So what exactly happened on October 2nd? We know our initial statement was fairly vague, so let us explain...
It all started with a UV pen. What's a UV pen, you ask? In short, it's invisible ink. Although it may look like a regular pen to the naked eye, you can't see any output until a black light is shining on the drawing/writing surface. Once the three of us got our hands on this ingenious writing utensil, we were like kids in a candy store. I think we even drained our first pen dry by doodling on books, on our hands, and even on the walls of our apartments! That, my friends, was the beginning. Soon after that, we decided we needed more pens. A lot more. Add to that three easels, three boards with paper and six black light bulbs and our supply list was complete.
Now, all that we needed were willing participants. That's where you came in! 8pm rolled around and we took to the street. Thanks to the gracious folks over at preloved (http://www.preloved.ca), we were given free reign of their window space and we were also able to set up shop right outside of their storefront. And so it began. We took two easels outside and left one inside of the store. Armed with several UV pens each, we started to ask people to draw for us. That's it. Plain and simple. We must've asked hundreds of people, "Want to draw in invisible ink?" Lucky for us, 142 of you obliged.
"But I won't be able to see what I'm drawing?!" was a response we heard often that evening. To which we would explain, "That's the whole point!" You see, our project was a social experiment of sorts. We were curious to see how people would react when we asked them to get creative. Would people play along? Or, would people ignore us completely? In all honesty, a lot of people ignored us. But, those aren't the people that matter! To everyone who participated, THANK YOU! This project couldn't have happened without you.
As the night progressed, we got excited. We decided against changing the paper on each of the easels, and in the end, it was the right decision. The results were fantastic! The layering of everyone's contributions was exactly the effect we were hoping for. Some of you drew us pictures. Others wrote us notes (and website addresses!). And yes, there were some scribbles too.
After closing the doors around midnight we started putting together our window display. Thankfully, there was just enough room in the window to place our easels side by side. In addition to the three black lights we screwed into the pot lights in the ceiling, each easel was equipped with a lamp that projected black light directly onto each piece of paper. It was reveal time. As soon as we plugged in the lamps, the window was aglow with your lovely drawings. A true collaborative effort was put on display for all to see.
Thanks to the success of this event, we've got bigger and better plans in the works. We've decided its time to up the ante...and we've got some tricks up our sleeves! Stay tuned as we'll update this page with our latest and greatest:)
-Erin, Megan & Rachel
PS. Pictures from the event will be posted later this evening (sorry for the delay)!
