June 1st a little history rises at Barnes
and Noble, Brunswick Square Mall, East Brunswick, NJ. Plastique the
Ocean Show, begun by 29 artists in 1994 it is still making waves, still
transcending from one medium to another...plastic to concrete and onto
pixels, the alchemy of art! 250 concrete fish bricks were created to
frame all the pieces when the show was reproduced on Dutch Rd. East
Brunswick. these fish bricks are at the ARTYARD now.
On view at Barnes & Noble: A six ft ocean
theme print from the original show by artist Nancy Speelman,
Hillsborough, NJ and another from off the side of the wall of the swim
club fronting the property of the YMHA swim club on Dutch Rd. and as
many small ocean theme pieces from the original show as we can fit.
The artists wished to create a wave of
change. A more friendly, inviting and risk taking way of working and
playing together, taking great leaps. They did that. We are still
welcoming fish into the ocean show-animated! links to fish! jpg and gif
images sized appropriately and e mailed.
At first the pieces were on
transparent vinyl and were hung on glass whenever possible, such as the
100 ft wide glass wall at Old Bridge Public Library and then on to
Lincoln Center, NY Then it went to the VAC show right around the pond in
East Brunswick, the Atlantic City Seafood Festival, a school in Chicago,
St. Peters' High School in New Brunswick, the outside walls of Eighteen
Lumber Company, businesses all around East Brunswick. Students at
McKinley School in New Brunswick created a piece for the show.
Everywhere it went it, welcomed additional pieces and pulled in more
children. We stopped counting.
Grass roots funded! The history of the
project can be found on the VAL website in the index Plastique-the Ocean
show. Transformation and change...an art adventure. Contact: Judith Wray
www.valweb.org/swimclub/Rebeccas_wall.htm
