PLASTIQUE--THE OCEAN SHOW

*August 1994: the birth of the ocean show concept at Creative Space Place, New Brunswick

the show rises Again! Scroll down, index below being renovated.

(This first image (minus the poem), was created by New York artist, Harriet Leonard before we even thought of the ocean show!)

Each piece created for this show measures 8 ft. H x 4 ft. W, and was done  on heavy, transparent vinyl or acetate in one case. The theme is the ocean and denizens of the deep. We have documented  the show. There are all together twenty-six artists and over 1000 children participating in this project. The pieces came from Alaska, Georgia, New Mexico, Arizona, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, Louisiana and New Jersey. The show converged for the first time in November/December 1995 in an exhibition at  Lincoln Center's Cork Gallery, 65th Street & Broadway, New York.

Our goal was to begin an experiment, opening doors and gathering artists  to see how far we could make this ocean roll. "Plastique-the Ocean Show" has visited hospitals, libraries, senior centers, schools, and festivals.

At Broadway House For Continuing Care, CARE was not taken of the show, and 11 of the pieces met with a mysterious, unexplained end. The show was removed and put into storage.

The summer of 1999, Rebecca Brenowitz from the Human Relations Council in East Brunswick called VAL to invite us to come and see the 300 ft wide concrete wall in the woods fronting the old Country Swim Club on Dutch Road, East Brunswick.

We saw in that bare expanse of concrete, a chance for the dreams of all the artists in the ocean show to rise again and expand. 37 sections 8' X 4', and another 2 sections each approx 25 ft wide for murals. Each section framed by a natural frame of bricks.  We got an idea: to create a customized fish brick and pass them out randomly to young and old and there by easily absorb an additional 400 people in a community project which would touch many people.

...and then we began e mailing the Virtual Fish Brick and inviting Digital Artists to paint the brick in Photoshop and e mail it back to us to join in a fish brick line up on the Internet.

We also welcomed fish image designs via the Internet to be reproduced at this end.

To see some of the original artists' creations, click on their names below and the hyperlink will take you there!!