NY-based sculptor and installation artist Tasha Lewis is launching a world-wide, collaborative and fleeting street art project.
Originally, Lewis spent the past two years creating over 6,000 magnetic, cyanotype butterflies with small magnets that she’s been posting all over the city. Due to the magnets, the butterflies are able to attach to metal objects easily, yet also leave without a trace. As she began to spread the “guerrilla sculpture” around the city, she realized she would never be able to go as far with the butterflies as she’d like.
Thus, Swarm the World was born. Lewis has chosen 187 people from all 7 continents who will be helping Lewis spread her dreams and collaborate on her project. The 6,000 butterflies will be separated into 16 smaller swarms with a how-to guide, journal, and first aid kit. The collaborators will have 2-6 weeks to spread the butterflies around their environment and engage the community. They are in charge of photographing it and then sending it on to the next participant.
Swarm will result not only in a plethora of images, it will also help foster hundreds of new relationships and spark inspiration around the world. Lewis’ hope is that the project will “not only changes people’s perception of public space and public art on a local scale, but that it will also show how one idea and one little hand-sewn insect can unite people on a global scale.”
Watch more about this project in the video below:
