This is the first day of the preliminary listening week. Never having installed this piece in a public place, I decided to try it for an hour each day, 10-11 am from Monday July 24 to Friday July 28. I invited close friends to join me in using the station to help start things off- but the idea is mainly to invite passers-by to use the listening station with me.
To begin, I brought the listening station to the south-west corner of 40th and chestnut. This is the nearest corner to my studio. ( I am an artist in residence at the 40th st Artist in Residence program from July 2006 to January 2007)
This corner has a busy bus stop ( to the right in this photo), small businesses, and a new condo building being built across the street ( brown facade in the background) It is also near UPenn's campus, but far enough removed for a wider variety of people on the street.
So, at 10 am, Ken and I brought the station and signpost out, and sat down to listen to each other for 3 minutes each. When we were done, Ken stood a little ways off while I began to invite people walking by to stop and try the listening station.
My exact words were, " would you like to try the listening station?"
Almost immediately, I started talking with a man who looked to be in his early 30's, who asked if I had a dollar. I said I didn't have any money, but I had lots of time, and would he like to try the listening station? After a short amount of persistence, he agreed.
The flip-sign indicated that he should talk, and I should listen, and we agreed on 3 minutes each. After I started the timer, he asked what he should talk about. I shrugged and smiled. He shrugged too, and proceeded to rap and rhyme for the full 3 minutes, never taking his eyes off mine. I didn't catch everything, but it was a powerful ode to makin it in the city...
Over the next hour, I discovered that people coming off the bus were more likely to stop to find out what I was about than people waiting for the bus, contrary to my expectation.
I had two more takers that day- an older man who used his time to commend me on the project and comment on the usefulness of it in Phildelphia which to him seems to uptight. And, a middle aged woman who was on her way to the doctor and hoped she would have time to go to reading terminal afterwards.
A great first try, feeling confident and amazed at how well the simple direction of speaking and listening works. Realizing that I have to be on the job the entire time, approaching people. They won't come to me- folks on city streets want to ignore whatever is unusual or seems like it will inconvenience them.
And, need to find a way to have the station in the shade more!
To begin, I brought the listening station to the south-west corner of 40th and chestnut. This is the nearest corner to my studio. ( I am an artist in residence at the 40th st Artist in Residence program from July 2006 to January 2007)
This corner has a busy bus stop ( to the right in this photo), small businesses, and a new condo building being built across the street ( brown facade in the background) It is also near UPenn's campus, but far enough removed for a wider variety of people on the street.
So, at 10 am, Ken and I brought the station and signpost out, and sat down to listen to each other for 3 minutes each. When we were done, Ken stood a little ways off while I began to invite people walking by to stop and try the listening station.
My exact words were, " would you like to try the listening station?"
Almost immediately, I started talking with a man who looked to be in his early 30's, who asked if I had a dollar. I said I didn't have any money, but I had lots of time, and would he like to try the listening station? After a short amount of persistence, he agreed.
The flip-sign indicated that he should talk, and I should listen, and we agreed on 3 minutes each. After I started the timer, he asked what he should talk about. I shrugged and smiled. He shrugged too, and proceeded to rap and rhyme for the full 3 minutes, never taking his eyes off mine. I didn't catch everything, but it was a powerful ode to makin it in the city...
Over the next hour, I discovered that people coming off the bus were more likely to stop to find out what I was about than people waiting for the bus, contrary to my expectation.
I had two more takers that day- an older man who used his time to commend me on the project and comment on the usefulness of it in Phildelphia which to him seems to uptight. And, a middle aged woman who was on her way to the doctor and hoped she would have time to go to reading terminal afterwards.
A great first try, feeling confident and amazed at how well the simple direction of speaking and listening works. Realizing that I have to be on the job the entire time, approaching people. They won't come to me- folks on city streets want to ignore whatever is unusual or seems like it will inconvenience them.
And, need to find a way to have the station in the shade more!
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