It begins. Then goes on and on.

Whenever I make work, I love imagining it in someone's house. It's like an ongoing conversation instead of just talking to myself. Here is the first drawing/exchange in this whole project in its new location on the refrigerator of Austin artist Chrissie Forbes.

Since I will be posting pictures of your objects in their new contexts, please feel free to send me pictures of your drawings in their new contexts as well.

How to Choose your Object

This is the tricky part: you need to decide on an object whose image is worth as much or more to you as the physical object. Of course the drawings are worth different things to different people; that's why this is fun.

If you want to give me something that has NO value, like that old piece of gum you've been working on all day, that's cool. You'll end up with a carefully rendered drawing of a piece of chewed up gum.

I suggest that you might want to choose something with sentimental value that you have no use for but have difficulty parting with. Maybe Gramma's chipped tea cup or the rubber bands from your last set of braces. The NKOTB shirt you wore when you had your first kiss. Your ex boyfriend's apartment key.

I will accept almost anything for this project. Here are the inevitable restrictions:

No living things

Nothing perishable or hazardous

Nothing over 20 lbs or bigger than a microwave

You might think you can shock me with something naughty or gross. You don't know me very well. Also, I work in a hospital so I am becoming less shock-able by the day. Just remember: you don't get it back.

How it works

Part I Consideration:

Each participant gives me an object in exchange for a drawing of that object. I will ask you to write the answer to the question "What is the value of this object" on a printed card.

You will keep the drawing, I will keep the object.

During the opening on April 22, 2011, I will be making the drawings on the spot, “live” if you will. Each drawing will take about 20 minutes to complete. The Gallery is a temporarily repurposed commercial space located at

101 N Brand Ave Suite 240 Glendale CA 91203

If you can't make it to the opening in Glendale in April, I am already making the object/drawing exchanges and I will continue this project even after the gallery opening. A post office box is coming soon so we can do this by mail.

Objects and participants’ answers will be displayed in the gallery for the duration of the show (part I)

This project is part of GATE projects. You can find more info about those art super-heroes at http://gateprojects.org/

The Drawings

The drawings are all in india ink on 9"x12" watercolor paper.

Definitions

Consideration: 6 : a RECOMPENSE, PAYMENT b. the inducement to a contract or other legal transaction; specif. : an act or forbearance or the promise thereof done or given by one party in return for the act or promise of another

Distribution: 1 : a the act or process of distributing b : the apportionment by a court of the personal property of an intestate. 2 a : the position, arrangement, or frequency of occurrence (as of the members of a group) over an area or throughout a space or unit of time