CHRONOLOGICAL PROJECTS # 21 - 24

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URBANARTS "AS WE SEE IT" WALL MURAL

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(6x80'; vinyl, ink, grommets; 1999)

The Boston public art organization UrbanArts was hired by the Boston National Historical Park (U.S. Department of the Interior,National Park Service) to work with a group of Boston teenagers. They were hired to become familiar with this urban National Park which includes the Paul Revere House, Charlestown Navy Yard, and a number of other important Revolutionary War sites. A photographer taught the teens how to take photographs, then to document all the sites. The teens then worked with a writer to construct language about the Park's historic places. I was brought in at that point to work with the teens to facilitate the composition of their photos and text into an 80' long photo mural on vinyl that would go into the Visitors' Center in downtown Boston. I worked with them to brainstorm with their photos and texts together, to produce the computer drafts of their decisions along the way which we critiqued, and finally to get the mural manufactured by a computer billboard production shop. The public opening of this large interior mural was a big event with invited guests, speeches, and all the kids who had participated, along with their families.

 

TROUBLED FAMILY PLACEMATS

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(20"x15"; plastic, acrylic; 1999)

These are a series of placemats designed to show what really goes on in families, or what may be being discussed in a conversation between women having coffee together. In one, the woman is both dominating and running the world of The House, OR perhaps the woman quitting the household tasks; in another a woman is overwhelmed by children and pets; in the third a woman is suffering from either depression or alcoholism or both.

 

 

FLAG PROJECT: "Crying Housewife" and "Fighting Couple"

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 (28.5"x45"; nylon, acrylic; 1998)

These are two of a series of 'seasonal flags' purchased and then overpainted. The storebought household decorative objects tend to stereotype about the beauty and happiness of the family or individuals who live there, a sort of impossible untruth. The happy portrayals of stereotypes I feel emphasize sameness and a palpable desire to belong to the mainstream. These cute flags, as one example, make me want to pull out that household’s “dirty laundry” and indicate with superimposed images what really goes on in this house.

ATLANTA PERPETRATOR PROJECT

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 (15,000 bar coasters; 20,000 bookmarks; 100 subway posters; and a 30-second public service announcement for TV; September, 1995)

Chosen to be a City Site Works artist for the Arts Festival of Atlanta, I determined to work with domestic violence, a subject I already knew something about. I wanted to see how it played out in a new city--and this time chose to focus on the perpetrator. I made several visits to the city to interview batterers, prisoners, counselors of violent men, counselors for the probation department, and social service workers. Through our discussions, I gathered stories, images, texts, and worked up 16 rough ideas for a public project which I took back to many of the people involved in the interview stage for "critique." There were many discussions about how to approach the batterer, how to create an image-text that he couldn't compare himself with (by which he could decide he wasn't so bad). We concentrated on what images haven't been over-utilized, what venues seemed good for the project. Finally this text and image was selected: "Name the Problem:You choose to be violent" and "Take Responsibility: Make the decision to be powerful. " These texts are superimposed over a hand slamming a woman's head, and over a male and female talking. I distributed the bookmarks to libraries in 4 counties around Atlanta; men from Men Stopping Violence distributed bar coasters to bars in downtown Atlanta, and the subway posters and TV spot were seen in those venues.