I am very excited to share that the release of the highly anticipated Before I Die book is slated for November 5, 2013. Walls from my Small World Big Dreams event will be included in the book, including photographs and personal stories from the wall organizers. In an interview earlier this year, the folks at St. Martin's Press gave me the amazing opportunity to share the story of this event that connected people all over the world in their creation of Before I Die walls on the same day.
There are now over 300 Before I Die walls in over 50 countries and over 20 languages. 304 pages long, this inspiring hardcover book will feature countless walls filled with the world's hopes, fears, humour and heartbreak. It is an awe-inspiring "collection of insights into our aspirations from city to city and as a whole, and much more," - beforeidie.cc. Also included in the book are spin-off projects and walls that were inspired by the Before I Die project, including my Gratitude Wall.
The Before I Die book is now available for pre-order on Amazon, so get your copy right away. I just ordered mine today! Only 70 days until November 5! #cantwait
In honor of Thanksgiving, lululemon asked me to write a blog post about the Gratitude Wall I made during Wanderlust Whistler. The Gratitude Wall was inspired by 1THING and the Before I Die project, and asked people to publicly share what they are grateful for.
Nuit Blanche is an all-night art event that takes place all over the world. It begins at dusk, and runs all night through to dawn. Toronto's downtown will be turned into a de-facto art gallery, with art pieces, interactive installations and performances filling museums, galleries and public spaces.
I have been asked to create an interactive window display for a well-known Canadian company. Stay tuned for details as the event on September 29 approaches.
Today I'm grateful for.... illustration of my gratitude by MELISSA MEDWYK
My friend Ayla and her partner recently released 1THING, an app that acts as a gratitude journal. I love the idea of being able to make notes of things I am grateful for throughout the day by using my phone (something I almost always have handy), rather than having to remember to bring a physical journal along with me. Further, I love how 1THING is not just an app, it's a community. You can keep your thoughts private, but you also have the opportunity to share your gratitude with others. And each day, an artist-in-residence chooses one of those gratitudes to illustrate, making a beautiful piece of art. Amazing project, right?
Illustration for 1Thing by Mike Ellis
Inspired, I contacted Ayla to see if she would be interested in collaborating. My experience creating Before I Die walls in my Small World Big Dreams event demonstrated to me how powerful and inspiring it can be to ask provocative questions and have people answer publicly. I love the digital community of 1THING, but I'm interested in taking the concept out into the physical realm. What if we ask people what they are grateful for as part of a collaborative art piece? What if, just like the Before I Die project, we ask people to complete a sentence and share their hearts with a community on a giant blackboard?
With 1THING's support, I will be creating a 'Gratitude Wall' community art project. It's going to be installed in Whistler Village during Wanderlust Festival next weekend. Wanderlust is a festival that celebrates music and yoga - the perfect environment to celebrate gratitude.
If you're headed to Wanderlust, make sure to have a look around the Whistler Village for the Gratitude Wall. I can't wait to see what your'e grateful for.
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Update, September 1: There is now a portfolio page set up for this project. Check it out! See more here >
After a fantastic stint in a Chinatown Alley this spring, the Before I Die Wall has come down. Thank you to everyone who shared their hopes and dreams with me.
This wall lived from May 25, 2012 to July 10, 2012.
feeling oddly honoured that the project has showed up in the editorials of a local newspaper
I feel truly grateful for the opportunity to publicly express why this project is so important to me. I enjoy explaining how, inspired by Candy Chang's Before I Die project, I created an event to connect with friends all over the world in a completely new way.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the wall and shared their dreams with me and the city of Vancouver. And a very special thank you to all of the reporters in Vancouver who were so interested in my story.
As promised, I wanted to share with you some photos of the other Before I Die walls from around the world as part of the Small World Big Dreams project. I'd like to extend a huge thank you to all of my friends around the world who created walls with me on May 5th. As the photos of each of the walls rolled in across the time zones, I felt closer to my friends knowing that were each doing the same thing, together, only from different corners of the world. Geographical distance melted away as we each created this amazing community art project and shared it with one another and our communities.
Here are some of my favourite photos from each of the cities:
Before I die Townsville set up
Before I die Berlin set up
Before I die Jersey set up
declaring dreams with toes in the sand in Townsville, Australia
So many dreams in Berlin
Before I die in Jersey bringing neighbours together
Before I die Berlin
Before I die I want to fly to the moon. Townsville, Australia.
To see more photos and more information about the project, click here >
I'm happy to share that the first ever Small World Big Dreams event was a smashing success. Thank you to everyone who came out on Saturday, May 5th to help me install the Vancouver walls, and to those who helped fill the many blank spaces with your dreams.
I'd like to share some of the photos of the Vancouver wall first (I'll be sharing the photos from the rest of the locations next week). I set up walls at two locations: one in an alley in Chinatown, the other on the corner of W Broadway and Macdonal in Kitsilano. The Chinatown wall is still up, and I hope it stays for as long as possible. Sadly, the Kitsilano wall disappeared a few days after it's installation. I'm choosing to believe that, rather than removed and thrown away, it was stolen by someone who loved it so much they had to have it.
The Chinatown Wall:
photo: Erin Sinclair
nothing can happen without the help of friends
Before I die I want to read every book on my shelf.
The Kitstilano Wall:
Sadly, I have very few photos of this wall, as it disappeared shortly after it was installed. There were some fantastic responses though!
Before I die I want to:
communicate with aliens
steal my grandma's style
solve global warming
save an endangered species
count the stars
meet a pirate
Before I die I want to hug a bear.
To see more information about this project, please click here >
I am excited to announce that there will be two Vancouver locations for the upcoming Small World Big Dreams event tomorrow. The first location will be in Chinatown, in the alley behind 211 East Georgia Street. The second location will be at the corner of West Broadway and Macdonald.
The Chinatown location required that I build a structure to support the wall to ensure that no permanent damage would be done to the building. With the help of my brother (who also happens to be a carpenter) we used two-by-fours to frame up a temporary (and albeit, crude) wall. After attaching several sheets of plywood to the frame, we secured our new wall to the building using industrial grade zap straps.
a coat of primer on our 'wall'
chalkboard paint applied provides a very tempting surface for overnight vandals
Through Candy Chang's website, I ordered the Before I Die toolkit. It comes with a how-to guide, a stencil and a few other very useful items. Since I plan on making more than one wall, I wanted the mylar stencil as it's much more durable than paper. An added bonus was the letters of the smaller sentences were already cut out. You can also make your own stencils, if you prefer. The files are available for free download on the Before I Die website.
