SPACES Detour: Color Comment[ary] 8

Neither Lauren nor I were at the opening. She, of course, was still traveling west, having made it to Colorado by Friday night. I was down with a 24-hour bug of some sort, in bed most of the day. I stopped by the gallery today to check out the post opening state of things... All the fireworks are gone. Marilyn told me that they created a waiver for everyone to read (not sign). Lots of stars posted on the map. Nicely designed color commentary booklets to go with the pieces. Marilyn promises to pass on pictures of the distribution of the fireworks for posting later... More to come...

SPACES Detour: Color Comment[ary] 7

Things are falling into place for Lauren's piece, even as the distance between her and Cleveland increases. I spoke to her friend Scott today, who said the process of working with her on the installation has been interesting, challenging, even with cell phone pictures and text messages. Despite these complexities, Lauren's friends made significant headway in 24 hours. All of the fireworks are fully assembled and displayed, the map has been moved from the west to the east wall of the gallery, and--most notably--the billboard/sign advertising the fireworks-spectacle now hangs in SPACES' vestibule. Still some clean up to do, but the amount of work left at this point seems to be negligible.

With the exhibition opening and fireworks give-away less than 24 hours away this is good news...

SPACES Detour: Color Comment[ary] 6

Stopped by SPACES this afternoon at around 4 p.m. to check out the progress on the piece sans Lauren. Lots of evidence of change, but no friend assistants on site to talk process with (hoping to connect with Lauren's friend Scott, who called me tonight to see if we could touch base tomorrow at some point).

The pictures (right) detail the state of the piece/fireworks stand as it stood this afternoon. Lauren's friends/assistants still need to work out some minor details (i.e. will the map documenting participants' spectacles stay where it is currently hung?), and they need to finish prepping the fireworks/launcher packages (which look really great -- pics to come tomorrow).

Hoping to also talk to Lauren later tonight or tomorrow...

SPACES Detour: Comment[ary] 5

Lauren and I didn't talk today (Tuesday)... her day was no doubt very full with trying to wrap up what she could at the gallery, pack, and get on the road for a two-month cross-country trek.

I sent her a text at around 9:20 p.m. asking if she got everything done in time to leave today. At 9:27 p.m. she replied: "Yep, in Indiana."

I'll stop by SPACES tomorrow to see how the fireworks stand looks. We plan to talk more via phone about the process as she finalizes last minute project details from the road.

SPACES Detour: Color Comment[ary] 4

Lauren's fireworks stand is coming along (see pics at right from 4:15 p.m. today).
Lauren went to the library and got a copy of Cleveland/Cuyahoga County so that firework participants could mark where they will be/were when they set off their fireworks. This component of the piece will be used in lieu of Lauren telling people where they should/could go to launch their fireworks. She decided on a date and time: June 4 at 9:30 p.m. She also claimed a domain name for the project (www.thespectacularcleveland.com) so that launchers can post documentation of their launch.
Lauren decided that the map element made for less restrictions on the project participants and left the interpretation more open and less connected to Cleveland and the initial idea of referencing the renaissance of blighted downtown neighborhoods/regions. "It can now be read as a positive gesture... you don't have to reflect on negativity to be hopeful," she explains.
I told her that I thought it's interesting that she's been charged to create a spectacle, yet she's not going to be at the opening when the spectacle is itself launched. Lauren said she sees herself as more of a facilitator. Her friend Jon Sommer from Chicago will be in town on Friday and she's asked him to work the fireworks booth (along with another friend, who's yet to be committed).
She wants some excitement around the distribution of the fireworks, so she'd like people to wait in line to get them. The plan is to have the fireworks stand open a half and hour after the gallery opens... the buzz will be that "supplies are limited."
She and her friend/assistants are packaging the fireworks in their PVC launchers, which they are painting sky/light blue with white bases. They've also scanned and printed the safety instructions from the fireworks packaging. "People may not be familiar with how the fireworks work, so the safety instructions will help," she explains. "Also, the packaging will help alleviate the temptation to light the fuses that night."
We talked about what sort of presence my commentary will have in the gallery. I tell her that I thought about having a laptop there with my blog up at the opening. And we also talked of just having the posts and photos printed and put in a binder. I think we're leaning toward the latter. Something nice about having paper copies of a blog, which is never static.
Lauren's leaving for a two-month trip across the country tomorrow at 12 noon. We plan to talk while she's on the road.

SPACES Detour: Color Comment[ary] 3

Just off the phone with Lauren (10:03 p.m. Sunday)... she's been working at SPACES since 6:18 p.m. (she texted me: "In at spaces") and has several friends helping her build the fireworks stand. They got the frame done tonight and are planning to put on the awning and paint the top of the stand this evening.

Lauren has 96 fireworks and plans to test at least one, leaving 90-95 to give out to participants on opening night. She bought PVC pipe to use as the launching device for each of the firework units. This pipe must also be cut into 95 pieces.

She's swamped with work and leaving town on Tuesday ("I still have to pack sometime tomorrow," she tells me). But Lauren seems outwardly calm. She can sleep later in the week...

SPACES Detour: Color Comment[ary] 2

Lauren's first shopping excursion is a success. I receive the following email message from her today:

"2 pics attached. I got buy 1 get 1 free, 8 packs, 12 shots each, total of 96 fireworks! big ones! from Prism in Edinburg, OH. $215 sorry pics are huge..."

http://www.prismfireworks.com/locations.html

(The cropped/resized images are at right.)

She visits SPACES again today to further assess the materials situation. Lauren tells me a trip to Home Depot may be in order. I plan to get the full report tomorrow...