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Ward's letter "The Basics" feb 2007

We have been asked by the Sculpture Center to do a piece I proposed called Flatland. This piece consists of living as a group inside an unusually shaped construction that imitates a 2-dimensional space.

When I say live, I mean that we enter it together at one time on April 28, 2007, and we stay inside this construction as long as we individually want to. Our stated goal is for 20 days, but I think it would be smart to try for 22 so we will include the last Saturday, when most visitors come. But each person decides when they have had enough. When you leave the construction, you can not return to the piece.

Our ambition is to stay and live in comfort and productivity, so we will make the space as suitable for that as possible. We will have a place to cook and we will have a toilet/bathing area that is as private as possible. The rest of the construction has walls of transparent plastic. The primary inconvenience is that the space is only 24 inches (61 cm) deep. This is what makes it "2-dimensional". It will have a little more space for knees and elbows because of the way the walls are constructed, but what we are living in is a space not much wider than enough to turn around in. This is the interesting challenge.

So, this is a piece with a goal and certain limitations. Within this, there are

-facts, -rules, and -choices.

-Facts are conditions and agreements with the Sculpture Center that are difficult to change.

-Rules are fundamental aspects of the logic of this artwork. I don't want to change them because that would undermine the artwork's integrity and strength.

-Choices are things that we as a group can decide and have to do with our life inside Flatland; how we organize our life, how we can both co-exist and express our selves. Very much like real life.

Most of what I have written so far are -facts and -rules. It is important that you understand and agree with them. The next letter will be about choices, and that is the beginning of your creative work.

But first: there are not many rules. They are mostly limitations that emphasize the idea of being committed to 2-dimensions. Here are the only ones I can think of just now:

RULES

1. If you leave Flatland, you can not come back. Leaving is ending the commitment to 2-D. We all will eventually, each chooses for herself when to leave.

2. No two bodies in the same 2-D space. Specifically this means you can not squeeze past one another in order to pass by, even if you are skinny enough. it breaks the commitment to 2-D.

3. We can receive new materials, food, etc., at designated times: once every 3 days.

FACTS

A. The Sculpture Center is in New York City, neighborhood of Long Island City, Queens. This is a high-profile, well respected non-profit kunsthalle very close to P.S.1. More facts on website: http://www.sculpture-center.org/

So far, there is nothing about our show on the website.

B. The show is called "The Happiness of Objects", scheduled to open April 28, in 2 months. It is a group show with other well-known artists, which effects us in important ways.

a. the show is not all about us. We will be sharing the main gallery and we can't be disrespectful to the other artists. This may manifest in unexpected ways - like what if they say "no music"?

b. there is very little money. Sculpture Center has given us $3000. The materials for our piece will cost more than that. I have learned not to interpret this as a sign of disrespect, just a fact in USA.

c. The gallery is open Thursday to Monday, 11:00 to 18:00. After hours we could play any music we wanted.

C. Money. I believe you shouldn't have to pay to do a performance in a legitimate kunsthalle, so we are trying to get extra money. Unfortunately, each of us will carry some of our own burdens.

a. You must provide your own transportation to New York, and your living expenses in the city. I may have places you can sleep for free and we will try to help each of us as much as possible.

b. We believe we will be able to pay for all your expenses directly related to the piece, i.e. your food while inside, your "costume" and materials. Probably not a new computer or video camera. It would be good for you to bring as many of your living things as you can. We will start a suggestion list for this, but sleeping pad, towel, and computer come to mind.

c. Alex and I have started to raise money by making models of the Flatland. You may be able to help.

D. Flatland structure. Alex, who is a real architect, and I are redesigning the Flatland structure to fit in with demands and conditions at the Sculpture Center. We want it to be safe and dynamic, and very cool to look at. We want you to be comfortable, to have some privacy, and to have fun. We want you to be happy staying in the piece. At the moment I imagine each person has a small personal space, and there is a clean and private bathroom/toilet we all share, and a kitchen. Sculpture Center has given us maximum dimensions, so we won't have much space more than that. I think our structure will be 10 meters high with 4 floors. We are waiting for Alex to make it all work.

E. Essential Work. The absolutely essential work needed to do Flatland is the following:

1.-Structure: design, purchase, and construct

2.-Publicize: get out web site working and out there.

3.-Provision: plan and purchase food and supplies

4.-Tech-Equip: set up video and internet

5.- Outfit: what will we wear, what do we need for materials...

6.- Prepare your space and your self.

We will start going into all of the above in detail this week, and each of you should begin to think of how these things work, and how you can help. This is not just building, it is like running a ship. Everything is involved. There are 2 phases of this project: I) Planning/Build-up and II)Living. We are thinking about phase I now; we will also have job descriptions for life inside Flatland, after the buildup.