If you keep up with my shenanigans online you probably already know about Guess The Photo, a little game we play where I post a photo, and people try to guess what it is. (See the Flickr set.) We’ve been doing this for about 6 months now. It’s played across Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter. Sometimes people guess it right away, and sometimes I end up giving out a bunch of clues and people get it eventually. If you don’t mind being frustrated and annoyed, it’s a fun time.
When I heard the organizers of the Delafield Art Walk were looking for artists to exhibit their work, I pitched the idea of showing the Guess The Photos images, saying it was an interactive piece, and they liked the sound of that. But showing your work online is way different than showing your work in person. I had to get photos printed (I used AdoramaPix) I needed to mount them (I got boards, blades, and such at Artist and Display) and I had to find the time to get it all together. I ended up getting a tent and grid from Luke at Beyond Studio + Publishing, and with the help of a co-worker and the wife, somehow managed to get everything I needed to display my work pulled together, at pretty much the last minute.
Now, my original plan was to make a little card for each image that you could flip over and it would tell you what was. But since I ran out of time, I ended up making a sign explaining that this was an INTERACTIVE display, and questions were encouraged. This worked out well, and as people came into the tent, I welcomed them and told them I could provide hints if needed.
It ended up being a lot of fun. People would come in, and I’d challenge them to Guess The Photo and mention that if they needed clues, they should ask. Most participants seemed to enjoy it, and it was great hearing people’s guesses. Many of the photos got the same (incorrect) guesses over and over from people. When I finally revealed what something was, I’d get an “ooooh, yeah, now I see it!” response.
The hard part was when more than one group of people would be in, as it was hard to work two groups at once, but I tried my best to bounce around as people stared at the images trying to figure them out.
This was a lot more work than just putting up some photos and letting people look at them. It was sort of a cross between an art showing, and performance art, and it was a bit exhausting, still… it was a good time, and I’m glad I got to do it.