Saturday 1 March 2014

Assignment 2: Stakeout

Here we are again for Assignment 2 of the Art Assignment.

Link to the accompanying video here.

This time, the assignment involves randomers, people who have nothing to do with the project being involved. This inevitably adds a flare of unpredictability into the mix, which is certainly what we got when we finished our project. But before we talk about the end, let's start at the beginning.

The steps for this one go thusly:

1. Get an interesting/intriguing object.
2. Place the object in a public place, where people can interact with it.
3. Sit and watch from a nearby place.
4. Document how people interact with this object.
5. Stop documenting when either the object is removed or there are no more people.
6. Upload results.

Again, Let's take step 6 as adequately completed, otherwise you wouldn't be reading the messages on this piece of internet. Also again, my wife Lucy was involved with the recording, providing you will all the visual commentary, with myself providing the written commentary.

So, let's begin with step one.

After watching the video, the first thing we had to figure out was what did we want to leave behind. We knew we didn't want to use anything that either of us would end up missing, so anything that had financial or sentimental value was immediately out, and when you're looking around your home for potential objects, that rules out quite a lot of choices.

Lucy then had the idea of buying a box of chocolates and leaving them out for people to take. It was an interesting thought, but I wasn't certain how willing people would be to pick up and eat chocolate they just found lying on the ground. She then suggested that we gift wrap it and leave it as a present, and that was it, our idea was set.

The chocolate themselves, easily bought with little hassle.

It suddenly occurred to me that this task was making the world a bit more like a videogame, in which there are random items on the floor for people to pick up and claim as their own. In particular, random gift boxes being left on the floor was reminiscent of one of my favourite RPGs, the Mother series (also known as Earthbound). Lucy had never played a Mother game (this will be remedied soon, I'm sure), but she too liked the idea.
 
These is what gift boxes lying around on the ground look like in Mother games (mother 2 and 3 respectively).

And this is what we had to work with.

We had a red ribbon, but only green wrapping paper. However, like a lot of wrapping paper, the inside was a pure blank white. Looks like we'll be wrapping this thing inside out.


After this project became a big Earthbound reference, I just ran with it, quickly making a message in MSpaint which resembled the games many text boxes.


Which was printed and stuck on the box, along with some information guiding them to the Art Assignment youtube page, so that they may understand why they had just found a a present randomly place in the middle of the street.

Before you could say "Fuzzy Pickles", Lucy had managed to wrap very neatly.

And this was the finished product.

The tag was a fairly late idea. We were afraid that anyone who looked at it might just assume it was a birthday present that had gotten lost and so wouldn't want to take it away. The message in the tag should clear any possible confusion up.


And so that was that, our Earthbound style present completed, we resolved to awaken early the next day for step 2.

We awoke at around 7 am, and left roughly at about 8. It had been a long time since we had been both awake and outside at the same time this early, so it briefly reminded us of our first couple of meetings waiting for the early bus. Very few people were around, and that was good, it meant we could nonchalantly leave the present on the ground, and get back to our view point without anyone noticing.

After some wondering around, we managed to find a coffee shop with seat overlooking the front-of-house windows, and quickly claimed the seats. Lucy ordered a drink while I looked around for good dropping places, and finished the breakfast sandwich I bought a few moments ago.

This was the spot, that square drain cover next to the pillar.

We needed a spot that wasn't directly in front of the coffee shop, so that they won't see us taking pictures, but it had to be near enough for us to see what they were doing. The good thing about putting it near the pillar was that it would prevent people accidentally walking into it, as well as draw their attention towards the ground. Putting it inside the boundaries of the square helped too by telling people that this present was placed here on purpose.
Placed for all to see.

It didn't take long for our conspicuously placed gift to garner some attention.


Setting up for this to become a long wait, I went to the counter and ordered a hot chocolate. When I returned, Lucy had been taking pictures in rapid succession with excitement on her face.

Someone had picked up the present, someone with a noticeable 96 embroidered on his jeans.

And just like that, Mr.96 started walking away. We thought that was the end, but then...

 Was...was he unwrapping it?

 He was unwrapping it! That little tint of green proves it, the presents wrapping was off.

And what's more, he went off to the bin to throw away some of the wrappings. 


And away Mr. 96 went, never to be photographed again.

We checked the time stamps on the camera, it took all of one minute to put the present down before someone picked it up. We were amazed it had gone this fast. In my mind, I had seen this lasting a lot longer, with most people ignoring the present, or giving it a quick glance before moving on, with the event culminating in someone stepping on it. But no, it was taken almost immediately. Lucy thinks this is because people like getting presents.

On our way out of the shop, having finished our drinks, we saw a street cleaner sweeping up the floor, not too far from where the present once lay. Perhaps it was to our fortune the gift was taken so soon. Had Mr. 96 ignored it, perhaps it would have been cleared away as though another piece of discarded debris.

Like the first task, it seems that our time spent in preparation had exceeded its execution. And again, I suspect that most people would have spent less time picking an object and more time watching interactions. I wander if this will become a running theme for us in the coming assignments.

1 comment:

  1. Hi guys found this on YouTube, thanks for the encouragement your post gave me to give my stakeout a go. I mention you in my blog with links to this blog too. I'm at www.scarlettesthread.com.au

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