Swoon’s Musical Architecture

One of my biggest crushes is Callie Curry, the artist also known as Swoon.  This past spring, I watched a talk she gave at the Pratt Institute, an independent TED event, and I have been hooked ever since (thanks, C).  In it, she explained how using art and will to produce something unexpected can create perceptual shifts in people.  She likens the element of surprise to creating cracks of possibility in the world’s surface that can lead to positive change.  She explains these ideas more clearly and eloquently, so watch the talk yo!  You too will succumb to her charm.

This blog post isn’t going to be a mini biography of hers because I know you can do a better job of hunting down that information than I can.  Instead, it is to share why I think she’s so stellar and to let you in on one of her amazing upcoming projects.  She’s talented beyond belief, yes.  Many artists are.  But she’s also determined to do good, be it through her charity work building houses in Haiti or through her street art.  She uses her talents to creatively reach out to and connect with others.  And she’s just so damn likeable.

She is currently embarking on a new project, with sound collaborator Taylor Shepherd, called musical architecture, whereby they plan to build an interactive public sculpture in New Orleans. The sculpture will take the form of an inhabitable house with the purpose of giving back to the citizens of New Orleans by allowing them to use the house as a musical vehicle.  Watch the 2-minute video about the fantastical project here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1132047121/swoons-musical-architecture-for-new-orleans/widget/video.html

Only 2 days left to donate.

(Image of the quarter-scale model of the musical house via Kickstarter)