I left at 11 am heading towards DC. In five hours of wondering around, we found only six emergency call boxes and only two of those where "active participants" of the Art on Call Project. I want to be able to write on a map and draw a list of all the call boxes with art in it. On Friday I have a meeting with the DC commission for Arts and Humanities, and they will allow me to look through all the material they have regarding the project. So, even though the first day did not give me a lot to look at, it is fair to say that I left unprepared.
One of the Art on Call boxes was situated between 9th st and Independent Ave NW. It was a reproduction of a 1990 watercolor painting by Thomas Chesterfield. The call box was painted blue with pink borders which recalled the subject of the painting: Cherry Blossom and the Washington Monument in a sunny day. On the back there was a plaque describing the work. The work becomes then a reproduction of the original work commissioned to the artist at least 10 years prior to its use within the Art on Call project. The work is then very much detached from its original purpose. Maybe it has been repurposed—like the call boxes have.
The second Art on Call box I found during my first "date" with the project was in the Eastern Market area, by 7t st and Pennsylvania Ave SE. It was a bass relief by Will Feishell. This time it was not a reproduction, but the actual work was fitted in the empty space of the box. I found this second piece more interesting, since it seemed to be less detached. I will upload some photos in a couple of days.
The empty boxes often have trash in them. One of those trashed boxes had the little Stencilman robot sticker on it. It made me think about the importance and the value of art. It made me go back to think again about the old infamous question "what is art?" In a way, I believe that the little ingenuous and spontaneous sticker, has a charm that the premeditated works of the other boxes do not have. A few blocks from Stencilman's call box, my friend and I saw another one of his stickers on the cross walk.
By walking around and looking for this call boxes, I discovered area of DC that I have not seen before. In any way, it is a big gain on my part.
Wednesday, June 22rd
I was in Washington for a baseball game and I stumbled upon an Art on Call box by Steven Walker. It was very similar to Thomas Chesterfield's piece, however it was painted in 2007.
The highlight of the night was brought to me by another empty call box. It was painted in blue with pick borders, like many of the boxes in the waterfront area. It looked locked, but at first sight, it looked like any other empty box with trash. After I looked closely though, I found that there was something in it that was more than trash. It was a plastic binder. It was hidden well, a bit stuck behind a sheet of metal, but I was able to get it out. I flipped through the pages and there was a syllabus from a Beginning Italian course from Fall 1997!!! How random! I am italian and I found it! Inside the box was also another item. I believe it was a SnapPhish carton container. Possibly pictures. But I didn't make the effort of taking it out. I wish I would know what that was about. My love believes that it could have been a time capsule that somebody was trying to keep. If that is the case, it is still interesting for me to find it. Not many people study my language. The syllabus was from Middlebury college and the professors that used it were Mrs Zupan, Skubikowsky, Van Order and Carletti.
I am enthusiastic about this project more than ever. It is a work of discover and rediscover.
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