Knick-Knacks, 2009

I created a catalog designed to be reminiscent of a museum catalog for my mother’s bell collection. At the end of the catalog I transcribed a two-hour conversation that I had with my mom. The conversation began with my asking her questions about her thoughts on the practice of collecting objects and became a discussion about her ideas about life, death and how one day, all those beanie babies in the garage are going to be worth something.

Excerpted pages from Knick Knacks.
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System Science Window Display, 2010

System Science Window Display, 2010. With Ben Rohlfing. Portland, OR.

Collaborator Ben Rohlfing and I created this window display for the building that houses the System Science PhD department on Portland State’s campus. We approached the project with the thinking that the department was our client, and we met with the faculty that uses the building on several occasions, working until we had designed and installed a display that they felt met all of their needs.

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My Favorite Sandwich, 2010

For a recent class assignment, I recreated the best sandwich that I’ve ever eaten and invited my class to eat the sandwiches with me while engaging in a discussion about their favorite sandwich toppings, strategies for lunchtime planning, and food memories.

Photos courtesy of Krystal South.

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Curly Zine, 2009.

Excerpt from Curly Zine, 2009. With Judy Fleming.

Under the instruction of Harrell Fletcher, the Spring 2009 undergraduate Social Practice class at Portland State held class at a small local year-round farmer’s market every week. Our objective was to spend time getting to know the farmer’s market vendors and “document the source” of the food that was brought to the market every week, using whatever format we felt best suited the subject.

For my project, I collaborated with classmate Judy Fleming to create a zine about one of the market’s oldest vendors, Curly. We distributed the zines to people at the farmer’s market and gave the file to Curly so that he may continue to distribute them at his stand.

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Friends Reenacting Friends, 2009.

Video documentation from Friends Reenacting Friends. With Ally Drozd. SEA Change Gallery, Portland, OR. 2009.

Collaborator Ally Drozd and I were asked by the curators of Public Social University to do a project during their event on Friendship. For our project, titled Friends Reenacting Friends, we asked the audience members to participate with us and do an on the spot performance reading from an episode of the popular television show Friends, using highlighted scripts and props that we provided. Keeping with the theme of Friendship, we chose an excerpt from an episode of Friends where the girls and boys are competing in a trivia game of their own design to see which set of friends knows the other better.

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Soup & Comedy, 2009-Present

Online invitation to a Soup & Comedy event

Soup & Comedy is a project that examines America’s real favorite pastime: watching television. Collaborators Crystal Baxley and Ally Drozd believe that television brings people together; both in their living rooms and anywhere favorite shows can be discussed with colleagues, companions or grocery cashiers. Soup & Comedy explores the extraordinary power of primetime television in bringing ordinary people together.

Every Thursday, the artists open their shared home and ask participants to share homemade soup and watch NBC’s current “Must See Thursday” line-up. The event is free and open to the public, and advertised by word of mouth, text message, e-mail and Facebook status updates. Participants are encouraged to bring friends, libations, and their sense of humor.

Soup & Comedy will be featured as part of the 2010 Open Engagement: Making Things, Making Things Better, Making Things Worse conference in May.

Soup & Comedy Presents:

Ham & Humor

Beer & Blazers

Pizza & Playoffs

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Pet Stories, 2009

For Pet Stories, my first socially engaged project, I asked the riders waiting at the westbound 9 Powell bus stop at the corner of 182nd Ave and Powell in Gresham, Oregon to tell me stories about their experiences with pets. Students from the nearby high school who were waiting to take the bus home shared their stories with me and with each other. I planned to make those stories into a zine and distribute it to the students and other riders at the bus stop. With this piece, I started exploring the idea of asking people to come together and share using a common unifier, working in the public and initiating participatory projects in non-art locations.

Documentation from Pet Stories was exhibited as part of Extraordinarily Ordinary III. White Gallery, Portland, OR.