Triangle ArtWorks

2011 Grand Prize winner - Puff the Magic Dragon by Amy Sawyer

Everyone knows it’s a tough time to make a living in the arts. Raleigh-based artists Jeremy Maronpot and Roger Flake have come up with a unique business model based on the idea that having limited resources does not limit possibilities.  In fact, limited resources can be a source of inspiration.

Roger says they came up with the idea for Mystery Build while working on a stop motion animation project. “Stop motion animation is a very tedious process. You really have a lot of time to talk about what else you could be doing. We were listening to a story on NPR about American ingenuity and the ability to create something from nothing, and we had just received a kit in the mail for a puppet armature. It was just a box of hundreds of loose parts. We thought ‘You could make anything out of this.’”

That conversation evolved into the concept for Mystery Build, an art contest with a unique twist.  Participants purchase a Mystery Build Kit that contains a variety of sculpting media – clay, wood, wire, soap, etc. – then create a work of art using only the materials provided in the Kit.  Jeremy and Roger launched the inaugural Mystery Build challenge in May of 2011, which required that the resulting creation be based on a song.

2011 Entry "Holy Diver" by John Hitselberger and team.

They promoted the challenge online, sold kits at local markets and arts events, and even produced a quirky TV show for CW22. Game Nights at local venues and maze building challenges rounded out their unconventional marketing strategy.

Local artists find competition challenging and fun

Both Roger and Jeremy say that Mystery Build is about creative thinking and artistic exploration…the prize money is just a perk.

What drew me to what Mystery Build is doing is the combination of creativity and constraint.  I am taken back to a discussion I had years ago with some visual artists about whether it was okay to pose restrictions on artists.  One of the group replied, “Heck, if you tell an artist they can’t use their hands, they will paint with their feet!”

I asked two local visual artists who participated in the last Mystery Build challenge about their experience.  Raleigh artist, Pete Sack explained, “Initially I was overwhelmed with both the subject matter and materials.  Choosing a song proved harder than I initially thought.  I went through about 20 different songs before I forced myself to stick with one, and even then I would hear a song and immediately start thinking about how translate it into a 3D form.  And choosing which materials to use and not use

Pete Sack's "Blackbird".

was a similar process.  The materials that were supplied were wide ranging in shapes/functionality and I was initially all gung ho and wanted to use it all, but that just wasn’t practical.  Ultimately, I feel that simplicity was key in making something that I was proud of (and by simplicity I mean using about 60% of the given materials) and could stand on its own.”

Lauri Arntsen, a Wake Forest painter and mixed media artist and Robin Hendricks a concrete/hypertufa artist with experience in construction, chose to collaborate on their Mystery Build entry due to their complimentary backgrounds. Lauri had this to say about their collaboration: “As artists, I don’t think we felt limited in any way, only challenged – it was a fun challenge. We knew we wanted to make some sort of motion

Detail from Arntsen/Hendricks "Dusty Suitcase" the 2011 People's Choice winner.

happen and that may have been easier had we been able to add a motor. Given the materials available, we were able to work together toward the best solution after several tweeks and turns from the original idea.” Laurie says that collaborating on the piece added to the fun and “intrigue” of the process.  To find out more about that process, read Lauri’s blog.

Constraint as equalizer

Gratuitous posed picture of my kids opening their MB 2011 box.

Jeremy says, “We were blown away by the submissions and people’s enthusiasm about the idea and knew we had to run another contest. We didn’t want to lose momentum so we launched the second one on December 1st.”  Coverage by WRAL TV News and distribution in local stores have helped them begin reaching a larger audience. Mystery Build kits are already in the hands of participants from twenty states.

Kits are available through next September and $10,000 in cash prizes will be awarded in 2012.

To find out more about Mystery Build, check out their website.  Or better yet, buy one and get creative.

Beth