The ongoing adventures of an art drop….

You see, one of the most important parts of this year-long #365ArtDrops piece is the interaction and the posts from other people on social media, that’s why the hashtag is part of the title and that’s why it is all posted on Tumblr, Facebook, Ello and Twitter.  The news of the pieces being found and who has them and where they’re going and what has happened to them and such

So today I thank a man who goes under the social media name of NoLionsInEngland for posting a photo and telling us of the adventure that part 258 has been on.

We left the part in question hanging on a wall at the top of Brick Lane, not far from Stolen Space gallery last Thursday evening after a visit to the opening on Ben Eine’s new show. Sometimes a piece is left and we hear nothing more, sometimes we find out.  This morning photos of the piece hanging on the wall inside a rather fine East London cafe on Fashion Street called Joe’s Kid was posted on Facebook by No Lions.

It appears that the cafe called Joe’s Kid is run by Joe’s kid Dani, there’s a great painting of Dani and her dad on the side of the cafe, the work of my next door neighbour Jimmy C (what a small world it is) see Jimmy’s painting of Joe’s Kid and some recent coverage of the Jimmy C show at Lollipop gallery via the Organ pages.  You see we were on the way to have a second look at Jimmy C’s show the other week and on the way left another part of the #365ArtDrops piece hanging on the scaffolding outside Joe’s Kid cafe, and Dani, owner of said cafe (are you keeping up here?) was rather taken by the piece we left on the scaffolding. Appears she became aware of the piece on the scaffolding when it was found by an Australian girl on a street art walking tour being led by the aforementioned Mr NoLions a couple of weeks ago. The piece, part 249, painted on a piece of hardwood picked up while helping to clear a garden for someone, had been left on the scaffolding on the first Thursday evening of October and found the next day by the “absolutely thrilled young girl” on the street art walking tour a couple of days later.  Dani was apparently disappointed to have missed out on the piece hanging outside her cafe and so when Mr NoLions found another piece, the piece hanging not far from Stolen Space gallery at the top of Brick Lane, he took it off the wall (as we encourage people to take the pieces, that;s what this is all about, paintings that people can take), and gallantly offered it to Dani in her fine cafe

“The glam location was Joe’s Kid preferred spot. I offered it to Dani there because she was quite taken by the idea and the art when we found one on the scaffolding outside her caff which went to an absolutely thrilled young girl” 

The glam location referred to is the toilet of the cafe, Dani now has the piece hanging in her loo – .the perfect piece to hang a piece of art if you ask me. (that’s at least four pieces hanging in eating establishments now,  wonder if I’m ever going to get a free cup of coffee out of this?).  And so one piece left outside a cafe ends up in Australia, a second piece hung somewhere else in East London ends up in the cafe.  Shall I complicate the tale and bring up the piece I left next to Joe’s Kid about a month earlier back at the start of September? Part 218 was left by Joe’s kid one night at the stat of September and found and taken that same night by someone who left a message on social media to say she had found it and that she had been looking out for a piece all year. 

Interaction, using the hashtags and photos of people with the pieces are what this #365Artdrops thing is all about, big thanks to all those taking part.   Meanwhile the latest piece dropped was part 261, left outside Donlon Books underneath an Invader in the Sunday morning sun of yesterday…