, hold the board up in front of them while I took a photo, and the next person to take part could wipe the board clean and start again. "Our fish special tonight is ..." Although we weren't permitted to solicit volunteers, dozens of people came up to us voluntarily to write their ph...

I ordered 150 postcards for my public art project in Urbana, Illinois, and they were waiting for me when I got back from Utah: The front has examples of endings to the statement "In Urbana, I ...". The back (not shown) has four simple instructions about how to participate. My plan is to make the first of a series of visits to Urbana soon, and hand out these cards to strangers on the streets.   Subscribe to Praeterita in a reader

I've just signed the contracts for a public art project that I was chosen for in the middle of this month. It's for the city of Urbana, Illinois, which is a small city (population 40,000) in the middle of the state. Most of the   University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a huge educational powerhouse, is housed within the Urbana city limits. Maybe that has something to do with its civic pride, and the fact that it has a vibrant public arts program. A curious fact is that in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey , it's mentioned that Hal, the killer computer, was programmed in Urbana, IL. The project that I submitted was a variation on the community memoir/luminary project that I did last year together with Patty. It's called 'IN URBANA, I ...', and the concept is this: I interview residents of on the street, and ask them to complete the sentence 'In Urbana, I ...' in any way that they choose -- for example, 'In Urbana I go to college,' '...