My Piece for the Art Competition-Photos

My completed project.

Flying bird man and French balloonist.

I can finally blog about my project for the Mystery Build competition.  It has been difficult but also gratifying to keep a secret.  One of the rules of the project is that participants cannot blog about or share any information on the Mystery Build project until after the close of entry submissions.  You are not even supposed to share the contents of the kit before that date.  I guess I can understand those rules.  If people were blogging about their project then there could be disagreements over whether one person used another person's idea in their project.  If people shared the contents of the kit, then people might decide to participate based on what materials are available rather than choosing to do a project based on unknown materials.  I have followed the rules to the letter.  The close date has now passed so I can share my project.

Let me begin at the beginning here.   To join the Mystery Build competition you have to purchase the current years Mystery Build kit.  Each year the kit has a different theme.  You have to use the materials in the kit to create an art project using the materials in the kit.  You are allowed to use the box the kit came in,and  products such as

Underside of the bird man.

liquid glue, liquid craft paint, and some approved liquids in addition to the kit, but nothing else!  There are a few other specific rules.  If you plan to join the next Mystery Build competition, I suggest you read and understand all the rules before deciding to purchase the kit.

Flying Woman.

I learned about this competition in late July.  I decided to enter the competition even though I was very late entering.  The kits had been available since November of last year.  I really felt under a lot of pressure because other people had several more months to begin working on their kit.  The submission deadline was October 20th, so I only had a few weeks to work on the project not months.  Since I make dioramas for a hobby, I have an understanding of just how long they take to build.  So I have been working on this project like mad.  Because the rules state that you could not blog about the project, I also had to have another project going so I had something to blog about during this time.  So even thought it does not seem like I have been getting a lot done by looking at my blog posts, I have really been working hard n  on projects this year.

Making things "fly".

The 2014 Mystery Build Theme was Build a Dream.  They left it up to the artist to determine just exactly what it meant to them.  I considered that the work "dream" has many interpretations.  It can be taken literally to mean the stories that come to us in sleep.  A dream can mean our hopes and aspirations.  To dream can also mean to use our imaginations.  I could go on, but you get the drift here.  Anyway, I decided to use these themes in my art build.  But this was my starting point.

I decided to choose a universal dream theme: flying.  In our dreams we can fly unaided.  I knew I needed to represent someone soaring through the air, so I have a woman flying over the trees.  Early cultures dreamed of flying and used bird masks and feathered wings in shamanic ceremonies to represent flight and reach altered states of consciousness.  I created a man in a bird mask and wings for this aspect of dream.  Humans have always dreamed of leaving the ground and being able to rise to the clouds and planets above.  The first manned flight was a hot air balloon flight made in France in 1783.  I made a hot air balloon and added a figure with clothing of that period to represent that idea.  I used both male and female figures because dreaming is not gender specific.  The woman is free flying to balance the male domination of technology.

Once I had the idea, I had to determine how to make it fly.  I mean literally look as if the objects were flying.  The work had to be airborne, not sitting on the ground.  Unfortunately, the laws of physics still applied, so that meant I had to be creative.  The pieces that hold the hot air balloon off the ground are concealed by tree branches.  The bird man flies because he is wired to the inside and bottom of the hot air balloon.  The woman flies because she is glued onto a branch.  Looking at it from the front, you cannot see the balance beam.  To make this come off, determining the viewing angle was an important aspect of this art piece. 

I also decided to use symbolism in the piece.  Color and shape were also considered when choosing what objects would go into the art piece.  As this is a Mystery Build, I will let the viewer figure out the mystery of the symbolism.  Go ahead, have a field day with this.  In dream interpretation, flying has some very specific connotations.

Anyway, this is my competition piece.  It is a juried competition.  There is a judges prize and a peoples choice prize.  The people's choice voting starts November 1st, 2014 and continues until November 20th.  People are allowed to vote once per day per IP address/email address.   You will be able to vote by going to mysterybuild.com.  I hope my readers will vote for my build.  I will post a reminder about this each time I post on the blog once the voting opens.

The new Mystery Build kit for 2015 has come on sale.  If you purchase it now, you have a year to work on the build.  You can purchase a kit by going to mysterybuild.com.