The Black Box Project
Background:
In 2006, British contemporary painter Craig Kerrecoe started a body of work that he hoped would develop into an 'abstract-snapshot' recording of the changes, physical, spiritual and cultural, that he, and humanity is experiencing, as we run headlong into the 21st Century. The concept could be taken literally as a 'black box recording' to be played back after some terrible event.
After nearly a decade of the 'war against terror', global economic insecurity, rapidly advancing technology and increased tensions between regions, the future doesn't look so bright as we might have hoped in the last moments of the twentieth century.
Kerrecoe's work took the form of a declaration, rather than a threat, that many things, once replaced, can never be retrieved again. Once we take the step into the unknown, we can never go back. This can be interpreted both positively and negatively.....maybe we have lost what we once were, maybe we need to change to become better than we once were?
Many of the paintings completed actually featured a literal black box, employing a variety of media, such as acrylics and emulsions, hand-written note paper, digitally edited photography & decoupage processes to 'inject' a separate image or text-based message into each canvas.
The project:
Kerrecoe is keen to widen the scope of the project, opening up the 'black box' to contributors from around the world to participate with their own 'recordings' for posterity. A project-book will be published by Beautiful Cariad Publishing, compiled from the submissions by Craig Kerrecoe. There will also be an on-line exhibition hosted by Ovenden Contemporary.
The brief:
Think of this as an opportunity to leave a brief message to the future- what would be the last thing you could tell the world? What would be the one thing you wish you'd said if you had the chance? If your life flashed before your eyes, what would you see? Maybe you would want to warn the future to learn from our mistakes? Hand-written notes will be accepted as well as images or a combination of the two. Film-based contributions will also be accepted and will be included in the online exhibition. They can not, for obvious reasons, be included in the book, except as stills. If you feel that you need to write something to accompany your entry then please do so. There is no entry fee for this project.
Submit your contribution to The Black Box Project!