Nuit Blanche 2011 - Basil AlZeri - The Free Shop

"The Free Shop will challenge traditional notions of home, living archives, sense of belonging and most importantly emotional and materialistic attachment. The Free Shop is an interactive project that relies on both the structure of the installation and the artist's presence at the site at all times in order to facilitate the process. The quotidian transaction at The Free Shop is quite unique as it does not resemble typical daily transactions.On January 6, 2010, the artist lost nearly half of everything he owned, created and was given in a house fire. These events led him to question how attached we as a society are to material goods and how often we take things for granted and prompted him to challenge others to reflect on similar questions.
The artist's belongings that survived the fire will be on display in The Free Shop alongside all the new items he's acquired since the fire for the public to examine, choose from and take. Each visitor-customer from the public is welcome to examine "the products and personal items", to ask questions and choose one item they believe they have the need for."

http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/exhibition.aspx?zone=C&mapID=15

 

I was enthralled by the sentimental quality of Basil's installation, and its relation to my current thesis work. I felt like a real art groupie waiting in the the rain for 45 minutes for my turn to meet Basil and select my item. I couldn't resist telling him about my thesis and was elated to see how excited he was about the idea. He told me to mention him for my thesis...um YES! 

My patch, and the cardigan that my boyfriend got...which I usually wear. 

I attached a long chain to the patch that I got from The Free Shop and now I call this necklace my "thesis mojo"! I wear it everyday in the studio for inspiration and to keep me focused on my end goal. When people stop me to ask me about it I excitedly tell them about the best Nuit Blanche exhibit that I went to this year.

In all of the excitement I forgot to ask Basil about the narrative behind this patch that I got. What is it? Where did it come from? Who gave it to him? What did it mean to him? When he emails me I will be sure to ask him and update this post.

Basil AlZeri's website will be operational soon. Keep an eye out! http://www.thefreeshop.ca/

For now you can visit him at http://basilalzeri.tumblr.com/