Found A Box - Artist's Concept

July 8, 2004

One hundred identical four by four by four inch white boxes, tied with white ribbon were “hidden” in public places throughout Southern and Central Vermont.

Attached to each was a simple tag which read:
For: You!
If you are holding this box, you are its intended recipient.
www.foundabox.com

In each box there was a small item wrapped in white tissue--a random token such as a key, a cassette tape, a vintage photo, a recipe, etc. There were also things such as the cardboard core from from a finished roll of toilet paper, old telelphone wire,

The concept for this piece included a couple different components.

The Art of Surprise:
The first was to initially surprise people with the box itself. What was their initial reaction when they discovered a box? What did they individually experience? Intrigue? Fear or suspicion? Delight? What did the unexpected feel like? Was finding the box a positive, negative or neutral experience?

Luck, Fate and Meaning:
Another component was to tickle curiosity and generate wonder. Why was the item put in the box? Why did they find it? Were they individually meant to find it? Was a box put in a particular location -- predestined by a higher power or universal force -- so they would find it or was it serendipity? What is the role of luck, fate and faith in our lives?

Did they relate to the item directly in any way or were they completely baffled. Were they offended? Did the item make them recall or imagine another time, place, person, or experience, past of future. How did the item in the box engage them? Did it hold any meaning for them? What meaning might the same item have had if discovered by someone else.

And Then, What?
What would they do with the box? As in life, there were no instructions for what they could, should or might do. They could do with it whatever they chose with the box. They could open it or not. They could leave it where they found it or give it away. They could open it then close it back up and leave it for someone else to find. They could throw it away. They could open it, and later remove the item, insert another and then leave that box for someone else to find. They could destroy it.

No instructions were given.What did they do?

The Gift is Never in the Box:
Another element of the piece was the message that the gift is never in the box. The true essence of a gift is the excitement and the surprise or anticipation before even opening the box. The gift is in the thought that went into putting something in the box for another person. The gift is what the thing makes one think, feel, remember, imagine, or do. The thing is never the gift. It’s a thing.