Saturday, December 5, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
**In the event of rain, the public intervention day will be rescheduled.
Admission: FREE
Location: Area around Southern Exposure. Be sure to pick up a map locating the selected projects at Southern Exposure or on our website and start exploring!

Situate yourself in the public realm for this day of urban interventions and public art projects. The Passive/Aggressive Public Art/Urban Interventions Day presents work by artists using the city as a platform for creativity and expression.

We are pleased to announce the artists selected for this years juried day of interventions!
Steven Barich
B.A.R.G.E.
Arianna Davalos
Christian L. Frock presents Invisible Venue
Packard Jennings
Southern Exposure's Youth Advisory Board
Chris Treggiari and Jessica Watson
Linda Trunzo
Heather Van Winckle
Victoria Wagner
Jackson Wang
 

Public Intervention Project Descriptions:

Steven Barich - Wanted
23rd and Treat (and many posts and billboards throughout the Mission) — 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

This project investigates what one person could be truly wanted for and solicits public participation to conspire to catch an artist. WANTED posters will appear around the Mission District describing a young artist named S.R. Kucharski who is wanted for all types of trespasses: visual terrorism, image propaganda and bribing curators and art dealers to further his career. The posters request that any sightings of this artist be reported to 1-877-372-6939.

B.A.R.G.E. - Groundbreaking
822 Alabama St. (vacant lot behind Atlas Café) — 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

B.A.R.G.E. will enter a vacant privately owned fenced-off lot and begin reframing it as a public park. The initial groundbreaking ceremony will be the daylong excavation of a 'gash' in the land, symbolically 'liberating' the buried potential of privatized space that could be re-purposed for public use. Instead of making earthworks we will be *doing* earth-work, foregrounding the collaborative labor required to reclaim the commons in the midst of gentrification pressures and the affordable housing crisis. Handouts will be available throughout the day, with hopes of producing a temporary and autonomous public artwork by the end of the day.

Arianna Davalos - The Complaint Department
24th and Folsom — 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

The Complaint Department is a public service that provides a safe place for ranting, whining and venting. People will be invited to file complaints directly and confidentially with the Complaint Department Manager who will record their grievances and notify the universe of its problems via a Twitter feed. Complainers will receive baked compensation for participating. Results may vary.

Christian L. Frock - Invisible Venue - Legs
Embarcadero St. Bart Station — 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

The artist will administer and record an unsanctioned public opinion poll about Barbara Showcroft’s Legs, a neglected public sculpture located within the Embarcadero BART/MUNI station since its installation in 1978. The poll will be an informal survey of how people engage with the individual work and public art in general, and what their thoughts are on its condition. Information about the sculpture will be distributed as well as information on an ongoing Invisible Venue project titled “Sunday Series,” documented lunchtime discussions that implement this sculpture as a launching point to discuss public art in general. Findings from the surveys filled out during this intervention will be published on www.invisiblevenue.com and www.visiblealternative.com in January 2010.

Packard Jennings - The Pocket Survival Guide
Meet at SoEx (3030 20th St.) – 3:00 pm

Participants are invited to meet at SoEx for a 20-minute workshop to fold instructional pamphlets on how to devise an emergency raft out of recycled product packaging in case of a catastrophic flood — a consequence of consumer waste and mass production that contributes to pollution and global warming. Once the Pocket Survival Guides are folded, participants will enter various stores and install them on consumer products to replicate “instant savings coupons.” Future customers will be happy to find their household purchases subverted by public art!

Southern Exposure Youth Advisory Board - Return to the Garden
Esperanza Gardens, 685 Florida St. @ 19th — 3:00 - 5:00 pm

SoEx’s Youth Advisory Board (YAB) engages the public in a project that aims to retrace and re-contextualize their observations, experiences and interpretations of the immediate space surrounding SoEx. YAB members collaborate and intervene with Esperanza Gardens, in a piece that is both sculptural and interactive. Reflecting upon the existence of urban gardens as points of artistic, ecological and social resistance, YAB creates a link between SoEx and Esperanza Gardens which invites participants to share and exchange knowledge and ideas.

Chris Treggiari and Jessica Watson - All Aboard
Former train stops throughout the Mission District (refer to map for exact locations) – 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

The train was once the main method of long distance travel that forced riders to sit, wait and take in their surroundings. This project follows part of route of the historic South Pacific Railroad line along Harrison Street with markers acting as “stations” inviting participants to "hop on board" while providing interesting facts about the railroad and its long history. The route will end at a train depot (NE corner of 24th and Capp streets) where participants will be greeted by a train attendant and given a uniquely rendered ticket, each featuring a different destination that the Southern Pacific Railroad served.

Linda Trunzo - Olives on the Fly
SE corner of 19th and York streets – 12:00 - 3:00 pm

In response to San Francisco’s rising cost of living, and the challenges faced by those seeking to make ends meet in a difficult economy, Linda Trunzo barters home-olives collected from neighborhood trees. In exchange for olives and the artist’s recipe for urban-farmed antipasti, participants are asked to trade useful found and remade objects as well as personal stories that have helped their owners cope with financial hardship.

Heather Van Winckle - An Effective Use of Time
Mission and 24th and Bryant and 22nd streets Muni bus shelters — 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Inspired by her day-job in a downtown firm and corporate policy on “Time Theft,” the artist will be consolidating the California Penal Code’s sections concerning theft (section 484-502.9) into an easy-to-read presentation locked to bus stops throughout the Mission District. The hope is that people will further examine notions of private property and time as a personal commodity while waiting for the bus – popularly acknowledged as the ultimate time-waste receptacle.

Victoria Wagner - Please Listen To Me…
NW corner of South Van Ness and 23rd – 12:00 - 5:00 pm

In an effort to provide respite from one’s repetitive thoughts, Please Listen To Me... is an anonymous diaristic platform that allows participants to email their private thoughts to [email protected] during the month of December. Each entry will be left unread and anonymous and entrants will receive a daily affirmation in exchange for their confessions. The project will be launched during the Juried Public Art/Urban Intervention Day through an informational pathway of business cards that will guide volunteers to the artist who will answer any questions regarding the project. The project will be documented, photographed, archived and posted on pleaselistentomediary.blogspot.com.

Jackson Wang - Peace of Mind
Dolores Park, 16th St. Bart, Franklin Square, Mission Park and Playground (refer to map for exact locations) — 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

PEACE of MIND ™, a pseudo-consumer product company, has created a line of products designed to alleviate the American public’s anxieties over our social, economical and political climate. Relief products will be made available in boxes placed in congested public areas that may present possible risks to the public well-being. Through Peace of Mind the artist confronts issues such as the price of security, the marketing of fear for consumer purposes, and current policy regarding relief administration.