The Shapes Project
Six Shapes from The Shapes Project
The Shapes Project
Working in 2005-2006, American artist Allan McCollum designed a system to produce unique two-dimensional "shapes." This system allows him to make enough unique shapes for every person on the planet to have one of their own. It also allows him to keep track of the shapes, so as to insure that no two will ever be alike.[1]
Following the present rate of birth, it is generally estimated that the world population will "peak" sometime during the middle of the present century, and then possibly begin to decline. How many people will be alive at this peak are estimated at between 8 billion and 20 billion people, depending upon what factors are considered and who is doing the considering. The most recent estimate published by the United Nations puts the figure at around 9.1 billion in the year 2050.[2]
To make certain that the system will be able to accommodate everyone, it has been organized to produce over 31,000,000,000 different shapes, which is more than the highest population estimates might require.
For the time being, around 214,000,000 of the shapes have been set aside for creative experimentation. These can be used for many different purposes—not only for fine art and design projects, but also for various social practices: as gifts, awards, identity markers, emblems, insignias, logos, toys, souvenirs, educational games, and so forth.
So far the artist has worked only using a home computer to construct Adobe Illustrator vector graphics files that allow the shapes to be produced in many possible ways. The shapes can be printed graphically as silhouettes or outlines, in any size, color or texture, using all varieties of graphics software; or, the files can be used by rapid prototyping machines] and computer-numerically-controlled (CNC) equipment—such as routers, laser cutters and waterjet cutters—to build, carve, or cut the shapes from wood, plastic, metal, stone, and other materials.[3]
The basic system for making the shapes is now complete, but the project of actually constructing all of them is much too large for the artist to finish by himself, or in his own lifetime. For this reason he is organizing it in such a way that others may continue completing them in his absence. He is also making shapes available to others, with the hope that people will come up with many interesting ways to use them.[4]
Notes
- ^ Smith, Roberta, The New York Times, "Allan McCollum, The Shapes Project," (December 15, 2006).
- ^ 1950-2050: United Nations, World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision. Data available on the Web at http://esa.un.org/unpp/
- ^ Jana, Reena, "31,000,000,000: A Monoprint for Every Human on Earth," Art on Paper, March, 2007.
- ^ Princenthal, Nancy, "Shape Shifter," Art in America, February 2007, pp 106-109
Trivia
- The Museum of Modern Art acquired 432 of the McCollum "Shapes" for it's collection
- The Friedrich Petzel Gallery in New York first exhibited over 7,000 of the The Shapes Project Shapes in a single room.