:: freedom walk <providence> ::
exploration friday 6.2 :: depart from kennedy plaza :: 2p
website www.sheacraig.com/hosted-images/freedom-walk/
What's the first word
that comes to your mind when you think about America? What defines us culturally?
Well, obviously, FREEDOM. This seemingly innocuous answer to a deceptively
complex question, that of American identity, is all too frequently given,
but rarely understood. It is our intention to take the concept of freedom
both literally and geographically by visiting areas in Providence that exhibit
'freedom' in
some way.
In the past, This Must Be The Place, a small and highly dispursed collaborative (Brooklyn, Kentucky, Western Mass, Chicago, New Jersey) conducted a similar exploration in Manhattan. Researchers Shea Craig and Anwar Montasir utilized the popular Google Maps service to accurately pinpoint areas displaying greater than normal freedom in Manhattan and then conducted a walk to document these spaces. The resulting photographs, written documentation of the walk and reactions to freedom sites, constitute a critical engagement with the notion of geographic identity.
This project is humorous, but also very serious. It is through the communal act of walking and discussing the notion of freedom rather than any experience of a place that this project examines popular conceptions of our American identity. The project itself will consist of a half-day group walk utilizing both pedestrian and public-transit means, where available, to visit as many freedom-filled spots as possible.
about the artists
This Must Be The Place is a collective practice that seeks community through the interaction of artists that live across the United States. Despite a cultural, living tendency to avoid distance and define community based on geographic proximity, This Must Be The Place draws strength and meaning from the distance that separates its members; a separation that is generative, not limiting. This Must Be The Place refers not to a fixed physical or temporal location, but rather a place of nascent connections, movement, and amorphous identity.
