The New Work of Building Civic Practice by Michael Rohd
A great article for artists of all sorts about the ways in which we can approach meaningful work with non-arts partners. What are our skills, our tools, our assets? What are the needs of the non-arts organizations that we are passionate about? How can these meaningfully intersect?
Producing new work does not have to only mean making new plays. And our new work practice, it can excel not just in the caliber of our expression but in the quality of our listening. If we can accomplish that, we model what civic life today desperately needs—a practice that places dialogue ahead of monologue, imagination at the heart of problem—solving, and listening equal in value to expression.
This is by Larry Chait, a photographer in Chicago who has done two recent projects related to OWS. At our last meeting he brought in a small version of this, as well as detail shots. We’re really excited about this combination of art and information, and we hope it will inspire you too!
From Larry’s website:
“I created this image in support of the We Are the 99%/Occupy Wall Street movement. The image consists of 1225 photos taken from the wearethe99percent.tumblr.com site, where people show themselves holding signs telling their stories and expressing their feelings about the sorry state of affairs for the vast majority of the citizens of this country. The images are arranged in a 35 x 35 grid. I lightened or darkened each square of the grid to form the QR code for the website. The image thus functions as a QR code, scanable by smart phones, while still retaining a “human” face. Many of the faces and some of the written signs remain visible and readable. The full-res image is 21,000 pixels square, and at billboard resolution (say, 30 pixels/inch) could be presented as large as 60 feet square. My plan is to make the image available to whomever can use it in support of the movement.”
Source: larrychait.com
