When artist David Sandum heard his local library would not receive annual funds to purchase childrens books he came up with a great idea. Invite artists from all over the world to donate a work of art, and all proceeds would go directly to buying books for the children in Moss, Norway. David used the networking power of Twitter to pool together artist’s from all over the world to donate a post-card sized work of art. According to David, the postcard size is symbolic of the nature of a tweet. As of November 24th, 173 artists submitted original works of art to be sold at the library during the month of December. I am very happy to participate in this event. If you are in Norway the opening reception is December 1st. Maybe if you are quick enough you can grab my piece…
Books Are Bigger Than Televisions Will Ever Be. 2010, collage, watercolor, ink on paper.
David’s blog post on how/why he decided to spearhead this great event:
For a while the project seemed impossible. How would one coordinate such a thing? But then a few weeks ago, I read an article in the local paper, saying how the public library had gotten it’s funding cut and wouldn’t be able to order the children’s books they needed. It then struck me this was the perfect venue for a twitter art project. And soon the idea of a wall of art work at the library, where it’s proceeds would go to charity/children’s books, was stuck in my brain. But how would I gather all the work? The answer felt as swift as Twitter itself: Have each artist send a postcard (symbolic of a tweet), with hand-painted original artwork. The postcards would then be posted on the wall and sold for 200 kr each ($32.00), and all the money would go to children’s books. This amount would make it possible for nearly everyone to support the public library, and if we collected enough artwork, enough money would be raised.
The next day I called the library director and asked for a meeting, where I presented the idea later that day. “This is simply wonderful,” she said, “Lots of people here use the computers for twitter and I’m sure we’ll get a lot of media attention…But I need to check the politics first and get permission from the local government.” And now a few weeks later, we have gotten the go ahead, and I’m exited to announce this event will take place. So this is your chance (wherever in the world you are) to contribute to this cause, and also promote your work to a new audience. Moss is known for its galleries and people here love art!
A big congratulations to all of the participating artists, the city of Moss, the children, and David!
Follow this exhibit on Twitter trending with #twitterartexhibit also follow Davids blog and Facebook page by clicking either link.
