Potluck: Chicago Day 2

Today we started out at the workshop. Yesterday we had each answered the question "If there were one wish about the City you'd want to see realized, what would it be?" Everyone, including myself gave vague answers like equality (an abstract word). When I wrote my answer I felt like it was pointless because my wish was unachievable. Today we talked about our vague answers and realized we shouldn't try to fix the whole problem but work small and change slowly. If we give ourselves such a huge task we won't be able to achieve it. We shouldn't work towards a conclusion but just see where each effort takes us and be a living example.

Also, we spoke about working with a community. Instead of working to fix something you think a community wants...ask them! Who am I to say what someone else needs without really talking to that person. I am thinking of ways I can make my artwork more about what a community thinks about food and not all about what I think.

Then we were asked to go out on the street and interview people we would normally never talk to and ask them these four questions and to elaborate...

-What do you think you give to the City?

-What do you think the City gives back to you?

-What are the areas where the City fails you?

-If there were one wish about the City you'd want to see realized, what would it be?

I was afraid but I was determined to do this not just because I was asked to but because I wanted to connect with these people I normally wouldn't and I wanted to hear their thoughts. But once I got outside I froze. After 10 minutes of considering interviewing multiple people I finally got the guts to approach a person. This person gave me a nasty look and turned me down. I tried not to be the ultra sensitive person that I am and 15 minutes later approached another person. This person gave me a dirty look and shook her head. My last try was the worst of them all...he told me NO! I felt awful, it hurt too much and I could not continue. I went back to Columbia, upset, and told them I could not do this.

By talking to Tim, Amy, and Ali I came to realize a lot of things about myself.

The people I am afraid to talk to are people that look unhappy. Also, the people I was afraid to approach were people I assumed were uninterested in speaking to me and I thought made assumptions about me. I had never fully realized this before. It was interesting to see the assumptions we make each day. It also taught me that speaking to others is not one of my strengths and that it is ok, I just need to find a different way.

Later this evening we had a Stone Soup at the Conaway Center. People brought in veggies and the Hull House prepared the soup along with some of the residents chopping at the veggies.

This is my organic sunchoke being chopped!

The chefs!

The bread! So yummy and beautiful!

There were people tweeting (I'm very unfamiliar with tweeting!) when people came in saying where the people were from and what they brought. At the very bottom is my sister. They also tweeted our photos.

Here is a link, my sister Katie and Mr. Jacob Martin are in there as well.

Motiroti introduced their art to the attendees and then we ate the soup and bread!

Potluck: Chicago

I want to talk about the Critical Encounters: Rights, Radical, and Revolutions Artist Residency I am participating in from November 15th to the 18th.

It started with Columbia College inviting Motiroti to be their artist in residence for Critical Encounters. "Motiroti is an award-winning arts organization based in London UK. Its content is migration; its form is art. It works across artforms and boundaries, online and in live places, putting participation at the heart of its practice" They created Potluck: Chicago. Chicago is very diverse yet very segregated and the idea is that food can bring people together.

Myself and 21 others (very passionate people!) filled out an application to be a part of Potluck: Chicago by answering questions about our community. Here is a link to a video where I was asked a few of the questions asked in the application. I was a bit nervous as you can tell.

After I spend each day with Critical Encounters I will blog about what we did that day. Here is a rundown of what we will be doing each day and I would really love if you would participate with us on Wednesday, November 16th for a stone soup!

We will be visiting the Jane Addams Hull House Museum on November 15th and meet with "members of the Department of African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latin America Latino Studies at UIC and immigration activist from around the city will join us."

On Wednesday, November 16th, 6-9pm, we will have a Stone soup at Columbia College Chicago, 1104 S. Wabash, Conaway Center Chicago, IL 60605 where everyone is welcome to come and bring a vegetable for the soup or something else like a memory, friend, music...and when you come in we will text it across a screen to let everyone know you are here and what you have brought. I thought this was a really wonderful idea because so often I go to events or parties and feel that I am not welcomed but this way everyone will know they are important. The soup will be vegan based so no worries if you are vegan.

Thursday we will visit En Las Tablas Performing Arts "a community dedicated to the exploration of dance and Latino heritage."

And Friday, November 18th we will visit Dorchester Project and meet Theaster Gates.

I am so excited to be a part of this. I would like to bring what I learn from this into my art. My artwork is about food and the many issues involved with food production...but I have hardly touched the human aspect of food and how it can bring us together. I have wondered about making artwork that involves participation from others and this a great start to see what Motiroti does and learn from Potluck: Chicago.

I can't wait to be a part of this and share my experience.