Ashley Neese has been creating projects in various media since she was a little girl. She has always had a strong desire to connect with the world. At time this desire has caused her to do things most people wouldn’t do just to connect with those around her or those just out of reach.

She received her BFA from the Atlanta College of Art in 2003 and MFA from CCA in 2005. Since graduate school she has shown projects in the Bay Area, New York City and Atlanta with exhibitions this fall in Toronto and Brooklyn. Recently she has created an online store for her artist books and zines and has been working on a project, it’s all for you, a library open to the public to show books her friends created.

"My projects focus on truth, relationships, memory, giving and love. I explore these themes using media that is widely accessible such as writing, photography, performance, and video. The ultimate goal is to form connection with the viewer or participant. I achieve this by sharing my experience in an honest way, giving room for the viewer/participant to do the same."

Gary Wiseman was conceived by 14-year-old children and raised by wolves in the hinterlands of Portland, Oregon. He escaped to Australia. He got lost. He returned to Portland where he now lives. In 2006 he simultaneously created Tea Project and formed Kitchen Sink PDX. Ephemeral Temple Ltd, a collaborative group to which he is party, recently received a grant to make Jellyfish Temple: How To Build Something From Nothing, part of a revolutionary plan to meet the increasing demand for high-quality, low-overhead, temporary Sacred Space. Statement can be viewed here. www.teaproject33.org, www.kitchensinkpdx.com

Ashley and Gary will arrive in Toronto, Ontario two and a half days before Nuit Blanche to cover the city in posters. During Nuit Blanche Ashley & Gary ask each person that shows up to tell a story or memory about the person they brought. In exchange Ashley or Gary will take a photograph of each of the best friends, upload the image into a laptop, print the image and then use it to make a B.F.F. Button Set for participants to take home. Each person receives the others button. If participants agree, Ashley or Gary will take a photograph of them (wearing their new B.F.F. Button Set!) before they leave the gallery. These images will be printed and posted to a wall in hopes of having a nice collection at the end of the twenty-four hour exhibition.

More video documentation can be found here.