Pre-Ramble: As the campaigns head into the final turn, there’s going to be a lot more than spitballs flying. Let’s face it, we’re sitting in the splash-zone for the next few weeks as election fervor hits the final fan. I’m thinking that this would be an excellent time to head out of range, put our heads under the desk until we hear the all-clear signal. Today, in the spirit of escapism and creativity, we’re going on a little field trip. The following virtual adventure falls under the category of “things found on the way to looking for something else” (the best kind of discoveries ever).

Where are we going with this: We are going to visit an entity called Illegal Art, “a collaborative of artists whose goal is to create interactive public art to inspire self-reflection, thought, and human connection.” Basically, their work is about simple compelling concepts and invites the participation of the general public (like you and me). When you’re finished skimming over my rambling, (Hello? … Hello? … Is this thing on? …), I thought we could go to the Illegal Art website at www.illegalart.org and check out some of their work.

As a fan of the 3M company (which is headquartered here in the Twin Cities), the “TO DO” installations based on the ubiquitous “post-it-note” (shown right), are by far my favorites. It’s a bunch of bright yellow and pink post-it-notes spelling out the words “TO” and “DO” stuck to the side of a building. Passersby write whatever moves them on the little paper squares. Very cool!

To find this on the Illegal Art website, click on the word “projects” at the top, then click on “TO DO” at left. A brief description will pop up and a very subtle list of specific projects/sites will appear below left – click on any one of them. If you click on “East Village 2007,” for example, the photo shown above should pop up. A small cluster of numbers will appear top left – click on any number to reveal a photo taken at the installation site.

Well, we should be having lots of fun at this point, virtually captivated by the messages that the various participants have written on the post-its. Some of the writings are pretty straight up lists of things that the person plans to do; others are a little more abstract – …”file, pedicure” … “call mom” … “get good at juggling” … “become a better actor” (that one was supposedly written by Matt Damon; I bet Jimmy Kimmel wrote it) … “nap, samba, try not to go home with the Brazilian” … etc.

The Take-Away: There is a lot of neat stuff going on out there. In the interest of the ongoing quest to open up as many neural pathways as possible, be sure to put “check out neat stuff going on out there” on your TO DO list.

Note: You can get approximately 9 to 12 spitballs of a decent size and saturation capacity out of a standard post-it-note.  And be sure to wrap the sticky end in, or it will get hung up on the inside of the straw.

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