Aaron Rayburn

Aaron Rayburn and a band of seventeen other Portland-based creatives set themselves the task of creating a collaborative project as a single unit, and the results are magnificent. Their outcome, on display at the Littman Gallery is a giant piece of type using 14.2 miles of string, outlining 25 letters on 2,500 eyelets, strung by hand. Aaron explained things a little more, and also sent us through some more pics…

Hey Aaron, woah you’ve been busy – how did this big string piece come about?

It came about when I first started working with a gentleman named Jelly Helm, on a whim, we both agreed it would be fun to do a show together since we’re not really artists, to see what advertisers might have to say in a gallery space. We thought it could lead to some interesting tension.

That’s quite some list of contributors too, what’s the design scene like in Portland?

The design scene in Portland is out of control. It is the land of opportunity, with a seemingly endless flow of people coming from all over the country to settle here. It’s almost like if you’re here and you’re not creatively engaged in some way, you’re odd. Love this city. We’ve got several schools here also churning out hundreds of new designers/art directors every year, so it’s constantly changing and evolving.

Do you know if this is some kind of world record?

Hm! Well it felt like it during the installation. It took a couple weeks to put up with a rotating crew of 18 people and some students. It certainly is some sort of record for amount of collaborators in this town.