Mapping Pittsburgh:
Art, Space & Alternative Culture
A collaborative art project, a portrait, a resource, an ongoing archive…
| Observations can tell you about what people do, but less about what they feel. What is really important to them and what just mundane? Cultural probes are one way to access environments that are difficult to observe directly and also to capture more of this 'felt life'. To collect subjective interpretations of the city, we developed a set of "activity boxes" to prompt creative refection on Pittsburgh and individual's experience of the city. These activity boxes are inspired by design probes - a tool designers often use to gain insights into a community or space. The boxes were designed and created in collaboration between the artist-educators at the Warhol Museum and the designers at Deep Local. This collaboration included conceiving the boxes/probes and working side by side to design, print, copy, assemble, and distribute them. Each plain white cardboard box contains maps of the city, stickers, a disposable camera with instructions, and a set of evidence bags accompanied with ticket asking people to collect materials representative to their work and neighborhoods, and place them in the evidence bags. The use of a white box was purposely ironic, referencing the “white cube” of the modernist museum. Participants were encouraged to decorate or modify their boxes as they saw fit.To date we have gifted these boxes to approximately 20 individuals/groups. For the most part, they are received with enthusiasm and interest. Once a box has been completed, to whatever extent individual/group chooses, rather than having participants mail the box back to the museum or simply drop them off, we have chosen to individually collect it. This provides the opportunity to extend our discussion about Pittsburgh and foster ongoing dialogue. |
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