Saturday, September 16

This is the first time I've been out with the Listening Station on a week-end. While there are more people out on the street, especially towards evening, there's not that much of a difference in their willingness to stop for a few minutes.

The first user of the day is a woman who is on her way to the ATM from the diner. We take just one minute each, so that she can get back to her breakfast.


Jim came back again today, on his way home from visiting an African-American Jewish congregation with the West Philly synagogue. I forgot to ask him what brought him back a second time- maybe he'll post a comment here for us.

After a long lull, during which I walked around the block a bit ( being out on the street with the listening station for 3 hours is a lot different than being out for one hour!), an artist who I had met through a craigslist posting about studio space arrivd with her partner. They were excited to try out the station, and remarked that it felt quite different from a regular conversation. He noticed that he used the time to give a report on his day, which was different from how she had talked about things.


A short while later, a woman and her boyfriend stopped by. She was definately more interested than he was, and she convinced him to try it with her. When I asked afterwards, she told me it seemed like "a complete waste of time", which I could beleive judging from the look on his face. The listening station is like a lot of things - you get out of it what you put into it...


My last visitors are a man and his nephew, who give it a try for a short time. I end up just having an off-station conversation with him about creating a website or blog to document his work with homeless men on the "back streets".

Throughout the day, the students who came by were a little more curious, and I had a few short interactions with folks, inviting them to give it a try. But in the end, there were still no students who decided to actually stop and try the listening station. Not that this particular population was my ultimate goal- I have been working towards a goal of general involvement with whoever I encountered. Simply offering the possibility of a different kind of experience in the daily public life of the city is one of the purposes of this project. And in that respect, I feel I have been successful.

The next installation of the listening station may be in 30th Street Station... stay tuned!

Friday, September 15

My second day out during the UPenn fall semester, and another slow start.
I hang back at the wall often, observing the reactions of passersby. More often than not, students and others just completely ignore the presence of a new signpost and two strange benches on the sidewalk. My presence is also often ignored- even when folks stop for a moment to read the signs on the post or on the benches. I'm keeping to my approach of only asking, "would you like to try the listening station?" of people who pause and take notice of me or the installation, so as not to end up feeling too aggressive. The majority shake their head, or tell me, " I'm just reading the sign, thanks".
I realized later today that I forgot my most effective response: " It's meant to be used!"

Still, a few people are curious and open enough to stop and try it out.

This young man tells me a little about life as a recent college graduate, and I convince another man walking by to take our picture.


A few minutes later, a group of young people come by, having come from the library. They are curious to try it out, and end up creating a three-way listening station. They told me, " it's hard to just listen!" - but these three seem to have friendly and close relationships already, and used their time on the station to laugh and joke at their listeners.

After a slow hour, my friend Mary comes by and spend a while chatting with me on and off the station. While she's there, an acquaintance from the neighborhood shows up, and elects to use the station with Mary, since he knows less about her than about me. By this time, Mary is an old pro, and she shows Jim how it's done.

Like yesterday, despite their many numbers, no Penn students stop to use the station. Many of them who pass this corner are coming from the grocery store, their hand full with plastic bags- so I don't expect them to stop. But even those who aren't in as much of a hurry are surprisingly resistant... I'll keep at it tomorrow, and see what I can do.

Thursday, September 14

The first rainy listening station day, above is the LS in rain gear.

Accordingly, not a lot of users today... the higher proportion of students now on the street also seems to make for a less interested public in general.


Old philly theatre friends Jeanette and Perry came by with Jules, on their way to a fringe show. I ended up only using the station with Perry, but had a nice long talk with Jeanette about life and art. Perry mentioned an artist who did performance pieces in places where she knew she'd be caught on surveillance video- and then, we noticed this sign:
maybe I don't need to get someone out here to video-document the piece after all.

Next, a pair of young folks stop to use the station ( not pictured) - once they got a little instruction, they seem to take the whole thing as just another part of their day, and don't comment much to me when they finish.

The last user for the day, as it turns out, is a young woman who doesn't live far from me. She's very enthusiastic about the idea of this public endeavor, and we take a few minutes each.
It's not quite 7 yet ( actully, more like 6 pm) but the drizzle starts to become a bit more regular, and eventually it becomes clear that people are not going to want to sit and be wet on a public art installation. I pack up and leave with the help of my car ( I'm having some kind of lower back spasm today) and call it a day.
Hoping for a drier day tomorrow...

Wednesday, September 13

This evening I brought the listening stations to Rittenhouse Square, in Center City Philadelphia. I was there as part of the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours' artist's table. The table, and my stations, were set out to take advantage of the crowd gathered for the last of the Concerts in the Park series.
I arrived around 6:30, with Ken's help.

As people gathered to listen to the dj opening for the live band, a few folks ventured to try out the stations.



The first to stop were a young boy and his Aunt, with little sister in the stroller. He wanted to try using it with me, but about 20 seconds into his minute of being listened to, decided that he'd rather use it with auntie.
It took some doing, but eventually this fellow used the station for two minutes each with me. He had some interesting insights into the sociological aspects of my project, after listening to me muse on the differences in the crowd at rittenhouse and the people who are usually coming by at 40th and Walnut.

While he and I were using the station, these two women sat down on their own and shared 5 minutes each.
as darkness fell, I found that fewer folks were willing to stop and try the stations. Or, it might have been the excellent grooves coming from the band on stage.

I used the station with two of the other Philadelphia Open Studio Tours artists. Shortly after taking a turn with one of them, I left to find a bathroom. I encouraged her ( not pictured) to use the station with someone else while I was gone. She found a young man to try it out with her, and apparently made a nice connection with him

The last visitor of the evening was a woman who had just come from visiting the grand opening of a new pet store with her dog.
If you used the listening station at Rittenhouse ( or if you didn't), please post a comment on your experience or thoughts on this project!

The Listening Stations will be back out at 40th and Walnut
( weather permitting, check back here later today)
from 4-7 pm
Today, Thursday the 14th, Friday 15, and Saturday 16 of September, 2006.
see you on the street!

Listening Station Week 3 coming up!

The third installation is coming up-
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, September 14, 15, and 16
4-7 pm
at the southeast corner of 40th and Walnut, West Philadelphia

Bring someone who you would like to listen to, and who would like to listen to you.
Or, come by yourself and take a turn with me or someone else you haven't met before.

Rain will cancel the installation- check back here the day of, if the weather's bad.

Hope to see you on the street!

Friday, August 18

oops! I never got around to posting on this day- I'll get to it soon!