INITIAL MEETUP

5 HOURS TOTAL  

Alex & Sophia:

• Introduced ourselves and discussed expectations for our partnership
• Discussed important events, possible future meetups, & duties
• Discussed their artistic practice and goals within this project
• Picked up candy bar inclusions
• Helped pick up and select the candy wrappers for their final project
• Experimented with sealing the wrappers for the final project

INDEPENDENT RESEARCH TIME

2 HOURS TOTAL

Alex and Sophia: Researched more on the project Big Rock Candy Mountain, Other Sights, children’s candy culture and the Harm Reduction model of Vancouver as well as the Four Pillars used to address Vancouver’s drug problem.

 VANCOUVER ART AND BOOK FAIR 1 & 2

8 HOURS TOTAL

Alex and Sophia: Sold merchandise and answered questions to the attendees with regards to the project Big Rock Candy Mountain, Other Sights and the Harm Reduction Model, etc.
PACKAGING DAY 1

3 HOURS TOTAL

Alex: Helped package candy bars, discussed themes of their work, and long term plans of distributing the Sour vs. Sour bars

PACKAGING DAY 2

3 HOURS TOTAL

Sophia: Helped with packaging the final product. Discussed future plans and dates to continue the project.

The role still continued to be that of an Artist Assistant, however, given the flexibility of the artists’ schedule, our roles would often change in ways to better assist Hannah and Helen with their projects. After the event at the Vancouver Art Book Fair, we thought that the rest of the partnership would include mostly packaging of the final product as well as maintaining and updating their social media accounts with the development of their project. While we were able to help out with packaging we did not engage with their social media presence as much as anticipated. Surprisingly, a fair amount of the time spent was researching on the different issues and topics that are guiding their art projects.

We went into this experience with the expectation that we would wear many hats and have to be quite flexible. During the experience we learned about the process of designing, packaging, and distributing a product. Further than the technical skill involved we learned about how to engage with communities about difficult topics through art and education. We came away with an incredible amount of information about working with children and how to have conversations about access, choice, and the harm reduction model. A major idea that we both came away with was participation as art and the value in coming together with large groups of people to engage in discourse and be able to yield a sort of final product. We came away affirming the merits of expanding circles and going out into our community for resources, participation, and experience.

When we wrapped up with this semester, there was a remaining batch of candy bars left to package. During our last meetup we discussed the possibility of packaging in the new year on a volunteer basis to complete the BRCM project.

 

Artist Assistant

September-December

Assistants to Helen Reed and Hannah Jickling

• Researched relevant topics and issues concerning project in order to effectively communicate with the public
• Provided detail oriented craftsmanship within packaging process of the product
• Provided assistance at the Vancouver Art and Book Fair by way of sales and offering information to attendees
• Documented the process with photography