Open Call for Units of a Dispersed Monument in the Future
(Instructions for Making Bricks at Home)
MATERIALS:
Papers of “heavy” emotional value (i.e.: immigration information, letters of rejection, newspaper articles, journal entries, bills etc.)
Bowl
Hot water
Corrugated Cardboard
Xacto Knife/Scissors
Pen/Pencil
Mixer/Blender
Nitrile Gloves/Mixing Utensil
From your local hardware/grocery stores, according to availability/depending on chosen recipe:
- Portland cement / Sand
- OR Mortar Mix
- OR Concrete mix
- OR Drywall Joint Compound*, Elmer’s Glue, White Flour (*not DAP brand)
Mold Release (Petroleum jelly, Baby oil, Pam, Dish soap, Mold Release, Hot paraffin/beeswax (candles) etc.) & application utensil if needed
Paper/Tag
INSTRUCTIONS:
1.
Collect papers of “heavy” emotional value
Tear papers of “heavy” emotional value
Put ripped pieces in a bowl
Add hot water
Let soak overnight
2.
Layer and stick two pieces of corrugated cardboard together
(Fluting should run the opposite direction of each other)
Draw provided mold template onto the laminated cardboard
Cut along solid lines
Score along dashed lines to create folds
Fold away from the scores to create a box-mold
Tape along edges (and tape again.)
Tape around the box-mold (and tape again)
Your mold is ready.
3.
Using a mixer/blender, pulp softened papers of “heavy” emotional value
Fish paper pulp out from the bowl
Squeeze out as much moisture as you can
In a bowl, mix (either one, according to availability):
- 2:1:1 Cement:Pulp:Sand
- 1:1 Mortar Mix:Pulp
- 1:1 Concrete Mix:Pulp + enough water to make a wet dough/thick slurry
- 1-1/2:1:3/4:3/4 Pulp:Drywall Joint Compound*:Elmer’s Glue: White Flour
Mix well
Apply some “mold-release” into the mold (Petroleum jelly, Baby oil, Pam, Dish soap, Universal Mold Release, Hot paraffin/beeswax(candles) etc.)
Transfer mixture into mold
Trowel the top
Tap the mold until mixture is evenly distributed
4.
Add Tag with name, contents of papers, location, date
Leave to set at a well ventilated, dry area.
Might take 2-5 days
5.
De-mold your brick
Take a photo of your brick in isolation
E-mail the photo to notyetfuturafree@gmail.com with
- Subject Line: BRICK SUBMISSION
- Name, contents of papers, location, date from the tag in the e-mail body
Keep brick in isolation until further notice
6.
(Upon further notice)
Mail brick to join other bricks at a designated address
Make a monument
Brick Archive:
Sera Boeno
Proposal for a Dispersed Monument in the Future
The project provides instructions for making bricks at home. The brick is a site of global connection with a long history dating back to ancient Mesopotamia. As a practice of individual healing, the artist invites the public to pulp papers of heavy personal effect and make these into bricks using a handmade process. For now, the project will live as a virtual archive of individual brick photos in isolation, until one day post-pandemic, they can come together to form a monument of the people.
Images shown here from the series:
- My O1B Visa Application (Individual with an Extraordinary Ability in the Arts) as Bricks, 2019
Sera Boeno is a sculptor and installation artist from Istanbul based in Philadelphia. Her research-based work centers women’s narratives and is influenced by the socio-politics of her motherland, which she extrapolates to her current setting. Boeno holds a BA from Dartmouth College with degrees in Neuroscience and Studio Art, and an MFA from Rinehart School of Sculpture at Maryland Institute College of Art.