Shelter Ideas...

Memorial to the Mundane pt.2

I wanted to memorialize the mundane activity of paying for parking. It's an activity nobody wants to do,  and most find it annoying and sometimes stressful. As I set the structure up, I spoke with several people about what I was doing. I had several postitive reactions, and some slightly confused reactions. When I was done setting up, I sat back and watched peoples reactions to the structure I built around the parking station. Most people slowed as they passed and tried to figure out what it was without actually stopping. Some had excited whoops of joy, "Ha!! Yes! I love it!!" and "YES! Protest Art Awesome!" It didn't occur to me that I was protesting anything, I was just trying to make people more aware of their mundane activities. But since it was pointed out to me that it could be thought of as protest, I considered it and I'm okay with that. I am upset with the system. I don't have a solution, or a better idea, but I do get annoyed with the current system. Some people's stories said that they were just 2 minutes late returning to their cars and they had a ticket. Is it bad luck? Or are officers staked out waiting for parking to expire? I wasn't looking to inspire change, just bring about mindfulness of your actions. What you do, and why you do it, whether it is mundane or extrodinary, or somewhere in between.

Memorial To The Mundane

Someone paying for parking.

Bicycle police chalking tires and giving a parking ticket.

Group of people laughing at me for taking a pic of the parking ticket.

A girl held the door open on the way out of Sbux for another girl. That girl said, "thank you" and they left separate ways.

Older man with beard pacing back and forth.

A young man came out of Sbux, picked the ticket off the car - looked perturbed.

A lady paid for parking at the pay station.

Man carrying a manila envelope walked by.

Two females pass within inches of each other - don't give eye contact.

Three males (30ish) walk in to Sbux talking & laughing.

Guy whose car got a ticket stands about 15 ft. away and calls someone on his cell.

Mother & Son (4ish) walk out of Sbux. She pats him on the head. He sips his hot cocoa (?)

Girl comes out of Sbux, meets guy with parking ticket, they get in the car & leave.

Lady with a Toyota 4 Runner takes the spot immediately.

Pacing old man picks up a piece of trash.

Older couple walking together, Man looking at his cell phone.

Young woman gives old pacing man money from her purse.

Young man walks by while talking on blue tooth.

Old pacing man walks in to Sbux.

Couple in red Mustang get in car. Younger man gets in the green car next to theirs. He starts his engine. They start their engine. He pulls out. Older couple fiddle with things in the car, then pull out approximately 1 minute later.

Man in neon yellow jacket ride his bicycle on the sidewalk.

Man & Lady walking a dog. Dog stops to look at me. Lady pulled on leash and continued walking while she talked loudly.

Public Art in Burien!!

Who knew my hometown was so artsy?!

Public-Presentation-Audience

My Audience was myself. When I am alone, I use a small magnifying mirror to look at my face and all it's growing amount of flaws. I usually start with the intention of plucking my eyebrows, but when I get bored of that, or one certain hair is particularly painful, I move on to other regions of my face. Usually the first thing after eyebrows is forehead wrinkles. this is because when I pluck, I raise my eyebrows creating creases in my forehead. When I see those, I usually grimace causing my nose to crinkle and highlight more wrinkles. This is about the time that I get overwhelmed with self hatred and decide not to leave the house, ever. As long as I'm down, I start to kick myself. I move on to my teeth. I have hated my teeth ever since I was 8 years old and the two front teeth were huge and pretty much the only teeth I had on the top. I will use my magnifying mirror to check out the stains, chips, my one extra crooked tooth, and check for food particles. Looking at my teeth, I see my bottom lip. It is almost always chapped and peeling. So I pick at it. Until it bleeds. So I move on. Next up is my chin, which has started to grow dark hairs. Awesome :(  Pluck! Agoraphobia creeps in...

At the end of my presentation, a classmate complimented me, saying I looked nice today. I grimaced and said, "Oh, thanks. I look like crap". Normally I wouldn't say that out loud, but I said it for the performance so that the audience would know what I was really thinking. Recently I posted a photo of myself on Facebook, and a couple of people posted comments saying I looked good. I was racked with insecurities, thinking, "Are they being sarcastic?". So for the purpose of presenting to the class what I think when I receive a compliment, I rejected the compliment verbally.

Trial Post

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