Introducing co.d.ex

There is an incredible project underway that I am excited to share with you ! As you know, Doodlespark is a collaboration between my mom and me; instead of writing letters, we send drawings back and forth to each other, each of us adding and changing the artwork over time. We've communicated this way for almost 15 years now, and it has enriched our relationship and our growth as artists immeasurably.

I recently decided to expand this idea of sharing drawings as a way to communicate by inviting a group of friends from college / life / work to join in a large group drawing exchange. I sent the original invite on Facebook to fellow architecture studio mates as well as friends in other disciplines completely un-art-related, and asked them in turn to invite a friend. The idea would be that we'd keep in touch in a different way; we'd use the mailing of the drawing as way to stitch us together creatively, to catch up visually, to push the limits of creative play.

co.d.ex was born ! [ co = collaborative, d = drawing, ex = exchange ]. Participants are invited to sketch, erase, paint, collage, write, re-work and add panels to the original drawing, then send it on to the next person on the list. This list is a secret to all involved - I drew names out of a bowl - and the progress of the drawing is recorded on a blog. Each participant has been invited as a Contributor to the blog, with the hope that they'll photograph, scan, photocopy or by other means document their portion of the drawing.

Have a look ! I am so anxious to see how this turns out on such a large scale; co.d.ex has about 2 dozen participants, and if each person takes a week to add their bit, it will be at least 6 months until we're done ... !