The Encounter
People by themselves listen to headphones or eat or on laptops Focused on own issues Not interacting with strangers
The Occupation
The Installation
The Carte Blanche
The people who looked like other RMIT students looked like they barely noticed, as they are probably used to seeing weird behavior happening in and around campus.
Nobody asked us what we were doing and why we were doing it.
Didn’t see anyone sitting alone who wasn't reading, or eating, or listening to music, or on laptops
Eating and smoking is what people tend to do in groups.
People in groups of friends seem a lot happier and confident.
People don’t appreciate being confronted in public by strangers if you just want to have a chat.
People of Footscray seemed to be used to odd behavior.
People only talk to strangers when there trying to sell them something, because they know the reason why there being spoken to.
People aren't fussed about how you share the public space with them, as long as you don't try and get them to join in.
Laying down on the street, even under a shelter, makes you feel very unsafe and vulnerable.
People are more likely to react and be involved in something if its not a stranger asking them
• My discovery of people is that we take advantage of public space but don’t take responsibility for it. • My discovery of myself and other people and is that a sense of community is developed in a public space if a common interest is shared with the people there.
The aim of the tea party was to interrupt peoples journey with a “pleasant surprise”. Tea is a cheap and widely accepted drink and was a perfect thing to offer people as they walked by. I was also hoping to create somewhat of a community by getting people that we got to join us, to get talking amongst one another as they are all sharing a common interest that is tea drinking.
The Talking Eye
The Robot Party Continuing on with trying to create a “pleasant surprise” for people, I participated in the robot party, which involved dressing up as a robot and going down swanston street on a tram handing out cupcakes or “space cakes” as we called them. I thought that if I handed out the cakes to people who weren't moving, and couldn't run away from me (because they were on a tram) then I would be more successful in creating that sense of community amongst who ever I gave cupcakes to.
I have moved away from the idea of handing out food or beverages to people to give them a pleasant surprise, because I felt that my presence alone was making them feel uncomfortable. So I created this inanimate object to do the talking for me.
• For peoples journeys from where they are coming from to where they are going to be interrupted by this event/installation and for them to leave feeling uplifted after the experience I caused.
Sounds: Man sweeping glass of the back of a toe truck.
Cigarette smoke Swearing Shopping trollies Bad music on phones Cars, trucks backing out- “beep beep”.
Children’s clothes shop Looks like ghosts in the window. Smells: Pharmacy smells Perfumes Soaps Clinical smells. Street noises Trams, trucks Cars People
Conclusion
After my actions in Brunswick and Swanston St, I decided to try a quieter and more suburban location. At about 5.30 pm this street in Richmond was dead quiet. Firstly, I sat the eye ball at the bottom of a tree amongst some bushes and I sat the walkie talkie behind the eyeball so that it could be heard. A lady walked passed and she looked very puzzled when the eye ball started talking to her. Then she got a bit frightened and quickly walked away. Then another older lady who was walking her two dogs came by and she actually stopped and talked back to it! She said “hello” a few times but then shook he head and walked away
My original Intentions were to change the way people felt in public space by creating a “pleasant surprise”. After doing my actions with the talking eye ball I can’t say that I achieved this, but I did get reactions never the less, especially from the people in Richmond. It was very clear that the people who encounted the eye ball in Richmond were very disturbed. The two boys who even ran away from it looked very worried at the fact that someone was watching them, and they didn't know where from. The lady walking her dogs wasn't worried at the start, but when she realized that the things the eye ball was saying were actually personalized to her, and not just a recording, then she backed of, looking all around for where the person talking through the object was hiding, and briskly walked away, shaking her head. This I believe was the most successful action, as I did change the way people feel in that public space at that time. I made them scared.
Richmond
Brunswick
We were able to get various groups of people to come over and join us for the tea drinking. Which was good. Except we had trouble keeping them there, because they were okay with just us and them sitting there together, but as soon as we got another group to join us, the first group would feel uncomfortable about there being all these strangers around, and they would leave. One group that joined us and drank our tea didn't even talk to us, but kept talking amongst themselves like we weren't there.
Reflections on Actions • After the activities of handing out free cups of tea to people to try and create a “pleasant surprise”, I discovered that people don’t feel entirely comfortable taking beverages from random people on the street. I think they were a bit suspicious.
People were more willing to accept cupcakes from us. Partly because we were in a larger group, and also because they were stationary and gave us an opportunity to hassle them a bit more. Another contributing factor was that because they were stationary sitting on the tram, and we were offering the cakes to everyone, they were able to see everyone else eat the cakes, which made them more willing and confident to do so also.
Smoky, dusty, dry air. Sunny Sound of police cars Shopping trollies.
The talking eyeball is an installation I chose because its eye catching and portable. The eyeball talks to people walking by using a walkie talkie that is concealed inside.
The Talking Eye
• To provide a pleasant surprise, and unexpected turn for the better. • Like the feeling you have after running into a friend on the street.
There's no reason for people to feel uncomfortable if there is no stranger talking to them.
Because Swanston St isn't a place where people sit down and relax. It’s just a thoroughfare. So we would have been noticeable.
Lots of people watched us. But nobody was brave enough to join in.
Sounds: Don’t know because I can’t get over the smell.
Smells: Petrol Oil Car fumes
The people to get the best reactions from are the ones in larger groups.
My discovery of public space is that there are so many rules and regulations for a space to be people friendly that the aesthetics are put on the back burner.
The Tea Party
Interests for my next actions Smells: Very very bad seafood smell. Like off fish.
Even if people know that we stuck the signs there to get reactions out of them, and that we were filming. They were still more likely to be involved because we weren't near them, just observing from far away.
People who weren't students thought that what we were doing was very unusual indeed.
Children don't get as embarrassed as easily as adults do. This may be why they get away with playing games without people staring at them.
Cafe- coffee Chatting Walking Laughing Soft music Trams- “ding ding” Cars with fumes Hot, dry and sunny.
Hot, sunny, dusty weather. Musty smell of booze- Soon realize that this is because of homeless man around the corner.
These boys had no hesitation sitting down on the signs in the middle of the walkway. People who were on there own didn't stop at all.
Nobody asked if we were okay. People only just looked at us with curiosity or disgust.
Some children mimicked us though. They wanted to join in but the parents wouldn't let them
Everyone has to be doing something. No one was doing nothing.
Fiona de La Lande s3198624
Its an unusual thing to see a homeless person outside RMIT.
Adults playing games in public is not particularly socially acceptable.
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If a lot of people are all interested in one thing, there more willing to talk to one another even if there complete strangers.
No alcohol.
Reflection on Investigations
The Psycheography
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Another thing they weren’t comfortable with was the presence of other strangers around them (the other people we tried to get to join us for tea).
• I’ve decided that my actions were hardly successful if they didn’t provide the “pleasant surprise” that I was hoping to achieve by drawing people together encouraging them to be social with random strangers.
Swanston Street
Then I hung the eyeball up in a tree on the other side of the street and waited further up the street. Two boys came past and they also stopped when the eyeball started talking. They didn't speak back but they laughed at each other and one of them looked like he would touch it but then he got a bit scared and they both jogged away. I think the creepy part for the people who interacted with the eyeball was not that it was talking, but that there was obviously someone watching them, as I made the calls personalized by saying “hew you with the two dogs” or “hey you in the white t-shirt”
Carlton
Interests for further actions • Still want to provide a “pleasant surprise” for people, but not in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable. • Create an installation of some kind which challenges my first two discoveries from semester 1. • The installation should provide the “pleasant surprise” that I attempted earlier, but should be more subtle as not to make people feel uncomfortable.
The actions I took in Brunswick were affected by the weather, however I did get some reactions from people. I didn't get any body trying to talk back to the eyeball though. I got less reaction from people in Swanston St. The traffic was a lot louder and I don't think they passers by could hear me on the walkie talkie. Two people did stop and have a close look at it, although I’m not sure if they could hear it.
I set up the eye on a tree in the Carlton gardens in the afternoon on a week day. Most people only looked at it as they walked passed. As I was setting it up, a woman with a pram stopped and started talking to me, and her toddler was very interested. The toddler kept saying “wow”. As I was walking to go take it down an elderly couple stopped and discussed it for a few moments.
I discovered that night time is when people’s moods are most open to change. At night time people are more vulnerable, and take anything out of the ordinary quiet seriously. Especially when that thing is someone talking at you from hiding in the bushes. I also discovered that it is far easier to make someone feel uncomfortable, and in this case, scared, then it is to make them happy.