 |
|
Wheel Questions is a unique outdoor art installation that tours public squares and festivals for six months a year. It invites visitors to ask an anonymous question about life on a colored card. The artist writes answers on the backs from a secular philosophy about thinking clearly and being proactive. The cards are then posted online and on the community installation for all to see and be inspired by.
In 2009, Wheel Questions toured Harvard Square and ten festivals over 4 months, in Boston, MA, Cambridge, MA, Plymouth, MA, Newport, RI, and elsewhere. It was seen by over 500,000 people and received warm reviews in The Boston Globe (2008), The Boston Globe (2009), The Boston Phoenix, Boston Magazine, and many others.
People find the questions inspiring. Seeing all the cards is proof that they are not alone. Everyone has problems. It connects the community together and starts a dialogue about how to be happier in life. Questions range from funny to poetic to deeply serious:
- “Has there ever been a boy born who can swim faster than a shark?”
- “Why isen’t their an island called Monster Island??!?!”
- “I’m so lonely I can’t breathe.”
- “How can I tell my mother I forgive her without using those words?”
- “WHY CAN I STOP DRINKING”
It inspired Sally to reconnect with her estranged brother: “I discovered that he was going in to the hospital the following week for a very risky surgical procedure. He would never have called to tell me… I was able to visit him in the hospital and help him afterward… THANK YOU. Your art does make a difference.”
Although Wheel Questions is public art, maintenance of the installation is a daily task, including collecting questions, repairing vandalism, answering questions, maintaining the website, recording and editing occasional questions on video, transport of the structure on the tour, and attendance at festivals. All-inclusive, including an amortization of the structure itself, Wheel Questions costs only $255 a day to run. For this reason, although there is a public art structure to Wheel Questions, many funders prefer to categorize it as performance art. The installation itself is designed to last for 10 years.
In 2010, Wheel Questions would like to find funding for several structures, including one that is sent on a tour cross-country. However, our primary area of focus to begin with is a single installation to tour metro Boston, Massachusetts.
Wheel Questions is a project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of Wheel Questions may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Contact Johnny Monsarrat at 617-510-4477 or johnny@wheelquestions.org.
