Block Heads

Eric Matelski calls Flux the biggest art gallery in the world. Others might know it simply as central Denver. A local live-art painter, Matelski created 50 wooden cubes wrapped in canvas as part of the Creative Block series (www.ericmatelski.com). To ensure ultimate public access, he is placing the pieces in strategic locations all over town where any passerby can pick it up and take it home. Attached to each block is a short "demographic survey" that participants can mail in, allowing Matelski to track the outcome of his artistic experiment. When one was placed outside Westword's office at 969 Broadway, I was naturally delighted to take part. Here's my response to the questionnaire.

Where were you going when you found the art?
To buy a hot dog.

Did you notice anything particular where you found the art?
It was lying on the ground in front of Westword's office, near an indent in the building's fa�ade known as the "urine nook."

What attracted you to the art?
The squareness, the texture, the smearing of paint that, at first glance, resembled colorful diarrhea. These attributes, along with its proximity to the urine nook, made me wonder if the bums had gotten creative. This prompted me to investigate.

What do you do for work?
Respected journalist.

What will you do with the art?
I carried it with me to get a hot dog, thinking the art might come in useful as a projectile if someone/something were to anger me. Unfortunately, the walk was uneventful. Now it resides in my cubicle.

Do you have/have you ever bought art?
In my apartment hangs a Yummies print that is wheat-pasted to a hunk of particle board. I found it behind a Salvation Army in Thornton.

How does this art make you feel?
After picking up the block, these are the emotions that followed: 1) Inquisitive, 2) happy, 3) slightly happy, 4) annoyed, 5) angry, 6) furious, 7) hungry, 8) confused, 9) sleepy, 10) silly, 11) giddy, 12) itchy, 13) paranoid, 14) horny, 16) resentful 17) proud.

-- Jared Jacang Maher