CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - Do you have a message you never sent? Maybe one to a first love? What would you text them now?
Seattle artist Rora Blue asked this question while in Charlottetown for the last three weeks working out of a warehouse studio beside Upstreet Craft Brewery. Jars were scattered at local businesses around the city asking Islanders to take part in ‘The Unsent Project.’
“It’s a collection of unsent text messages to first loves. I started the project to see what colour people see love in.”
The 22-year-old artist asked people to submit the text they would send to their first love and select a colour they associate with love.
“Over the years I have collected over 33,000 submissions. As I have grown I’ve shifted my focus and became more interested in community-based installations. All the ones you see here are still anonymous,” Blue said pointing to a white wall where coloured tiles of text stuck.
Blue was interested if people gravitated to certain colours in certain parts of the world.
The different places that Blue travels have produced some interesting trends in The Unsent Project.
“There has been a lot of submissions about food, salt beef in particular. Like this one,” Blue said pointing at a text on the wall which read ‘do you still eat salt beef and watch Nacho Libre?’
“I had to ask someone what salt beef was,” Blue said laughing.
She has enjoyed her time on the Island.
“I really got a chance to be immersed in the culture here. Three weeks is enough time to get a feel for where everything is, and you get to know the people. It sucks. I feel like I got in a really good grove and now I leave on Monday. I wish I could just stay.”
Blue has done many residencies, but this one is her longest, she said.
“I’m the first artists in residence. The warehouse is right there,” Blue said looking at the back wall.
To see more of Rora Blue’s work, visit her website rorablue.com
To see the work of upcoming artist in residence Mathieu Léger's work, visit mathieuleger.ca/.
Upstreet used funds from sales of the popular American pale ale, Do-Gooder, to set up an artist residency in collaboration with this town is small inc. called the Do-Good Residency.
Blue worked with Upstreet creating a beer and a menu. The beer label represents The Unsent Project to keep the installation cohesive with the product.
“It’s a mocha porter, it has Receiver Coffee in it. I really love dark beers, and I love coffee. So, I thought I would throw my two favourite things together.”
The beer was released, alongside a menu Blue worked on, yesterday. Blue also had a chance to host an artist talk at Upstreet last evening before everyone moved into the taproom to try the new beer and menu she helped produce.
“All courses use the porter. I spent 10 years in Texas and I saw some stuff on their menu that hinted at Southern food. I thought of foods I loved to eat as a child. So, the chicken and sausage gumbo is definitely where that came from,” she said.
Blue never thought she would get the opportunity to apply her art like this.
“It was a really unique opportunity because obviously my focus is visual art. It’s really once in a life time a visual artist gets to work on a beer and a food menu,” she said.
Once Blue is gone, another artist will take her place at Upstreet as the second person to take advantage of the Do-Good Residency.
Eastern Canadian artist Mathieu Léger,who will take up residency Sept. 1-22, has participated in over 50 artist residencies. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Université de Moncton, and his work reflects on ideas surrounding wilderness, geological time, and process-related activities of the natural world.
