21st July 2008----

Launching a thousand ships.

"Easy", I thought to myself.

"Origami", I thought to myself. And then thought that might be a difficult word to spell. Must make sure it doesn't get misspelt on my completion.

Then I thought- ah... paper. Don't want to hurt the environment with my completion so set about making paper boats with found/recycled paper.

I decided to try and make this have a collaborative element by inviting fellow SFO'ers to come along to take part- I started my first event.

If I was to do this alone then I'd have to create 11 origami boats every day till the event happened. Managed to convince my friend Chris that he needed to do some more tasks on here as he was lagging woefully behind.

On the afternoon of the event I'll be playing Helen.

Here's me quoting Marlowe and John Barton. I tried to convince Chris to get into the spirit of things and come as the Trojan Horse or as Menelaus or Paris. Needless to say he didn't want to come as the horse.

I'm sure people will think "How can Ben play Helen of Troy, he's ginger?".

And I say: Frederick Sandys painted a ginger Helen. In your face nay sayers!

-----

22nd July 2008.

I've had to move the date of the launching as it clashed with a briefing I've got to be part of a trip to Israel. I think the briefing wins slightly.

----
There was a lacuna between July and August. However a little victory was won...



Then some more time lapsed and more boats were made.



Here's the instructions to making those pesky boats.

Begin with a rectangular piece of paper.


Fold it in half. Then partially fold it again, making a crease near the top.


This helps you line up the corners which you fold down.



Now fold each edge of the paper upwards as shown. Use your fingers to open up into a hat! You can stop at the hat, or continue on to the boat. Continue to the boat. It's good for the soul to continue to the boat. I've made a thousand of them. The least you can do it make one too.



Bring the corners of the hat brim towards each other. The edges of the brim will be pushed outwards. It's kind of like you're "squashing" the hat into a square:



Now take one lower corner of the square and fold it upwards. Flip the piece over and do the same for the other corner.


You now have a folded triangle. Open up the folded triangle, bring the corners together... again, "squash" the triangle into a square.



Now pull the outer corners of the square, one in each hand.



Keep pulling to unfold your boat.



We like to turn the boat over and expand the hole in the bottom. This will help it balance and float better.



And here's the finished article.


So, now you know how I made my thousand boats.

Thursday 18th September 2008.
Here's what happened just days before the end of the era, hours ticking away towards the shiny new era. One ordinary Thursday in Bimringham was going to be transformed into a strange artwork of boats, Ancient Troy and paper.

All the way through this completion friends and work colleagues would check what number of boats was I at. They'd smile gently as the number rose, they'd look at calendars aware of the end of the era and my well known ability to procrastinate.

One colleague commented that in April a stronger littering act had been passed by the government and stronger powers had been issued. She commented that what I was doing was partially littering. And the maximum penalty for littering was £80 per item. Each boat could end up being worth an £80 fine. She also pointed out, on a website that littering offences have also been extended to include all open spaces - including rivers, lakes, ponds and private property. What had started as a beautiful homage to Helen of Troy and my prior ginger relatives was slowly turning into a really huge crime against nature and the local environment. The same work colleague offered to come along and take a photo of me being carted away in handcuffs to add to the praxis.

My working day was normal, at lunchtime I noticed a fluttering of excitment in my tummy. I think this was due to a number of paranoid questions rattling around in my head:
Was this at the prospect of being arrested for an SF0 task? Was it the prospect of being the only person to complete this task? Would there be enough time between now and the end of the era for this completion to have an impact on my scoring? Would the SF0 community like my completion? Would the SF0 community demand the complete floating of the boats or would they just accept launching?

Lunch was an uninspiring mug of mushroom soup. Helen would have dined better, she was a daughter of Zeus born from a egg, sister of Clytemnestra. This wasn't just an ordinary family she was born into. Did her family history weigh heavy on her?

She didn't demand the boats launched for her. The original launching wasn't out of ego or a show of strength. It was a rescue mission after she was carried off by Paris. Was she stolen or did she trip to Troy willingly? Harlot or victim? Her husband Menelaus called on her suitors to launch and resuce her. Hence the thousand ships. Would my previous boyfriends launch ships to come and rescue me if I ever needed rescuing? I doubted it.

*slight pause around lunchtime as I check out the event page and read, with slight horror burn unit's message*

It was titled "wait, WAIT!"

Just in case you haven't lived through the 'end of an era' - it's not all that traumatic. I've lived through three, and one was barely two weeks long!

All ya gotta do, see, is sign up for the task now: it'll still be there when the ball drops. Everything except your score stays in your account. So you can do the task on schedule, document it normally, upload afterward, and post at your leisure. You just won't be able to sign up for more than ten tasks after the era is over.
---

I banged me head on the desk a few times. I'd worked hard, shifted stuff round, gone mental a few times for nothing. Well... it's for something but it meant I could pause a little. Wait for friends to gather with me as part of my completion and share the moment. (And potentially a fine) I like to think that somewhere, Zeus and Helen, father and daughter, looked at one another and smiled at my folly. Silly human. Burn Unit was an agent of fate for me, he was Mercury bringing a message from the Gods.
----

27th September 2008.

Launch Day. (Again)

I woke having dreamt about Helen of Troy. I blogged about it here: http://tiny.cc/5ozaT

My friend and collaborator Chris was on his way to see me for the weekend. We had two things planned for the weekend: launch the ships and see Stan's Cafe "of all the people in all the world". http://www.stanscafe.co.uk/

--POST LAUNCH--

I've completed it. Uploaded some initial proofs and there will be more to come tomorrow. The videos are lots of fun.

Thanks for taking time to have a look.