Imagine going into the heart of town, turning a corner and suddenly something catches your attention in the corner of your eye… something that isn’t usually there. You look closer and you see a tiny figure sitting inside a blooming flower… now imagine 900 such figures all around Tolouse.
Foundin is an interactive, city art installation of tiny figurines placed in public spaces to be found by people like you and me. Starting 23 February, this second installation in Toulouse introduces over 900 figurines and pays homage to Singapore’s wide array of characters, depicting and commemorating the often forgotten and silent heroes of all our societies – the builders, the physically-disadvantaged, the marginalised and the greying. Anyone in the world can adopt a figurine online and tell Foundin what he or she is waiting for in life.
Tan Wei Keong and Samuel Woo, the creative team behind Foundin, are proud to announce that their little project will be travelling to Toulouse in France, as part of the 8th edition of the ‘Made in Asia’ festival and under the commission of Fondation Espace Ecureuil.
Since 2008, the Made in Asia Festival, a unique event taking place in Toulouse, southwest of France, with an average attending audience of 20,000 people, aims at promoting a better understanding of contemporary Asia, its developments and trends, and at building bridges between Eastern and Western countries.
The Fondation Espace Ecureuil is an exhibition venue right in the centre of Toulouse sponsored by the Caisse d’Epargne Midi-Pyrénées.
This art centre is dedicated to contemporary art and the programming is oriented towards artists who wish to put forward in their works a clear link with current everyday life, its reality, its desires and its dreams.
The Foundin team will be installing the figurines at various public spaces in Toulouse from 27 March to 2 April 2015. When a figurine is found, the Finder gets to keep the figurine and by using the unique URL printed on the figurine card, he/she is able to read and reply the message left by the Adopter. The Finder also can contact the Adopter by email, if he or she wants to be in touch.
The status of each figurine – whether “Found”, “Lost” or “Waiting” – is updated ‘live’ on www.foundin.org.
The first installation of Foundin took place in Singapore, as a commission of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2014: Art & the People, at which engaged over 2,000 participants and reached 31,000 online viewership.
So if you’re in the area, go hunting and grab a picture. Join the Foundin team in March 2015, on this journey of serendipity and fate, of art and you.