A Public Event
December 27, 2006
Clover, SC

newspaper clipping from the Charlotte Observer

One year I was home visiting family over the Christmas holiday when the clouds parted and the strangest of hosts descended upon
my hometown of Clover. It was a nice day like any other day, when this floating mass first materialized, coming into sight at a new
housing development on the north end of town. According to reports, it appeared to be a massive clump of yellow and orange balloons
floating around aimlessly with no apparent goal or objective in mind. No one is sure but people estimate that the clump had to have
contained thousands of balloon-like shapes.

Fortunately I was able to photograph and video the clump on several occasions as I tracked it throughout the day. It would appear
randomly and then disappear behind some trees or around the bend only to reappear in another location all together. Many people
in the community also witnessed the mass as it moved through fields outside of town and the streets of Clover itself. The local
newspapers were not far behind as they arrived on the scene in several locations and managed to capture the strange mass in a
few photographs. As one can imagine this weird clump of balloons caused quite a stir in town, and many people became agitated
and unsettled as the mass appeared and disappeared over and over again.

Eventually towards the end of the day some people began to feel threatened--as they often do when confronted with a phenomenon
they do not understand--and raised their proverbial pitchforks while attempting to chase and surround this peculiar mass. Soon enough
they were able to destroy the massive aberration and in the process eliminated any possibility that we may have had of achieving
some sort of understanding of why we were visited on this day.

Watch a scene from the documentary film HERE.

View photographs and newspaper clippings from the eventful day HERE.

newspaper clipping from the Charlotte Observer

A few days after the phenomenon I learned that a group of children at a daycare were lucky enough to see the clump of balloons up
close. So close that a few of them were able to snag balloons from the massive heap. I jumped at the chance to obtain their
impressions before they were lost to the ever fading passage of time. The children agreed to make drawings from their memories
of what it felt like to be in the clump's presence, and I traded them photographs that I took of the balloons in exchange for their
precious drawings. I have had the opportunity to exhibit this group of drawings on several occasions including at the 808 Gallery
in Boston, MA.

crayon on paper, by Caleb age 4

View additional drawings by the children HERE.

oil on canvas, 12' x 12', Seth Gadsden