Strike A Match
Text: Gabriel Knowles
Sonya Gee obviously knows that it’s the little things that count. The things you catch in the corner of your eye as you stroll the streets, the things you see when you look where you aren’t meant to, the things that can make you feel like you’re in a French film. We asked Sonya to tell us a little about the Matchbox Project and her very own Amelie moment.
Sometimes tiny surprises are better than the extravagant Hollywood ones. So each week I pack a small present into a matchbox (they function as ready made gift boxes), decorate it, photograph its contents and abandon it somewhere in my travels. The contents and location of the box are published on a blog.
It’s playfully disruptive but also only there for people who are observant enough to spot it and curious enough to open it up. I like the idea that they can be easily lost in the crowd, it makes the finder all the more special.
I’ve been strangely rewarded over the two year period that I’ve kept it up – I ended up in an awesome online job because my now-boss really liked the project, a few artworks have been made inspired by the project (a painting, animation and the weirdest one, this digital artwork by someone who I don’t know who called it ‘Miniature in Gee Major’ as a celebration of my creativity.. eeek!), a lovely store in Newcastle started sending me regular care packages of small things and I met my boyfriend, who offered to give me a legoman for the project over lunch one day.
I’m playing with Twitter and Google Maps at the moment as I’ve got a stack of boxes available at the ACP. I’m trying to recruit an army of gift givers to see how far the boxes can spread in five weeks. Hopefully all over Sydney and more!
