public speaking: museum of the city

 

Sandy Sampson and Laurel Kurtz will be sampling neighbor’s concerns for a public speaking event to be held outside of Mc Call’s at Waterfront Park on September 11, 2008 at 8:45AM, 9:03AM, 9:43AM, and 10:10AM.

Music provided by Jimmy Moore


At this event, Laurel and Sandy will do interpretive speeches from verbatim

unedited transcripts of “the peoples’” words previously gathered at Waterfront Park. 


They are interested in confronting social norms and challenging the self inflicted

implicit rules that inhibit interactions between strangers.  Rather than promoting a

specific political agenda, Sandy and Laurel choose to amplify the importance of

everyday voices. 


Interpretive speech reenactment has a long history both in and out of the art context;

that history is largely about famous peoples’ ideas and words, not those of average

people.  This action acknowledges the everyday voice in a public format.


Public speaking is a common fear,  by facing their own fear and speaking in public,

they hope to stimulate others to share their stories and knowledges.  Every

community member is a potential teacher and learner; the recent campaigns encouraging the public to be wary of  “others” (keep watch and report suspicious behavior!) run counter to this reality.


Waterfront Park was chosen as the location for this project because of its rich history as a gathering place for the city.  There is a debate about what will inhabit the spot that was formerly Mc Call’s restaurant; Professor Chet Orloff’s inspired proposal for a Museum of the City to be placed there is what drew the artists to this specific site in the park. 


“As Social Practice artists often engaging the public outside of the institution, it’s fitting that we will not only be outside, but outside of an institution that does not yet exist. “