Our friend Richard, who apparently did a previous performance last year at ARTWALK - sporting a painting of a clown by Maura on his back (view photos: image, image, image) while weaving in and out of the crowds and standing silently, back turned toward the crowds, in a empty tent - wanted to do something again this year and came up with the following idea. We were to carry art work on a stick, preferably framed, raised high above the crowds while strolling through the streets admiring the works of art in the tents - as naturally and nonchalantly as possible or non-agressively. Maura carried one of her paintings, Aileen one of her photographs (double-sided), Richard a reproduction of some forgotten Monet garden painting in Giverny, and myself a collage of images taken from the blog.

The biggest obstacle we later concluded, was how and where to start our walk. Do we raise our banners in unison while approaching the entrance or do we wait until we're deep within the crowds to hoist our art on a stick? We decided on the latter and raised them once we were inside. I had initially thought that from the looks of things, we would remain fairly innocuous and would just blend in. In retrospect, I'm glad I felt that way as it helped in bolstering my courage. Once everyone's sign was up and we started moving through the crowd, it really was no big deal. At this point, the fun really began.

I think we were all surprised by the overtly positive responses we received from people, not to mention a good lesson in human art psychology and a sense of relief of not having Security kick us out. It really was quite an experience, just amazing. All eyes turned toward our art banners, people watched our parade in wonderment, curiosity, and with warm smiles and laughter. I don't know how many people stopped us to take our picture. A barrage of questions and reactions: "So what are you guys doing?" Are you protesting? Protesting art? What's this for? "Hey!!", someone would yell, "It's art on a stick!" "Great job! Keep it up!" and we would simply reply "Yes, it is art on a stick" or "I'm blocking the sun" or "We're walking art" or "We're just having fun" The minute we dis-armed so to speak, the spectator with an honest albeit whimsical response or cornball explanation, a huge grin would appear on their face and they would reply, "Oh, I get it, that's great! what a fun idea".

Here are some of the things we heard from people while walking:

-- A celebration of the protest of art
-- Traveling art show
-- A protest
-- Free the artists
-- Freebie artists (Maura's version)
-- Art on a stick
-- Self-promotion
-- Booth promotion

I believe the most unpredictable moment came when we discovered an empty tent that we immediately squatted and set up to give a performance in. Believe it or not, the moment we stepped into the confort zone of a pre-determined space and utilitary function, we became invisible! We instantly became one of many who were also in a pre-designed space, framed by their temporary environment, performing like everyone else and vying for the attention of anyone who would look their way. We were standing in a line, holding our signs, facing the public and they simply passed us by without looking or stopping, a fleeting glance at best. It was like doing stand-up comedy to an empty theater! After several minutes of this, we decided it was best to move on and to finish our walk. The second we broke the plane of the tent, art on a stick high above our heads, people started paying attention to us again - we even got a film crew to film us!

We finished our tour of ARTWALK several hours later, a bit tired and a little sunburned but very happy about the whole experience or experiment as Richard likes to say. We're planning to do something "grande nature" for next year's event and are feverishly working on the details. I can tell you personally, that I had a smile on my face from ear to ear and I know Richard, Maura and Aileen had a great time too. So until next year, Arriverderci !