#422 The pitter patter of little protesting feet

I don't know about you, but most contemporary art makes my eyes roll at the absurdity of it even attempting to call itself art. By contemporary art, I mean that weird experimental art that people make these days, I'm not getting into an annoying discussion about Modernism, Post Modernism or Post Po Mo you art world geek. And don't get me started on interpretive dance, though I did go to a three hour long performance by a group of Whirling Dervishes in Turkey one time – my Dad convinced me it'd be an experience I'd have with me for the rest of my life. He was right. The thought of it still bores me to tears. But here's a form of contemporary art that I like AND get: miniature sculptures. Shahriar Asdollah-Zadeh has an art project named the World Art Collective, where he creates socially conscious and interactive artworks using audience participation through social networking mediums. That was a mouthful. His latest work involves mini men and is entitled the Little Man Protest. This time round he's inviting audience interaction through Twitter, Facebook and his blog.

I sat down with Shahriar yesterday to talk about his mini sculptures. There's one bit in particular I love about them - I think you'll know when you come to it.



What is the Little Man Protest?
The Little Man Protest is inspired by previous artworks of mine from the World Art Collective where I used social networking to promote interactive artworks. This year I'm using Twitter and an online blog along with Facebook. The Little Man Protest is a series of miniature public sculptures. I wanted to take part in this miniature sculpture craze so I built these little red men, which are holding up signs of protest. They're protesting about war and peace. The quote I've used is "When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace." I wanted to stick them in very public places and so people either notice them or they don't. If they do notice, I wanted that quote to plant a momentary seed in their chaotic day, to stop time just for a few seconds.



Do you find that using a medium like miniature sculptures, when people do notice them, they take a lot more notice than they usually would with large public sculptures?
Yeah I do, public sculptures have become a part of the buildings that surround them, I definitely don't take notice of them anymore. The fact that these are little comical red men, and their body composition is them squatting, and it really looks unusual when you're walking down the street and you see this tiny little red thing in the far distance, and then as you get closer you realise these little red men are protesting something.



What did you model them on?
Little action figures my mother bought for me when I was eight. Little did she know that 15 years later I'd be using them in a massive artwork. I've made about 50 so far, and I've displayed about 20 around Auckland city.



Of the 20 you displayed, how many did you get back?
That's the thing about the artwork, I don't get them back. I place the artwork, then I document it, wait a little while to see what people's reactions are, then leave it. I like that transience where you are detached from your artwork, and it becomes free and public. If people want to take it they can take it, if they want to destroy it they can destroy it. I don't expect to have the same reactions, I could have positive ones or negative ones.



How will you be using Twitter?
Twitter along with the blog. On Twitter I hope to text to Twitter in real time, once I've set up the artwork around Auckland I will text Twitter to promote the artwork so that people around Auckland can go see it. I will also try and post it on the blog on the same day.



How does it manifest itself as a protest?
It's real, and it did happen for a period of time. When the little men do get destroyed there's a comical aspect to it, because when a protest ends it always leaves its mark, and with this artwork it leaves a physical mark because the feet of the little men are attached to the ground still, I've super glued them to the ground, so there's a commemoration round the city where you'll find little red feet.



Where do you actually put them?
Right in the middle of the sidewalk, Aotea Square, Queen St, Britomart, the Viaduct. When you set up these miniature sculptures, they're quite delicate and you're shitting yourself because some people are so oblivious to their surroundings that they almost kick them.



What has the response been like?
The negative ones have been quite humorous, the other day I set one up around High St and I came back to it several hours later to find it on fire. That's quite interesting too because a lot of protests end in chaos. Someone responded to it angrily and smashed it up and set it on fire. But I've also had positive responses because so many people walk up to it, so busy with their day, all of a sudden notice it, it's like an epiphany in their day.

To go to World Art Collective:
- Facebook http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8214654241
- Twitter http://twitter.com/WACollective
- Blog http://blog.worldartcollective.org/