New Feature - FIGMENT 5 Faves! - 5 Things to Bring to FIGMENT Toronto 2014
Introducing new Friday feature: FIGMENT 5 Faves! This week, we're featuring 5 FIGMENT Faves for items to bring to FIGMENT Toronto 2014, July 26 & 27 on Toronto Islands.
5 Things to Bring to FIGMENT Toronto 2014
1. Camera FIGMENT is a very photogenic event in a very photogenic space. Stay until at least dusk on Saturday, July 26th & you'll capture some of the very best views of the city, too! (And, there's a fire show and all kindsa fun nightttime acivities - we go til 11pm that nght!) Be sure to use the hashtag #figmentto when posting your pics & let the world see what fun you had!
2. Garbage bag Sure, it's not the sexiest item you'll pack for your trip to FIGMENT, but a small bag for garbage is a great thing to bring with you anytime you visit Toronto Islands -- and it helps us fulfill our environmental commitment to being a Leave No Trace event (or, LNT for short). What is a Leave No Trace event, you ask? Well, it means many things, but a key principle is to Dispose of Waste Properly -- which means if you pack it in, you pack it out. Check out this link for the Seven Principles of Leave No Trace at LNT.org: https://lnt.org/learn/7-principles
3. Friends & family What better way to enjoy the fabulous array of interactive art than to bring folks to interact with? While many guests do come alone, given the participatory nature essential to all the art projects at FIGMENT, it can be so much more fun and fulfilling an experience to bring friends with you. Make a day of it; bring a picnic! Make that picnic a LNT-friendly 'boomerang lunch', where all food is removed from disposable packaging and instead reusable containers are used. Enjoy that sandwich with a side order of satisfaction knowing that you and your loved ones are reducing your environmental impact and increasing awareness at the same time. (For more info on the 'boomerang lunch' program, check out this handy PDF: http://www.ecosuperior.org/upload/documents/boomeranglunch.pdf )
4. Open mind The best way to increase our receptive potential for the message of any given artwork is to approach it with an open mind. A great piece of advice often given before newbies go for the first time to the arts festival Burning Man (which also has a distinct curatorial focus on interactive art, just like FIGMENT does) is to enter the event with No Expectations. Pre-set scripts are running in our heads all the time about all manner of things. The more we can do to quiet this internal chatter, the more we create as fresh and receptive a state as possible -- and, the more we get out of our experiences. And, hey, with some really fun and funky musical acts lined up for FIGMENT this year, too, there's lot of opportunity for the saying to come true: "Free your mind and your ass will follow!"
5. Empty wallet Well, okay, you'll need money for the ferry, for food or drinks on the Island if you are not going BYO, etc. BUT: for FIGMENT itself, there are no tickets sold, no activity fees, no hidden charges. FIGMENT is 100% FREE to participate! We have art and crafts and performances and more, all at zero cost to you! It's true!
Now, given the free & interactive nature of FIGMENT, the question naturally arises: What Are You Bringing? Hula hoop? Blanket to hang out in the shade? Bubble gun for the Bubble Battle? Guitar to jam in the grass and make some new friends? A book to donate to the mini, free library? Tell us! Check out our Facebook Page, Instragram profile or Twitter page to join the conversation. See you on the Islands!
