CULTIVATE A SPOT: a small exhibition of documented actions
Library Window Gallery
Emily Carr University of Art & Design, Vancouver
July 6-20
What would you do if you were walking along your usual route and saw a basket of apples or bags of potato chips, sitting in a public space with a note, inviting you to enjoy the food?
Would you take an apple, a bag of chips? Would you take two bags of chips? Would you be delighted by this encounter? Or would you be suspicious of the offering?
CULTIVATE A SPOT consists of a publication and a series of postcards documenting my notes as I observed behaviour of people’s encounters with eight food offerings, deposited inside an out-of-use telephone booth in East Vancouver. The postcards were mailed to a small group of people—family, friends, and colleagues—as a way to draw them into the project and to offer an opportunity to question, comment, or reflect on my actions. Participants responded via postcards, text messaging, and in person. Conversations focused around one’s connection to community, using food to connect, and dis/comfort in using public spaces in alternative ways.
The publication contains images, documentation notes, reflections, quotes, a quasi-scientific conclusion, an appendix containing links to other telephone booth projects, and a short history of the telephone booth I interacted with. The publication will be sold and will available soon.