About "Resume in a Bottle"

Art Without a Safety Net has a particular interest in communication methods and experimentation with the presentation of art. AWASN projects and shows are designed to blur the boundary between artist (active) and observer (passive). Our group provides a chance for the sense of mission - a key ingredient in our works - to be shared with and involve our audience.

Our first show featured computer technology for display and interactivity. The "Resume in a Bottle" Project will use and explore an older, but not necessarily obsolete or unreliable, form of communication.

An example reveals that knowing your environment can make 'message in a bottle' communication more than a random gesture. For example, the former inhabitants of St. Kilda island off Scotland used a sheep's bladder (with message included) tossed into the sea as a form of communication with their clan Laird (Lord) on the mainland. Their commerce - supplies to the island for exchanged tithe items - were initiated by this communication. By knowing the flow of ocean currents, and by mutual understanding of the process, it was a remarkably reliable form of communication.

Preliminary trials of "bottle communication" have been tested in our local ocean currents and have been 50% successful. On several occasions, bottle messages have been released to the ocean currents between the US northeast mainland and Nova Scotia. Of six attempts, 3 bottles have been retrieved and the AWASN sender has been notified. Examination of the gulf stream and its effect on local currents show that objects released west of the gulf stream are often carried by a counter, southward current that flows along the coast and deposits these objects on the Wellfleet shore.

We are pleased to note that the bottles were found by beach clean-up projects. AWASN applauds and encourages support of these endeavors. May this project contribute to awareness and concern for the health of our oceans and the preservation of unspoiled shores.

AWASN