Irrational Exuberance Flags

Four flagbearers walk down a hillside road in the woods carrying colorful flags on flagpoles. The flagbearers are also wearing sashes that match the flag they are carrying.

Flag bearers standing in position next the 30' flagpole: Rick Maciel, Leah Rosenberg, Donna Conwell, Elizabeth Travelslight, and Lauren Baines.

a hand holding small triangular transparent multicolored flags

a young boy pulling ropes on a pulley on the base of a large flagpole

a flag with a triangular pattern of blue, light blue, and pink flying at the top of a flagpole amid a bare treetop.

A photo of the flag bearers in the distance. They are walking past a wooded area. They are in the sunlight and the flags glow.

Four flags on gold flagpoles with gold bases. Each pair of flags frames a bench with colored stripes on the top. Everything is on a columned veranda of a gallery with wooden-framed glass doors in the center.

Five colorful sashes hang on a dowel against a white wall.

close up of the sashes hanging on a dowel in the gallery. each sash has a embroidered label that reads 'Irrational Exuberance (Asst Colors) Christine Wong Yap' in gold text on white background.

The Irrational Exuberance Flag project is a participatory, site-responsive activation of a series of five flags and sashes. The flags declare unabashed enthusiasm. Rather than state or institutional power, these flags suggest emotional states or states of mind.

On January 26, 2013, the Irrational Exuberance Flag project was inaugurated with a public Flag Raising Ceremony at Montalvo Arts Center, in Saratoga, CA.

During the Flag Raising Ceremony, the first officially raised Irrational Exuberance Flag was selected by public vote and raised by a volunteer. Mini flags were distributed for voting and as keepsakes.

Over the course of the exhibition, the public was invited to sign up to select one of the five flags to hoist with the help of a staff member. Matching ceremonial sashes were available for use during the changing of the flag.

While traditional flags are heavily symbolic, what these designs and colors represent is not predetermined by the artist. They are intended as open-ended patterns upon which viewers project their own positive psychological affect. They form a semaphore of personal sentiment.

The project is also inspired by the acts of looking up, physically and figuratively; as well as the sensations of being airborne and feeling free.

Caption: Christine Wong Yap, Irrational Exuberance Flags, 2012–13, five flags and five sashes; flagpoles, bases; participation; flags: 48 x 48 up to 48 x 80 inches each, poles: 8 to 30 feet each. Supported by Lucas Artists Program at the Montalvo Arts Center. Photos: Susan O’Malley.

It was part of the exhibition, Happiness Is..., curated by Donna Conwell and organized by Lucas Artists Program at the Montalvo Arts Center.

Special thanks to Montalvo Arts Center, Lauren, Donna, Leah, Rick, Elizabeth, Susan, Dan, Kellen, and the Sicat family. Thanks also to all participants.