What would you say if someone asked you to complete the phrase, “Before I die . . .”?
And who would you tell? Friends? Family? Or . . . a giant blackboard?
Vancouverites are being invited to publicly share their bucket lists on a blackboard the length of a city block.
The public art project, installed in an alley between Keefer and East Georgia Streets by Vancouver designer Dana Ramler, 27, is intended both to create connections between strangers and as a spur to personal reflection. “I hope that it causes people to look inside themselves and really see what it is that they want and go after it,” Ramler told metronews.ca.
Entries range from “See the world” and “Get a dog” to “Risk my life for fun” — the latter perhaps inspired by the current YOLO youth-movement, which defends extreme stupidity in the name of “you only live once.”
Ramler’s blackboard is based on one installed on the side of a house in New Orleans by American artist Candy Chang in 2011. Since then, others have appeared in cities including Amsterdam, Chicago, and London.
– Emily Olesen