The Totem Project

An ode to the collector, and to the auction as a social event.

Totem turns the act of acquiring a drawing into part of the drawing. The piece starts as an empty stage. Every person who bids adds a block to the stack, and each block is designed around them — sometimes just the letters of their name, sometimes an avatar, sometimes something pulled from the conversation happening around the sale. When it ends, whoever is on top takes the finished image home.

How it works

The stack is drawn live as the sale runs. Because the artwork itself can be updated after it is made, the totem is never quite finished — later owners can add their own block, so the piece keeps accumulating the people who have passed through it. Everyone who took part receives an animated version showing the whole sequence of changes.

It is the most collaborative thing in this portfolio, and the closest the drawing gets to being a record of an event rather than an object.