The travel bubble bottles for the OAA Kickstarter Campaign.

Bubbles are Universal And Timeless Symbols of Humankind’s Imagination & Creativity

They are one of the most poignant symbols of that fine and glorious intersection where science becomes art in the hands of human engineering and technology.

As an activity which was possible throughout history (but leaves no archaeological record and is therefore categorized as ‘intangible’), bubbles are conceivably an ancient art. Its a bit of science that humankind has marveled at for millennia. Its an activity that transcended class for much of its history, because all you really need is a circle (be it one made by your thumb and forefinger, metal hoop, bubble pipe or via an official bubble wand) a poor child in a shantytown could have blown bubbles with the leftover wash water and so could the elite kid across town with his official bubble blowing device.

So basically, we like bubbles here. They are a pretty awesome representation of a lot of the cultural and open access concepts Open Access Antiquarianism is working with. We’ve even incorporated the bubble wand into the Open Access Antiquarianism pirate flag crossed with a key below a Crystal Skull (don’t worry, there’s a photo at the end of the post for you).

And here’s what we’d like to do with bubbles. We want people, we want YOU to send us pictures of them blowing bubbles in front of something that represents their/your cultural heritage.

Think about it. What does that mean to you? ‘Send us a picture of you blowing bubbles in front of something that represents your cultural heritage.’ Its a loaded question. It forces you to figure our what your cultural heritage is and what is meaningful to you.

What is your cultural heritage?

Will you send us photos of you blowing bubbles in front of a big monuments? In front of cathedrals, and civic buildings? Against sky-drops of famous bridges? Outside your favorite museum? On vacation touring historic cities or on tropical beaches?

Or will you send us something local, what about that historic house in your town–the one everyone takes 4th grade field trips to? Your library? Your school? Your local park?

Or something even closer to home–what about your family? The photo collages on the walls of your childhood home? Your backyard? You?

We want all of those things and more. We want bubbles in front of monuments, bubble selfies, and bubbles with your family and friends.

We want you to go out and blow some bubbles in front of your cultural heritage. Don’t over-think it, go with whatever comes naturally and easily. And then we want you to send it to us. And we’re going to compile then into an art piece that emphasizes these individual definitions of cultures as part of the great big global something that exists right now. Trust us, it will be awesome.

And to make it even easier to go about this whole, carrying round bubbles with you to blow and do bubble photography whenever the mood strikes you, one of our OAA kickstarter rewards are those cool little travel bubble bottles at the top of the post.

They come with a recipe to make super fabulous bubble mix to go in them (we reckoned the post office would be sad with us and the TSA at airports might be mad at you were they to start off on their quest to you filled with bubbletastic liquids).

But having the kickstarter bubble bottle from us is not a requisite for getting involved with this art piece, so don’t worry. Just get out there and get bubbling, and then send us your photo with a caption and your name to open.access.antiquarianism@gmail.com. Join the bubble culture revolution!

We look forward to hearing from you and learning about your cultural heritage!

xxx

The Open Access Antiquarianism Pirate Flag

Also: Check out this cool bit of bubble cultural heritage at the Library of Congress: The 1919 recording of the song I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles by Elliot Shaw and Charles H. Hart.