Viewing Device #4 [portable viewing device]
wood, steel, fabric, casters
2006

Mar 28, 2006
Wow. It was really awesome taking my viewing device onto the streets. It felt great interacting with people. It was exciting, but not in a once in a life time kind of way, more like a this can happen everyday kind of way. It was like I tapped into something that is always there. Human interaction. It was amazing to connect with people.

It turned out to be a great conversation started, it allowed me to interact with a lot of people that I would otherwise not interact with. Nobody completely ignored me. If I said hi, they at least smiled and said hi back, even if they didn't want to look through my sky viewing device. I got the sense that people really enjoyed the project and it brought a smile to many faces.

In addition to instigating social interaction, I hope to get people to think about how busy their lives are, and maybe the next time they walk outside they will take a moment to notice the sky. Like the old cliche, stop and smell the roses.

Doing this project reinforced for me that this kind of public art is a continual process of building and renewing community through social interaction. This is something I observed while participating in the Art Shanty Projects as well. It is not just a one time thing, it is something you have to do over and over and over again. In fact, I find that I want to keep doing it again and again.

People told me that I made their day, and that made mine.