Art Lovers Flock Together Over New Social Experiment:
Linda Gleitz’s “Capistrano II” at Artwork Network

"Capistrano II" by Linda Gleitz

Colorado artist Linda Gleitz tackles something new: socially interactive art. Gleitz’s “Capistrano” series is a musing about social structure, and what it means to be both a singular entity and a part of a larger network of individuals. The artist wants to know, “Can a random assortment of people bond together over one piece of artwork?”

“Capistrano II” is the second rendition in the series, and is scheduled to debut at Artwork Network (an appropriately named venue for such an experiment) on Friday, November 4th, 2011. Composed of fourty-two squares, each ten inch canvas depicts a small “blue bird of happiness”, and when assembled together on a grid, forms an image of three larger birds.

The social experiment aspect of Gleitz’s creation is inspired by the San Juan Capistrano mission in California and its legendary birds. It was noted in the early 1900s an extraordinary amount of swallows migrated together at the ruins of the California mission, coming from as far away as Jerusalem, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. Likewise, “Capistrano II” pieces’ are scheduled to be reunited one year after the exhibit. Each of the art’s purchasers are invited to share the story of where their “bird” has ended up and what experience they had being part of the “big picture”. After the pieces are reunited in 2012, they return to their original purchasers for good. Gletiz says, “My hope is that the patrons will communicate with one another, and maybe continue to flock together now and then but who knows? My little birdie is a social experiment… Can a group of random people who have nothing else in common form some sort of flock?”

The first rendition, exhibited in early 2011, consisted of twenty canvases set to come together again in March 2012. “Capistrano II”, Gleitz says, “will be bigger and I daresay, better than the first.”  The public is invited to put their name on the list for prepurchasing by calling the Artwork Network Gallery and Event Center at 303-388-7420. Each canvas is priced at $150.