Making Visible



Thinking about ways in which we as artists and educators create work that invites the public to engage, or disrupt thinking had me thinking quite literally. What do or make that challenges routines or requires and audience to engage? I immediately connected the idea of engagement in art to socially engaged art. Thinking about how we can create something that forces interaction and possible activism. Socially engaged art is participatory by nature. It often brings the audience out of routine and requires a divergence in thinking. 



I personally connected bringing public into different routes or routines with the socially engaged art I created with other art educators facilitated by Stephen Carpenter at SICA 2017. Stephen has responded to the global water crisis by creating ceramic water filters and portable presses for communities at risk to create their own water filters. After a week engaging in conversations centered around socially engaged art, as a group we worked to create water filters out of clay and sawdust. To help engage the public, we set up on the sidewalk outside of the Patterson Building. As a group, we took over most of the sidewalk. This forced pedestrians on their commute to navigate around their typical path. It was interesting to see the reaction as walkers had to decide between walking on the grass or engaging in a conversation. Some stopped to talk, some ignored completely, some took pictures, others gave puzzling looks. Regardless of reaction, the public was obligated to engage. 




By setting up on a sidewalk, a route one might typically walk without thought, we invited the public to take action. The disruption of routine served as a catalyst for conversation and education. In this instance, we were literally disrupting or challenging the route. After exploring A Digital Cartographies Project I was able to see the ways in which one can use other methods of initiating a change in interacting previously known places. For instance, this project invites the viewer to explore the ways in which stories are expressed through mapping. It also brings up the question of who is creating the maps we use in our everyday lives. How do we decide what narrative is publicized? Viewing or reading identity mapping can help us interact with another perspective similarly to creating art on the sidewalk.

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