Box
March 6, 2008
Duration: Approx 3 hours
I've been involved for awhile with Hoxton Square Gallery, an event that's part of Time Out Magazine's First Thursdays event where galleries in London's east end are open late. It's run by the fantastic and prolific Richard Maddalena.
In March the event was part of the EAST festival promoting culture in the east end. Each month there's a theme, and March's was making a studio out of cardboard boxes. Having a long-standing love for making forts, this was right up my alley. I didn't know what I was going to do on the day - also didn't have any boxes - but found three on my way to the square, borrowed some paint and masking tape and banged together a box I would fit in.
On the front was a grid marked SPEAK CLEARLY that questions went into, and at the back was a slot labelled WAIT PATIENTLY that answers came out of, written on a piece of paper. I wanted this to be an anti-computer, something obviously lo-fi without any technology whatsoever that still answered questions and provided information, with a living human being as the interface between user and information.
Some viewers thought the box was clairvoyant and quizzed me with questions such as what their favourite colours were. Sometimes truth just isn't enough for modern audiences.
See more at the Hoxton Square Gallery website. Thanks to Richard and the ever-amazing Adrian Giddings for the pictures.