PLANET LABS, SAN FRANCISCO, CA (1 MONTH)
During my final weeks at Planet, I presented two artist talks to employees at the weekly “Brown Bag” lecture series. I showed Planeteers paintings, drawings, puzzles and installations created at several residencies on my journey as “The Nomadic Artist.” This story seemed relevant to Planet because we do something very similar: we both document the Earth. Planet images the Earth every day from space while I illustrate the Earth from the ground.
I find great value in learning about the world through immersion, exploring as many places as I can. Artist residencies provide the opportunity to travel the world at little to no cost. This exposes me to networks and systems world-wide that connect the globe. Since concepts for my artistic practice are deeply informed by global connectivity, I want to be a global citizen.
In an effort to contemplate global connectivity, employees were invited to build their own planetary puzzle comprised of 100 small paintings. Together they made visual connections forming an organic structure resembling slime mold. It was fascinating to watch how they organized the pieces one-by-one in a group effort.
This exercise led to interesting conversations about self-organization and pattern recognition. It was a fun process too, reenergizing all of us after lunch. This collection of paintings is now on view at Planet’s office in Mountain View, CA.
It was exciting to see how working together on installing the artwork was a way to connect with one another and engage with the artwork in a closer way. For future creative projects I want to make more installations participatory. This way, those who live with the work can contribute, identify and be part of the finished piece.
Thank you Planeteers for participating!