ROCKLAND — It can be a thankless job, committing your entire weekend to an art project, working for more than 12 hours straight to form an art piece out of found materials into an outdoor installation, only to see it rain the next morning. 

A group of local artists known as Resisting Entropy — known for their 24-hour collaborative shut-in process making eclectic art out of junk, debris and discards — aligned Sept. 20 with the Georges River Land Trust for Maine Coastal Cleanup Day. Using some of the driftwood collected by volunteers, along with pallets of donated junk and found materials, six artists spent their entire Saturday under a tent pitched at the southern end of the Rockland Harbor Trail located on Mechanic Street. From 7 a.m to 8 p.m, they worked under the blazing sun until it turned dark. Resorting to using the headlights from a vehicle to assemble the last of the installation, they moved their art pieces over to Snow Marine Park.

When the cold, dreary rain settled in Sunday morning, things weren’t looking good.There was no economic incentive to sell the pieces. For these artists who work full time, the entire point of committing all that time and energy was to simply entice people to come out to see the installation. Like a sand mandala, the shelf life of these art pieces was finite.  City Works was scheduled to clear it all away Sunday night.

By noon, just around the time that folks had finished the Coastal Clean Up and barbecue, the sun came out. It couldn’t have been any better timing, as the artists were scheduled to be on hand to talk to the public at 1 p.m.

“We had a very good group, very compatible personalities working together to put this together,” said Jared Cowan. “We have a rotating group of artists who want to jump into the fray when we do things like this and we try to get them in as often as possible.”

“I like making pieces that are interactive, have a lot of movement,” said Chris Gamage, as he encouraged the onlookers to get their hands on a mechanical piece he created with bicycle gears, chains and a broken umbrella. “Basically, it’s a big flag run up a flagpole,” he explained.

“Some guys from City Works were here earlier scratching their heads looking at the parallelogram trashcan I made,” said Cowan. “They were moving trash and weren’t sure what to make of it. Maybe that’s its own review,” he laughed.

Cowan said the flat, grassy area of Snow Marine Park has the potential to draw more people for future art projects. “People are here at the end of the Harbor Trail; they’re out here walking with their dogs,” he said. “It’s a great space for other artists to have outdoor sculptures here.”

For more information about Resisting Entropy’s process visit: Resisting Entropy.

Reach Kay Stephens at news@penbaypilot.com.