[Hello!]
We are all living and working together here in Chicago. Every day. We’ve become distracted and frustrated by just having to navigate through each day, which has led to the demise of community among those of us who live and work in this city, and that must change. And instead of relying on changes being made for us, we can and should rely on each other to bring about lasting changes. Our actual habitat, this built environment of concrete and steel and glass and brick, punctuated by patches of green, greatly affects our sense of community, so we must be resolute in collaborating to create a habitat we can live and thrive in.
The built environment – the place we live and work in, move around in on public roads and transportation – is established and then altered by the addition and subtraction of parts over time, and questions that should be a part of the evolution of the built environment are:
- Do the patterns of use, and interaction between people who live and work in this city influence its design and ongoing metamorphosis?
-How are the people who inhabit and use our particular environment, affecting or being affected by this built environment?
We can bring about change in this built environment simply by altering how we act within the space, and how we interact with each other. But at peoplemade, we know we can do more.
It is a goal of peoplemade to remind ourselves that no matter the structure the built environment is attempting to impose, it can be enhanced or overcome as needed if we are more aware of each other, and ourselves, we can use our interactions to dictate to the environment what we want it to be.
For example, if we respect each other the way our teachers and families taught us to, and even take an extra moment here and there as our days allow, to be considerate of one another, we become what we are: a community. And that is a simple way to immediately and easily change our environment.
Of course, once we’re a community, we are a much stronger unit and we can do so much more.
peoplemade wants to incite thinking! Constructive criticism! Cooperation! And evolution!
Approach:
1) Say hello: We will introduce ourselves to our community, defined mainly by the city of Chicago, by posting messages in and along the paths of the city’s public transportation, and greeting some of our fellow community in person in these areas.
2) Say hello and how are you?: To get to know our neighbors and meet more of them, we’ll post ourselves in public areas and offer some conversation-starting topics, ultimately conducting brief and pointed surveys (one question, maybe two). The results of these surveys will be posted on our blog and in public spaces, provided to ‘community leaders’ for their education, and will direct more targeted projects for peoplemade and the community to carry out, to bring about change.
3) Random Acts of Consideration and Information Distribution: Emulating the work of other street or public artists, peoplemade will carry out seemingly sporadic but planned acts that at the very least will make some people’s days easier, and ideally will get fellow community members to interact with one another and maybe learn something! And, as we do this, we will be respectful of the city and the environment, and others’ needs to use the space as well.
4) Share results of all efforts: The blog and ongoing printed matter – Broadsides! Pamphlets! Books! And more! – are already underway to get the word out about peoplemade and its mission to put the community back in the city of Chicago.
5) Grow with the community and its efforts: This is a long term investment in learning and understanding how best to make changes in our environment – our habitat – to improve daily life in our community and tackle larger and larger issues as we go.
GIVE US COMMUNITY OR BUST!
