Bring in Common by Proboscis
Being in Common is a project by Proboscis with the intention of enabling people to extend and alter their experiences and understanding of ‘common space’. The first part is an exploration of what ‘common space’ means to a range of people from both UK and abroad. A guiding principle of the project will be to explore senses of kinship and belonging to common spaces as well as the senses of property and ownership. Our choice of participants will allow responses on common space that may consider and include the marketplace and shopping centre as well as air, water and radio space, and the park or ‘wilderness’. This may open up thinking on the ways in which spaces are or are not ‘common’ and the formal and informal mediation, regulation and control of them. The second part will be the design and creation of a series of artistic responses to the results of the explorations – a ‘Catalogue of Ideas’ that will include both 2D and 3D works for temporary inclusion in the Park itself that can be directly experienced by visitors.
Through a series of 'Cultural Probes' where international participants from a range of disciplines and cultures are asked to explore their notion of 'common' both conceptually and physically. Proboscis will use this material to inspire the design and creation of a series of artistic responses - a 'Catalogue of Ideas' with 2D and 3D works sited in Gunpowder Park for visitors to experience. These interventions may include physical objects and participatory, collaborative or interactive elements as well as drawings, photographs and sketches, video and online publications, and a series of 'traces' such as signs, sounds, walks or objects within Gunpowder Park for visitors to encounter and /or collect.
 Exploration Packs have been sent to participants around the world to explore what 'common space' means | To begin our exploration into how perceptions of common space can differ depending on your social, cultural and geographical context, Proboscis have posted 21 Exploration Packs to participants around the world to explore what 'common space' means to different people in both urban and rural areas and of different ages. Participants were carefully selected to get a wide variety of responses from various walks in life including a market stall owner, computer programmer, wilderness guide, NASA space worker, parkour artist, mother, social scientist, tourguide and sea-kayaker, and from diverse places such as London, Sweden, Vietnam, Spain, Australia, Canada, India and Greece.
Each pack contains objects and questions exploring what the phrase 'common space' means. Participants have been asked to respond in whatever way they wish write, draw, use stickers, take photographs, use sound recorders or video. The packs include a guide, eNotebook, Matchbox, StoryCube, Photos, Feltboard, Collage Pack, CD, a World Map and International Reply Coupons. Each was designed to offer an understanding of what 'common space' means within the participants particular context.
Some of the questions include:
Describing a common space:
what does it look, feel, taste like?
What do you like about it?
What makes it a common space?
Who else shares the space?
How do you navigate around it?
What are the edges / limitations / restrictions you encounter?
What are the features of a common space? Who belongs to / owns the space?
The responses will feed into Proboscis' artwork to be made for Gunpowder Park early next year.
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Proboscis will be creating a series of cultural probes to investigate what 'common space' means to people from diverse backgrounds.