This past weekend I went with my mom to visit her sister in Ormund Beach, Florida.
Ormund Beach is just a town away from Daytona Beach and we just missed the Daytona 500 by a weekend, grr!
But we did get to check out Ormund’s Art Gallery (located next to the botantical Gardens) which was featuring an exhibit about the history of Daytona’s races.
The exhibit had a wall with a bunch of car drawings which was covered by a sheet of plexiglass. They had a bucket of dry erase markers next to the wall so kids could color in what they would want their own car to look like.
Car Wall
I thought this was awesome, and of course, I started to draw on it for fun. Soon a docent came over to talk to me and I ended up talking to her about why I was in Florida and what I was doing for school. I happened to mention DS106 and suddenly it struck me how this entire wall of cars was telling a story:
It was telling a story about who drew on the wall, where these people where from, what colors they liked, why they chose this car over that car. I like how all of these drawings came together to form a collective narrative about the people who had been here at the exhibit, a record of their past experiences.
This isn’t just a random part of exhibit meant to entertain children; It was a work of art in itself, as valid as any other piece of art hanging from the gallery’s walls. Except this art is more unique, it’s just a temporary story that lasts until the next spay of cleansing fluid.
That’s why I decided to add Jim Groom’s famous words “DS106 for Life!” above my car because this work of art represents what our class is all about: creating art and giving it a life of it’s own.
DS106's Ride
I don’t know how long this will stay up there (the docent says the things she likes stay up longer than the random scribbles), but I wonder how many people will see this and wondering “what the heck is ds106?” Maybe they will even Google it (it’s currently #2 on Google Search)
For those wondering why this specific car and colors out of all the cars and color options to choose from, it really came down to convenience: this car was at perfect drawing height, close to the marker basket and I like these colors.
So DS106er’s, here’s a challenge for you: show me another DS106 ride, or at least a better DS106 ride! 🙂