INTERNATIONAL ART PROJECT




AN INTERNATIONAL ART PROJECT

Compared with the infinite size of the known universe and the distance between galaxies, the distance between person to person on planet Earth begins to seem microscopic! We are all closer than we realize! Even so, with six billion people and even billions more species, coupled with the exponential growth of technologies that increase our separation, it is easy to feel disconnected and alone...

This project, stemming from individual community art projects and growing into an International art project, is about sharing the moments when you felt connected to something greater than yourself... maybe to another person, an animal, the environment or to any possible interpretation of God. Someone on the other side of the planet wants to feel what you felt when you could have sworn the universe was closing in on you and maybe all you could do was squeeze the hand of the person next to you because there were no words to describe, or the moment when you wanted to scream, "Did anybody else just see that?!" Someone out there wants to know about the time when you caught a stranger's eye and you both just smiled.

This worldwide collection of moments of human connectivity are encouraged from ALL walks of life with no discrimination whatsoever. This project is an extension of myself and without knowing it is an extension of you too. The principle point is that I can't do it alone.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

JUNE- "He remembered having the same exact dream as me...."



      As far back as I can remember, I've always been afraid of heights. I remember visiting a lighthouse on Lake Erie. As I reached the top of the lighthouse, I was attacked with a terrifying sensation of falling to my death.
      One day when I was about 12 years old, I had a vivid and frightening dream that haunts me to this day. In the dream, Images of the western plains came to me and I heard little boys laughing and horses nickering. It was dark, but I felt the wind on my face, and I could smell the scent of sweet prairie grass.
     Through the cover of darkness, I caught a glimpse of an Indian boy about ten or twelve years old, riding a pony. He had paint on his face and was laughing. I couldn't really see him, but I knew that that was because I was watching myself! And so, I laughed back. I knew we were on a mission, one that was dangerous and against the rules, but I followed because the lure was too exciting. We rode out across the prairie, with the wind at our heels and bow and arrows at our backs and we were free, young boys on the verge of proving our manhood. I knew he was my brother; I could sense the special bond. Laughing, I encouraged my mount to outpace him, pulling into the lead, as we headed straight toward our objective.
      Beneath the full moon, we could see them. Hundreds of buffalo. I could hear the rush, the pounding of hooves drowning out my voice. The exhilaration unbelievable. The dust rose thick as the buffalo drew in around my mount, trapping me within the herd. Looking back, I saw my brother. He shouted at me, waving his arms, an alarmed expression on his face. I watched him fall back until the darkness covered him. But I continued to laugh. How could I not? I was happy and completely free. It's a funny thing: one moment, hearing the sound of the monstrous rumble of the hooves, and then next, an instant silence as you sail through the air, still happy and free, falling to your death.
     Later on in life as an adult, I shared my dream with my brother. I was telling him about the two Indian boys hunting buffalo when he gasped in amazement. He remembered having the same exact dream as me, but in his dream, he watched an Indian boy ride over a cliff. Incidentally, just recently I went through a box of old school pictures and artwork and came across a picture I drew in the third grade. In the picture, there are two Indian boys riding spotted ponies, while shooting arrows at buffalo. 




Anonymous
Artist- Elkie Koehn, Monroe, WA   Elkie's Flickr

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