The Border Projects: In conversation
In 2015, I completed a series of long, continuous walks that were equivalent to the lengths of the borders of Gaza. During some of these walks, I invited people to walk with me and talk about the project and our own lives. This has opened up conversation as a medium to discuss an even wider variety of topics surrounding borders today such as the Syrian refugee crisis, immigration issues, and homelessness. I am interested in expanding this dialogue further to include our personal, emotional, social, and economic borders. Talking with and truly listening to one another becomes a way to model a potential solution to conflict, even on a small scale; it is a practice of being together and caring for each other--an extension of the realization that change must begin on a personal level. For me, this simple act of conversation creates something poetic, symbolic, and meaningful.
In Conversation utilizes a pair of constructed, portable tents (reminiscent of Red Cross tents, refugee tents, or a schema of a house) that travel to different locations. Each location raises its own set of connections, concerns, and questions. For example, the conversation around the tent is likely to be different different if it is set up beneath a city bridge in Chicago than if it set up on a reservation in the northwest.
One tent is covered with canvas, the other with a semi-transparent mosquito netting. These tents serve as meeting places for the public to interact, participate in conversations about borders and about each other, listen in on conversations, and reflect on what they have heard, seen, or experienced. They have served as sites for readings, poetry, workshops, panel discussions, and retreats.
The canvas tent (the speaking tent) serves as a semi-private location for conversations to occur. Participants can choose to record audio via smartphones from these conversations and send to [email protected] for inclusion in a growing archive. In the transparent tent (the listening tent), participants listen to recorded conversations through sets of headphones.
Special thanks to collaborator Michael Cunningham for working with me to develop this project.
In Conversation utilizes a pair of constructed, portable tents (reminiscent of Red Cross tents, refugee tents, or a schema of a house) that travel to different locations. Each location raises its own set of connections, concerns, and questions. For example, the conversation around the tent is likely to be different different if it is set up beneath a city bridge in Chicago than if it set up on a reservation in the northwest.
One tent is covered with canvas, the other with a semi-transparent mosquito netting. These tents serve as meeting places for the public to interact, participate in conversations about borders and about each other, listen in on conversations, and reflect on what they have heard, seen, or experienced. They have served as sites for readings, poetry, workshops, panel discussions, and retreats.
The canvas tent (the speaking tent) serves as a semi-private location for conversations to occur. Participants can choose to record audio via smartphones from these conversations and send to [email protected] for inclusion in a growing archive. In the transparent tent (the listening tent), participants listen to recorded conversations through sets of headphones.
Special thanks to collaborator Michael Cunningham for working with me to develop this project.
Listen in on SoundCloud.
Schedule & Locations:
November 3, 2016, 1pm-7pm, The Teaching Gallery, Vandenburgh Avenue, Troy, NY
July 23, 2016, 1-5pm: Sullivan Galleries, 33 South State St, floor 7, Chicago, IL (Readings & Gatherings)
July 15-31, 2016, 11am-5pm, Tues-Sat: Sullivan Galleries, 33 South State St, floor 7, Chicago, IL
June 30, 2016, 1-3pm: Lakefront Trail, Foster Beach, Edgewater, Chicago, IL
June 26, 2016, 11-3pm: Old Town, Chicago, IL
June 17, 2016, 2-3pm: Kouw Park, Holland, MI
June 8, 2016, Madison St and River, Troy, NY
May 19, 2016, 3-5pm: Riverfront Park South, Troy, NY
November 3, 2016, 1pm-7pm, The Teaching Gallery, Vandenburgh Avenue, Troy, NY
July 23, 2016, 1-5pm: Sullivan Galleries, 33 South State St, floor 7, Chicago, IL (Readings & Gatherings)
July 15-31, 2016, 11am-5pm, Tues-Sat: Sullivan Galleries, 33 South State St, floor 7, Chicago, IL
June 30, 2016, 1-3pm: Lakefront Trail, Foster Beach, Edgewater, Chicago, IL
June 26, 2016, 11-3pm: Old Town, Chicago, IL
June 17, 2016, 2-3pm: Kouw Park, Holland, MI
June 8, 2016, Madison St and River, Troy, NY
May 19, 2016, 3-5pm: Riverfront Park South, Troy, NY
You may remove your shoes and enter.
Where are your borders, your edges, your separations?
Are they geographic? Economic? Social?
Speak. Listen. Share
Introduce yourself.
If you are willing and able, record your conversation using your smartphone voice memo recorder and send it to [email protected] to be shared.
Where are your borders, your edges, your separations?
Are they geographic? Economic? Social?
Speak. Listen. Share
Introduce yourself.
If you are willing and able, record your conversation using your smartphone voice memo recorder and send it to [email protected] to be shared.
