Prospect 1

There is something going on in New Orleans right now that I had never heard of before, it is called a Biennial. It is a type of art exhibit where the art is spread out in different galleries all over town as well as other converted buildings and also just sitting around on the street corners and on empty lots, on billboards and other places. It is all free and will be going on until January. It is called Prospect 1 and is the largest International Biennial that has ever been held in the United States. Yesterday, we went to the Prospect 1 headquarters and to the Contemporary Arts Center where they gave Chance a backpack with all kinds of art supplies inside. I think the thing we all enjoyed the most was a room with a bunch of TVs stacked on top of each other each with a person on the screen. It looked as though each person had been given an I-pod with “Jammin” by Bob Marley on it and left in the room to dance or sing or whatever they felt. Then they were all mixed together and played simultaneously for us. So what we saw was a bunch of people each alone but listening to the same song. It was really interesting to watch and you found yourself singing along too. It is fun seeing the city and all the really cool art too. At the headquarters there was a shotgun house (our house is a shotgun) made out of painted canvas that was hanging from the roof of the warehouse we could walk through it. (see first picture) From the outside you knew it wasn’t a real house but once you were inside it began to feel just like a room. It was really cool.

This morning we went to City Park to an area that is usually closed off but now they have huge photographs on display as part of Prospect 1. (second picture) We were able to walk all around this old fountain built around 1934, We played ball (third picture) and had a good time looking around. There was also this kind of creepy old tent that looks like it should have been used for weddings or something but that it was grown over like it has been unattended for a long time. After Chance’s nap we went to MidCity where they have converted paddle boats as part of Prospect 1. The aluminum pontoon boats, built by Argentine artists are rigged with big wooden resonating boxes. The paddles are attached to metal tines that plunk out a jaunty rhythm as you pedal. The boats sound like a simple instrument called a kalimba. We put Chance between us and paddled around, (fourth picture) we could change the music by how fast we peddled. It was fun, Chance was in a lifejacket which he did not like (fifth picture) but he really seemed to like the boat experience a lot. I have wanted to get him in a canoe for a long time so this was a great precursor. After we got off the boat Chance was not ready to get back in the car so we walked around the block, we had never spent much time in this area before so it was fun for all.

We are planning to visit many more Prospect 1 locations before it is all over in January. So there will be more art fun to come.