The Spovangelist

Wristbands…
What if we were to transform these insignificant strips of Tyvek and plastic into the talk of the town? Instead of snipping them off of our arms and into the garbage after a long weekend, they’d be functional art objects. They’d provoke curiosity, thought and awareness among their wearers, and would foster friendly conversation among strangers on the street. While there could be thousands of ways to implement this concept, we’ll describe the most elaborate version here.

First a product designer would create a reusable wristband. It would feature a small plastic buckle with a locking clasp, which could be opened and closed with a matching plastic key. A clear vinyl pouch would be stamped into the side of each wristband, much like the label pocket on the backbone of a three ring binder. The wristbands would then be produced out of locally recycled materials by a local manufacturer. (Yes, they do still exist!)

Next, enter the art students. Thousands of 1″ thick strips of paper would be distributed in display cases made of reused materials. Each would include a drop box, a tin can full of sharpies, and a small sign that explains the premise of the public poetry project. Prime drop-off locations would be coffee shops, bookstores and bars, or any other such third space around Spokane.

Now for the fun part. For a period of a few months people would pick up  strips of paper, write down a line or two of poetry, and deposit their poems into the collection box for safekeeping. When a participating location filled up their public poetry box, it would be shipped to a team of volunteers for sorting, screening for appropriateness, and stuffing into wristbands.

Any organization that wanted to could rent the use of these one of a kind accessories for parties and other special events. Everything from art shows to company holiday parties would potentially be interested in renting out this unique public treasure. What a creative conversation sparking device! People would talk about the lines they got in their wrist bands at the last function and it would help strangers remember each others names.

The wristbands could even be customized to the theme of a particular event. If they were used at a breast cancer awareness function for exmple, facts about breast cancer could be put into each bracelet. Then these eco-friendly wristbands could be sold at the door at the end of the event as a fundraiser. $5 for the cause to leave with your trendy custom bracelet, otherwise the greeter/bouncer uses the key to take it off. What would be really neat would be if the buckle locks could be disengaged for resale so that the wristband would function like a mini-seatbelt for one’s arm – plug it in or take it off as you please.

The things we like about this idea are that it is interactive, earth conscious, felixble, participatory and locally oriented. The production and use of the wristbands would span a lot of different types of local businesses and events and have a high liklihood of being used in interesting unforeseen ways. Maybe Spokane could do a wristband exchange with one of our international Sister Cities. Or maybe towards the end of the project (since we have Christmas on the brain) the wristbands could be modified into ornaments and used to create a Spokane Symphony fundraising tree for their annual holiday auction and raffle. I’d sure throw in for that kind of tree!

Tags:   Community · Creative Culture · Local Art · Pretty Things1 Comment