The Painting’s Journey is a collaborative art project, orchestrated by artist Sei Smith, that shifts the focus from the art object itself to its effect and journey through the world. First, a painting is given to a participant for one week and in that time it is used as a writing prompt. Living with the piece for a small period of time, the participants are given free reign to react and draw inspiration from the painting in whatever way feels natural, a passing glance that sparks a thought or a sustained investigation. After their time with the painting comes to an end, the writing is collected and the painting continues its journey to another home. Coming out of the tradition of painting, Smith is interested in continuing to use the medium as a process but not the resolution or end product in his work. The painting itself is never shown or pictured publicly, but the writing is available online in the form of a blog.
The Painting’s Journey features the writing of
Lindsea Bevington
Emiliano Bombieri-Morales
Michele Castilano
Joseph Goodale
Sono Kuwayama
Raghav Rao