Facebook Link to local issue- PDX Bomb Scare

http://www.facebook.com/#!/permalink.php?story_fbid=172683436086278&id=1425043841

Please let me know if the video and comments are viewable. Enjoy! :-)

Sing what you Sing

So I decided to do a mix of a few of the projects and try to find people that were singing out loud or humming a tune and get them to do it on camera. I was then going to start a Tumblr and give people cards saying where they could find there song... Nobody has sung for me yet! I think partially because it is finals week people aren't really singing and the few people I caught humming wouldn't do it on camera, also Tumblr is down so I couldn't start a blog... But I will keep you'll posted on this one.

Tattoo Museum Results

Barbed wire on ankle - guy said, "It keeps out bad and protects the good."



















Feather on left arm - guy said, "Life is like a feather."

















Sunflower on hip
girl said, "It's my favorite flower."

The most valuable valuable

Time is the most valuable "valuable".

Instructions: Stare at the clock for 5 minutes.

You will see how long it seems, how 5 minutes seem like 15, 30, an hour.

Then, hopefully you'll be more appreciative of your time, and others'.

The creator of this assignment has decided to be conscious of her use of time, by choosing how to invest it carefully. Instead of attending a four hour class/tour today, she will paint, write a short story and do yoga for 45 minutes.

COFFEE BY MYSELF

the path of your bedroom furniture

a while back a friend of mine picked up a fluorescent green couch from the basement of his building and said to me, "i bet this couch has been cycling around this building since the 70's". i find coffee makers, toasters, shorts, bookshelves and records in my basement all the time. we live in similar buildings: small old holding maybe fifty apartments each and they are full of people who fascinate and perplex us. my apartment building is full of mostly retirees and drunk kids who are all friends. i found a crappy shop class coffee table in my basement and it's covered in stickers. lots of them are from portland things and many more have hello kitty and many more have profanity. i put a couple of stickers on it myself because i like to think about things and how they relate to human history and i like to add to the legacy of little things like this, especially since it's ugly and i don't intend to keep it when i move out of my apartment in february.
i also like to think about apartment buildings as little micro-societies because they each contain their own dynamic. we're stuck with these people because we can hear their music and fighting and you have to wonder how many of these hands have held this coffee maker. and for the most part you'll never know totally who these people are.
so anyway how this manifests into a project starts with my basement. the mailboxes and washers are down there so everyone's been but you rarely see others down there with you. it's a common area to leave old things that you don't want anymore. i have made stickers that i'm going to put on my furniture that i leave in the basement of my building (starting with a hideous gigantic orange armchair from the 70's that i'm getting rid of tomorrow) that will direct people to a blog that will ask them questions about their life in the apartment building...and maybe about their identity to their neighbors (e.g. "i am the one whose smooth jazz you can always hear"). hopefully the next owner of the chair will find the project interesting and tell me that they have the chair and maybe something about themselves. the blog is http://whosetablewereyou.blogspot.com and if it kicks off and turns out to be interesting the blog will eventually be turned into notes taped up in the basement of my building.

create a unique social survey

Create a questionnaire and ask others to fill in the blanks. The questions should be universal, provocative and compelling. Although the questionnaire may seem superficial at first, this assignment is intended to encourage self reflection and spontaneous human interaction on an otherwise "normal" day. When the project is over, compare what people do and not have in common.

Examples:

why do you live in Portland?

do you read the paper?

do you believe in god?

trait or character inherited from your father?

if your mother was an animal what would she be?

name a person you feel envious of.

think of a nostalgic smell from your childhood

what books have affected you the most?

Assignment Idea

Pick a place in Portland with lots of foot traffic, specifically people listening to music through headphones. Approach people with headphones and ask what song they are currently listening to. Inform each person that you plan to create a custom cd with as many of the songs they and other people have given you on it. Plan a date that you will be at this same spot. Burn multiple cd's with the various songs on them, 8-15 songs would be ideal, then bring them to that spot on that date and hand them out to people. Label cd's Portland's mix or something along those lines.

Idea

Option 1: Create a tiny chat http://www.tinychat.com conversation involving multiple people, have a specific topic of discussion- broadcast.


Option 2: Create a video passionately expressing my views about a certain topic (men, dating, relationships,abortion, whatever..) and air it on Facebook. Pick up multiple comments from users in my network. Engage in responsive facebook conversation with commentators. Report after.

Social Practice Assignment

Assignment: Local Celebrity

Go to a local forum (a restaurant, bar, coffee shop, library…) and do your best character sketch of person of your choosing. When you finish the sketch approach the person, ask for their autograph and if you can take a picture with them. 3-5 character sketchs and pictures would be good. Post the sketchs and pictures to your blog site.

two ideas:

my first idea was to see how much you could touch a stranger without them noticing and take a picture of how 'far you got'. the levels would be touching with a single finger, pinching, cupping, hair touching, or skin (which ive never gotten away with).

My second idea was to pretend to take a picture of someone or a group smiling, but actually be filming a video. you would film the whole "can i take a picture of you? okay say cheese....got it thank you" bit. i think this idea is interesting because in a "say cheese" sort of picture you cant see how reluctant a person is before and after. I could even be filming if they turn me down.

-timothy

Gambling for rights

Set up a card or dice game. Invite people to come. Make the stakes be basic human rights. Donate the proceeds to a charity that supports basic human rights.

Involuntary Racing

Go to a popular running trail in your town. Set up finish line tape and checkered flag. The tape should cover most of the trail but allow room for some people to go around. Have video camera set up facing the finish line. Have a volunteer (or a few) runner(s) in a really good running suit waiting 1/2 mile before the finish line. When the next runner comes by have one of your volunteers start the race simply by getting side by side with the other person. This part will really rely on the volunteers and involunteers getting competitive. Hopefully you will get some epic close finishes and you could have a cheering section too. Start a youtube channel where you post the finishes and hand out little cards so people can find there race.

Open-Ended Assignment: Coffee with strangers

It's been pretty cold outside lately and there is nothing that is more comforting than having some coffee or tea with a friend, but how do these dynamics change when sharing coffee with a stranger? Can you achieve a meaningful conversation impromptu, in public, over coffee, with someone you don't know?

For my assignment, the 'artist' will have a thermos of coffee/tea/hot chocolate and be in a public place (park blocks, pioneer square, etc). The goal of the assignment is to have coffee with a stranger on the street. Try and have a conversation that is worth sending a cup of coffee over. When you are through, encourage the other person to do the same exercise with someone new.

Download a video from YouTube. Make and audio recording of the comments section below the video. Replace the audio from the video with the new recorded comments. Repost.

Like this.

Then send a message to each person whose comment you used in your project thanking them for their participation in the public sphere.