聽CAMPBELL RIVER 鈥擜 historic landmark on Campbell River鈥檚 waterfront that has been a target for graffiti is now being turned into a social media canvas.
As part of the Campbell River Arts Council鈥檚 Cultural Mapping Project, artist J. Alex Witcombe has created an interactive version of the famous landmark on his Big Rock Campbell River website. The Arts Council says the website is an informational hub celebrating Campbell River鈥檚 local cultural icon.
The rock, what the arts council calls a 40-foot tall glacial erratic, has commanded the shoreline since the last ice age.
The Big Rock has been a cultural focal point for millennia, acting as a way-marker, mythic embodiment, community message board and a personal canvas. It mirrors many of the connections, patterns, diversity, cohesiveness and contentions that add to the creation of the community鈥檚 particular culture, says Ken Blackburn, executive director of the Campbell River Arts Council.
鈥淏ut, in particular, it displays the ever-evolving layering of individual and group expression, a constant sedimentation of stories that provide a rich, multi-coloured backdrop for the newest layer. The Big Rock is birthed again and again as a cultural map, a monolithic point of reference for the community.鈥�
On the website bigrockcampbellriver.com you can explore the history of the Rock, reflect on its cultural significance, check out the blog and even navigate around a Google Earth-powered interactive version of the Big Rock. Witcombe is inviting the public to submit visual and media materials for inclusion onto the virtual Big Rock, as if they were 鈥渢agging鈥� the actual rock with their personal expressions.
These expressions may include photos, drawings, writings, mementos, book, newspaper and magazine clippings, logos, artwork, digital media links and more.
