Art 610 project idea

For my senior project i want to work with the idea of community-based/dialogical art. I like the idea of reclaiming art from the galleries and giving it back to the people. In western culture we have elevated the role of the artist and set them apart from everyday people. We have been told that they are some how better then everyone else. I am fascinated by the idea of having the viewer become not only included, but involved in the creation of artwork. My goal is to have a sense of communication through art. To get people who might not talked to each other normally to create some form of dialog.

I have always had a fascination with the graffiti/writings people do in public places, such as: bars, restrooms, street signs, etc. Much of the time these are mean, rude, or derogatory, but some are just funny or entertaining. I hope to create a series of booths that give people a place to write their feelings. I am hoping to create a positive and constructive place where people can express their feelings without fear of judgement or ridicule, for all their writings will be anonymous unless they want to lay claim to it.

Each booth will start out as a blank canvas aside from one quote i will put in them to act as a catalyst. Hopefully people will make comments on other peoples writings as well as including their own thoughts. In the end i hope to have all sides of the booths covered. People don't have to contribute, they can also just go inside and read what is in them and hopefully take something away from it. At first i wanted to set a theme for each booth (which I still might do), but to me now it seems a bit contrived. I think the whole part of this piece is to let go and see where the community takes it. I have an idea where I would like it to go, but in all actuality once i set them up they are out of my control. To be honest I think that is the beauty of it. People will be free to express themselves in any way they like. Some might be frustrated and need a place to vent, while others might try to leave words of encouragement for that person, if they ever come back to look at it again.

I am intrigued by the fact that once these are constructed i will have no control over them. Any thing that might get censored would be done by a participant and thus another part of the piece. In a sense it will be a living piece of art work, that is not managed or contained by any one person.