I miss pizza boxes. I understand the need for ad space but are there certain spaces and surfaces that should be sacred? Pizza does taste better when eaten on a red and white checkered tablecloth, or delivered in a box with a happy Italian chef on it.
In New York City, we have been experiencing some extreme weather. I was fascinated by the amount of umbrellas on the street after the recent storms in March 2010. I've noticed more umbrellas than usual during this storm season. This of course got me thinking about patterns of behaviors concerning disposal and what kind of statements people might be making during the act.
I've been thinking about the markers that people leave in transit or as they exit a location. Here are two instances where the audience are extremely similar but the manner in which alcohol containers were discarded varied greatly. The main differences between A and B were obviously the energy and environment (quiet and contemplative versus loud, crowded and hot) durations (short versus long) of each event. Considering these factors, the question I'm still left with here concerns the type of containers and their possible influences on exiting behaviors. There was only one type of container at the art opening. Does this (along with the event energy and duration) nudge people to organize the disposal of the containers at the time of exit? Whereas in Exit B, the extreme variations in container types does not reinforce, or afford organization.
Why does this matter? During the Exit B, the crowd was anxious to get out of the door but due to the amount of people (and the hyped and inebriated state) it was difficult to move out in a fluid manner which was the case in Exit A. Could a mass act of stacking and organizing the containers (possible in the form of play) calm the crowd at time of exit - also making cleanup and disposal easier?
Why are Americans less articulate in our descriptions?
I found this taped to a UPS drop box in my lobby. Would you leave your loved ones in these hands?
Allow me to get a little self-helpish for a moment. Things do not always add up and that’s OK. Take a deep breath and remember it’s all going to work simply because you tried.
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