Erika Villarreal’s blog

I wanted to post some pictures of the installation of my work at Elsewhere. Since the project had connections to the already existing Elsewhere project, Sens-us, which is, to my understanding, an effort to attempt to know the internal community better through surveys, "I Have A Question" hung, appropriately, perpendicular to the Sens-us box. That was a long one.

I enjoyed the merging of two ideas which consistently informed my work with these bundles: a. the potential of contained information and b. the idea of "knowing" through questioning. This parallels nicely with my recent studies regarding Freire's cognizance of man's potential through critical consciousness and my equally recent interests in the engaged, not passive, spectator.

My statement:

Fueled by a genuine curiosity about the people that compose our neighborhood, our community, this project aims to begin an on-going conversation between Elsewherians and the public they faithfully serve.  In an effort to get to know our neighbors better, we, the Elsewhere artists, staff, and interns composed questions specifically for the public. These questions were sometimes light-hearted but other times serious and valiantly curious. In general, “neighborhood” and “community” were the contexts for the set of questions used to engage the public in a conversation that was at once about us and about the public.

Working with the idea of art as the medium for experiences, 100 bundles were created by hand, using the fabrics that Sylvia Gray so proudly collected in her store years ago. One question was placed in each hand-made bundle, along with a blank note card, which invited the receiver of the bundle to write us a question of his/her own.  The bundles were distributed in person on June 8, 9, and 10, 2009 to our neighbors on both South and North Elm St and a little beyond that. The bundle acted as the medium, or that which literally exists as a meeting point for interaction. Doors were knocked on, conversations were had, delight, as well as disapproval, was expressed, and precious connections were made as a result of the tiny bundles.

The bundles, and more importantly, our curious spirits and our community’s willingness to participate, generated around 70 responses. A catalogue of these responses has been created and is available for exploration. The “front” end of the catalogue consists of responses to Elsewhere’s questions to the public. The “back” end of the catalogue contains the questions created by our neighbors, which we intend on answering as part of the on-going dialogue. 

Filled with stories of childhood, accounts of unexpected events, intimate but fearless confessions, and even some drawings, the catalogue can be seen as a collaborative self portrait of all of us as a community of artists, shop owners, passer-by’s, mothers and fathers, young people, city workers, writers, waiters, creators, movers, dreamers, activators, humans, etc. Please feel free to look curiously through the catalogue and enjoy the bundles over head.

Here is the "catalogue," as I call it, of questions and answers exchanged in the process of this bundle project. The catalogue stands as a record of a conversation as well as (maybe) a new venue for connecting people at Elsewhere to their public.

Re: my foot injury. Although the ripped foot situation prohibited me from distributing all 100 bundles on a fourth adventure, I managed to receive a whopping 70 responses out of 80 distributed bundles. Magically, about 40 of these included questions for Elsewhere from the public. I proudly present some gems:

that last one in blue pen is my response to a question. everyone knows this story.

Yes, yesterday as I was walking back home from hanging out with these people

I felt my foot rip open and spill puss out all over my shoe. (NICE one.) I didn't realize that I even had a blister hanging out down there but it was Texas sized and full of ooze. I gimped back to Elsewhere and cleaned up. This morning I woke up and felt the strong need to shower. I wasn't even thinking about my foot until I got to the Y. I realized that it had ripped even more. YAY! My foot did not enjoy the shower and I gimped all the way back to Elsewhere. I'm taking a day off my foot. I wanted to go back out today but I couldn't.

I guess I just didn't process that I have been walking around the city morning to night for 3 days.

In other news, I stumbled (literally) upon Lane, the kind and possibly (?) homeless man that I'd made friends with a couple days ago. He called me out on being dangerously red in the face and bought me a huge water and an iced coffee.

I'm ready to finish this project.

I filled each bundle with an insert that explained Elsewhere, the project, and the hopeful outcome of our effort to engage the public in a question-answering, question-making dialogue. In addition to that, I placed the question along with a blank note card. The blank is for the person to ask us a question.

On Monday morning, I headed out, nervous but optimistic about people possibilities! I have different methods of approaching people but no matter what, you can't escape the inevitable level of discomfort. Working actively within a society that isn't really excited to exchange with strangers through simple greetings much less personal exchanges, I will say that this project is by far the most challenging force I've ever encountered. There have been disconcerting moments, skeptical people, and generally annoyed people. I really feel that any negativity I've encountered has been due to a general confusion about "art" and what "changes" art can make on a community. Good news, though! All negativity has been buffered by patience and persistence. There have been some folks who at first are against the idea but after we talk for a while (sometimes a long time) they feel better about participating.

Then, there are the positive people who are willing to support the vision of change through the medium of art. 

I've asked shop owners, people walking down the street, people working in offices, professional looking, non-professional-looking, anyone! So far, so good. The thing about all of this is that it's so a part of our nature as civilized beings to leave people alone and also desire to be left alone. And here I am, walking down Elm street with a bundle full of bundles, going against everything that I am used to in terms of human interactions.  Initially, people don't want to be bothered. They are BUSY and do not have time for "art." When they see that you are willing to stick around for no reason except to talk to them...just BECAUSE...they are willing to participate. We need to give each other more love, I think. People can sense when others care about them or are genuinely (and therefore for no rational reason) are interested in them. 

In general, people don't know what to do when they realize that you don't want to sell them anything. They have trouble, at first, understanding why one would value their input just as a person. I feel that a lot of really great people have lost touch with their personhood and when they are awakened to it and BY it, they feel better.

Another observation: I generally tell people that I would like to talk to them about a community art project. Immediately, they try to find someone that would "know" more about the arts or organizing projects. When I tell them that I just want to talk to them as people, it takes a while to process what I just said. Their eyes are filled with confusion and delight simultaneously. Here's one of them: Officer Bodenheimer.

He felt that he was not qualified to answer the question, initially. After chatting it up for a good 10 minutes about phenomenon of businesses always being closed on Mondays and Greensboro's embracing of a 3-day weekend, he finally felt confident enough to participate in art. He taught me a lot of things.

 

I met a homeless? gentlemen last night who helped me meet a lot of other people. He made me work hard for his connections, though. First, I had to tell him a bunch of information about myself and then I had to accompany him to the corner store. Here, he offered to buy me icecream and soda. I decline, politely. He introduced me to people as his grand daughter. He would not leave me alone but I found it to be endearing, knowing that he was probably just bored. He spilled gin on my bundle because he was a little drunk but that incident just added to my encounter with him. A lot of the "success" of this project has come down to the fantastic interactions with people and not so much about the bundles at all! I met him when I was placing a bundle on a door and he shouted, belligerently, "HEY, What are you doing?" And I said, "Nothing. What are you doing?"

This adventure is so terribly uncomfortable and awkward but at the same time so satisfying and eye-opening. Here are my daily notes, in case you care:

I've distributed about 60 of these bundles so far. I'm going back out tonight. And tomorrow. And the day after. Tomorrow, I've managed to squirm my way into a youth group meeting at a church down the street. I get to hang out with kids, eat pizza, talk about Jesus, and tell them about my bundles. YA! My time at Elsewhere is almost up! Oh no!

Oh, post script:

-------------- (continued)

Day 10. Rheumatoid arthritis, go away!!

I had to leave unexpectedly during the last entry. Last night, we had an artist conversation that featured a lot of 3-d art. A lot of people came and I had the pleasure of working the kiddie table. YAY! Afterwards, the famous Friday night impromptu dance party occurred. We all smelled so bad but just kept dancing and bathing in clouds of BO all night.

I woke up today with the intention of going out and distributing the bundles throughout the hood. But, I decided to stay in one more day and finish all 100 and distribute on Monday since I wont be able to receive responses until Wednesday. I have 10 more to go!!

Here is a picture that our documentarian took:

Today is even better than yesterday. This is for normal progression reasons but I think also my art talk has played a major role in general happiness for me. I was feeling really nervous before my talk and was afraid that it would be boring or something. I included lots of info about my family history and I showed old pictures and I thought it was going to cause sleepiness. However, to my delight, everyone seemed genuinely captivated with what I was babbling about. It was kind of a great feeling especially since I didn't expect it to happen. I'm glad that I gave a talk to give peeps a reference point for understanding more about me. I had better conversations with people after giving my art talk. I pretty much am loving everyone here more every day.

I spent much of the day dealing with my bundle conversations project which involved talking to people about it, making signs advertising Grandfather Bundle, and, of course, making more bundles. Luckily, I had my trusty assistant  Alexa-darling to help. Alexa is a senior in college and is doing an internship at Elsewhere. Without her, I could not have made all these bundles today. We worked really hard for hours, stopping only for the occasional Freeze Pop, or, as she calls them, "Chilly Willies." Adorable!

Now, it's raining pretty hard outside and everyone is happy. Why are you so perfect, Elsewhere? Here are some pictures of the gorgeous alley/garden in the rain. Please note the river.

We are having faux sushi tonight! My tummy is rumbling with excitement!

Today, I skipped merrily to the Y for a shower only to find when I arrived that I'd forgotten my precious flip flops. Flip flops are an important part of public showers because they help one avoid catching hepatitis B, athlete's foot, and the Ickies. I don't know if what I did even helped prevent all those horrible things from happening but I laid down my dirty t-shirt and stepped on that the whole time. I wasn't gonna let anything ruin my shower time. :)

I told them I was new around these parts and one really nice man said that he was going to sing me a song to officially welcome me to Fincastle's. It was a love song and I was the only one in the restaurant at the time. So...it was awkward but lovely! I love all of these Elsewhere adventures so much.

This is Tiffany. Well, you can't see her face, but it's Tiffany! Her installation involves old shoes, a big heart and hours and hours of stapling. She's almost done! When i got here, I helped her figure out the symmetry of the heart shape!

Grandfather Bundle

Welp, tonight is my artist talk. I get to present my work to all the elsewherians. Then, there is supposed to be a frozen treats party??? Yaaaasssssss!!!

It feels like I have been here for a really long time at this point. Good or bad thing?? I know not. The community of Downtown Greensboro continues to delight me. :) We had an opening for the Urban Garden which brought in lots of people (and children) and last night Elsewhere hosted a day dedicated to making sustainable toys. Or at least that was one of its purposes. There were so many families and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Also, MEAT was had  all around. It is shocking to find that most Elsewherians, at least right now, are not vegetarian. Meat tastes very good. We had boigers! I love when people come over and play with the art stuffs!!

This is such an incredible opportunity. Everyone is cool. The food is great. Yeah, there's dust everywhere and small objects are lost easily but I'm learning more about art and people every 24 hours!!

Stuff I found today at Elsewhere