Canstruction

This "Canstruction" is the 2003 "Jurors' Favorite." Its title: "Canned Tuna: Give a man a fish feed him for a day; Give a man 1,238 cans of tuna, feed him for 1,238 days." It is made of: 1,238 cans, 415 bottles. There is no mention of the significance of the bottles.

But what is significant, and mightily so, is the existence of Canstruction itself - "A National Charity of the Design and Construction Industry created by the Society of Design Administration." Here's the concept: "Competing teams, lead by architects and engineers, showcase their talents by designing giant sculptures made entirely out of canned foods. At the close of the exhibitions all of the food used in the structures is donated to local food banks for distribution to pantries, shelters, soup kitchens, elderly and day care centers."

As you take a virtual tour through some of the can-structions exhibited in the past years, you get a good taste of the humor, playfulness, ingenuity, and sheer fun of this project.

Canstruction so perfectly blends play and art with social awareness that it is its own paradigm - one which I hope gets imitated and propagated and diversified and variegated until it gives birth to hundreds of related playful, creative, socially conscious, charitable events.