We were sent a curious bundle of sticks through the post, creating a mild Blair Witch-ish tremor upon the doormat last week... but then realised these plastic rods form a key to a very cool project at Tate Modern this coming Saturday and we are in fact going to be part of Malhas de Liberdade / Meshes of Freedom.
Artist Cildo Meireles based the original network sculpture on a doodle he drew in 1976, commissioning a fisherman to make the first one from cotton thread. The second one was made of paper and the third incarnation of Malhas de Liberdade was metal mesh. When multiples of the individual units are connected and interlocked, they form a grid and the fourth instalment of this sculpture will be a social one.
Thousands of Londoners have received three orange rods like ours and are invited to come to Tate Modern on Saturday 25 October to connect them to others, forming a social network as well as a plastic one. Come see it being made, take part and witness social networking without Facebook or messageboards or indeed, anything more then three plastic sticks and a willingness to be part of the grid.
Malhas de Liberdade at Tate Modern, Saturday 25 October, from 10am. For more information, go to the Cildo Meireles pages at the Tate website.
