Sometimes unexpected things haunt your memory. Perhaps an experience, a look, a traumatic or joyful event, and sometimes something banal. As I go through the weekend overwhelmed at the boundless events in such a limited amount of time, I explore what sticks and what is fleeting.I can't help put a marketing hat on. From a for-profit basis, we are constantly researching the creation of products and marketing strategies to create a "purple cow." Seth Godin describes purple cow as a remarkable product with a remarkable marketing strategy. Something, that people want, that communicates, and sticks out. So when something sticks, I want to question: why?
Interestingly, in researching the origin, I came across "Purple Cow: Reflections on a Mythic Beast Who's Quite Remarkable, at Least", a well known poem by Gelett Burgess written in 1895. Although it is best to leave this more as a humorous little rhyme, according to the title, it is better to be anything than boring.
I never saw a purple cow;I never hope to see one;but I can tell you anyhow;I'd rather see than be one!
In regards to art, I am reminded of Michael Kaiser's strategy: exception art + creative marketing strategies = successful fundraising. Quite similar in message, different in level of sophistication.
So why does my memory commits to Allison Hunter's Zoosphere on display at Diverseworks? Purple cow? Well not that literal, but certainly trumpeting elephants, birds in flight, herding zebras, barking sea lions, a giant toad, and an unidentifiable peeping tom-esque eye come to mind. A quick tour: http://www.allisonhunter.com/Art/zoosphere.html.
Hunter shifts my paradigm. In an urban environment, we often recognize animals as exhibits and forget that indeed, they have an essential place in our natural world. Threatened with extinction, awareness of these species does not infiltrate our everyday. In this engaging active space, Hunter video installation challenges us to rethink our relationship with them by transferring to an aesthetic venue. Is there meaning in their movements? Is there sublime beauty in the frogs movement? Can animals truly be part of the aesthetic experience? How would the world change without their existence?
The eye of this unidentified animal, although I speculate is a turtle or some sort of a reptile, shifts the players. Are we watching them, or are we the exhibit? More importantly, are we being judged?
All rather big questions that lead us to think about eco subjects and revaluate our responsibility to them. As a species, we have taken control over a almost all natural elements, and our human footprint in the world is rather destructive. I am forced to think about the environmental forces that are omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent at some level. At some point, are we worried that these will take over? I believe we all agree that there are many examples of that already in progress.
So that is what sticks. On display until April 17, 2010.
