One element of Participatory Art’s aesthetic language is connection, very often through discomfort. I have located myself and others here; The Incredible Intensity of Just Being Human, a traveling exhibit I created to address the stigma and silence surrounding mental illness. In every exhibit the art was hung askew, causing discomfort in staff and visitors alike. In one instance the receptionist straightened the artwork daily because she found it so unsettling. Ironic participation does not always induce discomfort. It can facilitate the feeling of full-hearted participation and a sense of belonging in the community. For example, in my piece for the Seattle Erotic Arts Festival, “Poor Impulse Control,” where volunteers allowed strangers to touch and stroke their hair. Festival participants took it upon themselves to recreate it daily during the hours I was not present.

I’ve taken over a commercial space in a diverse neighborhood where the other commercial spaces are either unoccupied or abandoned or simply not used for their intended purposes. That was already an opportunity for placemaking – to create something that would feel characteristic where there had been nothing.   In the entry to my art-making space, I’ve built a tiny café and take-out window business. My purpose is connecting diverse community members over a common interest so that they may see their neighbors as they see themselves -- as complex humans.