point to us: weekly pressure project
11.14.05



thank you, julian, abe, sonali, and michael!


For this weeks pressure project, I handed out yellow arrows to my friends and asked them to use them as an instrument in our relationship. I think it would be nice to listen to this piece by stephen vitiello while looking at this page. Here is what happened:
           
  photo person location message (tag) privacy level
  abe underneath bike rack on washington place, near broadway ywmfct hidden, very private
  julian 151 kent ave building roof its a lot of gotham to see in 1 place private property, mostly private
  michael washington sq north and mcdougal i'm on my way to tno, and i promised to post this by friday. so this is about our relationship street lamp, very public
  sonali itp video lab i think of you being here private property, very private
 


       
I thought of this project as an exploration of my relationship with my friends through a publicly mediated activity. It became more about the personal comfort level with the public/private aspect of the sticker. The attitude of my friends towards the arrows were fairly negative. many expressed that they felt like they were advertising for a corporation. Only one arrow was in a truly public spot. The rest were either hidden or in private space, accessible to few.
This project scratched my sense of longing to connect with my friends and our shared lives. The idea of leaving messages in and around the city, is magical and tempting, however, this manifestation was labored and forced.
I liked the personality that came across in the way the arrows were used. The immediacy of place in Sonali's brisk choice, the subversive, anti-yellow arrow rebellion of Abe's bike rack, The beautiful placement of Julian's, and the open public and honest comedy of Michael's.
It was good to create new experiences, one which attempted to bridge the private with the public, however it is clear the choice of yellow arrow as the mediator of this conversation, wasn't as effective as a home spun spirited outing.

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