The Art of Flags
“Vexillomancy”/”Flags” is a piece produced for the Flashpoint Artists Initiative “Alchemy” event since 2016. Part art installation, part game, the project consists of dozens (50-100) of large yellow Flags on poles placed around the festival. Participants are invited to move around the Flags, increasing their ubiquity around the event and organically creating a sense of play. Explanations are kept intentionally inconsistent and surreal (involving ley lines, astological alignment, weather control, ect), allowing participants space to interpret the project in their own ways with multiple conflicting narratives emerging as to the purpose of the Flags
The memetic nature of the project has caused it to spread to similar festivals, including Burning Man 2022, after becoming well-established throughout the American southeast as well as western Europe. It is especially popular with children and teens, with families often expressing it allows them to feel included in the space.
As the project has continued to grow, it has developed into a collaborative art community, exploring mediums as AI text and image generation, video and video game production, academic papers, the art grant process itself, print-on-demand services, and social media marketing to build the “anti-brand”.
(Photos used with permission)
IAN ELMORE 