Hands-Off - Doors To Your CommunityOne of the hurdles of engaging a community is getting participants who are willing to provide honest and useful feedback - canned, politically correct answers are often more harmful than helpful. To address this dilemma we used a "graffiti wall" technique which allows residents in the community to provide answers anonymously and without pressure. Our hope is that the feedback we get will give us glimpse into the true nature of the community by reducing the observer effect as much as possible.
Our set up involved placing four doors around the community, each with a unique prompt encouraging passers-by to share their thoughts and opinions. In order to try and encourage participation we turned the doors into a scavenger hunt of sorts; though the doors are all white, the frame of each has a unique color and a small map attached to each door points out the location of the other three. Another positive aspect of the graffiti wall is it’s transparency: everyone can see what everyone else has written. Part of being a community is having the ability to communicate with one another. One of our goals was to initiate a dialogue between community members, and we hope that our installations will act as ice-breakers of sorts and help community members find connections and values they have in common. Below is one of the artist who have inspired our group to create this "Hands-Off" Engagement. |
The doors provide a platform for sharing ideas between people who might not otherwise communicate. They lend a voice to those who feel they may be otherwise unable to make their opinions known. Additionally, the doors allow for anonymous responses, without fear of judgment.
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