Simon Gray : Sugarcube

Cuba Mall, Wellington, 6th-19th February 2005

All those visiting Cuba St cafes over summer were invited to participate in Sugarcube, Simon Gray's public artwork for the Art Box Project. Over December and January, thousands of specially printed sugar sachets were distributed to participating Cuba St cafes. The public were invited to illustrate or write on the sachets as they chose and leave them in the boxes provided in the cafes to be collected. Gray turned the completed sachets into a collective artwork displayed in the Art Box from February 6th to 19th on Cuba Mall.

As the essential part of Gray’s work, individuals collaborated on the Sugarcube project to make an artwork out of the ephemeral; tapping into the idea of artists and writers using cafe detritus to capture brainwaves and visions. As Gray says, “the involvement of other people allows a work to evolve and adds an element of surprise”.

Gray, who has an MA in Public Art and Design, recently moved to New Zealand from the UK, where he was involved in a number of public art residencies and initiatives including the public art event, Open City, in Bristol. Gray collects sugar sachets as a record of his travels and swaps them to build up a collection of sugar sachets from across the world - Sugarcube stems from this obsession.

A big thanks to the cafes who supported the project: Fidel’s, Midnight Espresso, Steinburg Cafe, The Purple Onion, Olive Cafe, Krazy Lounge and Plum of Cuba; and the Wellington Art Centre.