Graham Keegan

I believe that living is inspired expression of exploration of the universe.

At times throughout my life, I have chosen to express my thoughts and imagination in a succinct way, in a public venue. Here are some descriptions and photos of my process and projects:

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Floating Lanterns

Creative Collaboration with The Paper Moon Project, December 2008 – Septermber 2009

I had a conversation with a friend who had seen the Luminescent Grove and he asked if the lanterns were floating there, or if the were secured to the tree somehow. I became totally intrigued by the idea of creating a floating version of the lanterns and worked with the Paper moon project to come up with a design and aesthetic that would emphasize the mobility, frailty and beauty of this ephemeral treat. We created a series of bio-degradable Floating Lanterns that were made from tissue paper, stitched together at the seams with red thread, and adorned with long, streaming paper tendrils. The lanterns were powered by a fuel cell of canvas impregnated with local bee’s wax. Once alight, these things smelled AMAZING, and danced and bumbled before taking off into the sky, disappearing as a flicker of light, like a star in the distance after 15 minutes.

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Fort Sub Rosa

Collaboration with The Paper Moon Project, Commissioned by Burlington City Arts for the Quadricentennial Celebration, Spring and Summer of 2009

Britt Browne and I had been exploring our mutual infatuation with forts and the idea of outdoor living. We designed and pitched the concept of a fort/installation to BCA and were delighted when they took us up on the offer.

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Posters at Tick Tick

One to three color serigraphs promoting music and events associated with Tick Tick, May 2006 – April 2009

Tick Tick promoted over 100 different events in the course of three years. We designed and printed posters for each of our shows. Here is a partial selection of my designs:

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Girlington Garage Logo Development

Created the logo for Girlington Garage, Spring, 2009

Demeny Pollitt approached me in the fall of 2008 to produce the logo for her new business, Girlington Garage: an automotive repair shop with a focus on quality auto care, positive communication, education and respect. These photos outline my process of taking a group of images and concepts and working with them to create a single logo that met all the specific criteria for Demeny and her dream business. Check out my picasa gallery of this slideshow. I’ve included captions for the concept photos, showing which elements of the design they each informed.

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Tick Tick’s Vendor Cart

Designed in the spring of 2009 as a retail outlet for Tick Tick’s merchandise and projects

The city of Burlington, VT has a pedestrian shopping venue: The Church Street Marketplace. There are a limited number of vending sites available on the street that are competitively rented out on a yearly basis. Vendor carts must abide by a set of physical and aesthetic regulations. I designed and submitted Tick Tick’s cart proposal and concept. Initially, we were planning on constructing our own cart from scratch, but we were able to find the shell of a cart that was similar to what we had in mind. We built up and merchandised the cart with products designed and produced in our serigraphy studio, as well as the work of other local artists.

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Luminescent Grove

Commissioned by Burlington First Night, Burlington, VT, December 2006 – January 2007

Imagined, created and installed a tranquil, contemplative, romantic environment at the terminus for the First Night parade. Created patterns and produced a variety of hand dyed, stiffened fabric sculptural lanterns hung from the boughs of a cherry grove.

I spent the month of December sewing together over a hundred lanterns. The fabric is a thick woven cotton-poly blend. Once the forms are assembled, a balloon is inflated inside of it, and the whole thing is painted with wood glue. The forms are hung to dry upside down so the extra glue drips off. Once everything is dry, the balloons are deflated and the lanterns retain their shape.