Oring's: iwishtosay.org
LOVE the visually enticing home page setup of Oring's blog and the overall theme of her works, set to engage the most random of society, stir their deepest thoughts and create feedback to issues by breaking big things down piece by piece, person by person. It's almost as if she tackles the invisible wall between head haunchos and the rest of society by providing outlets to respond to those in power who dictate much of our general well being and the entire state of the U.S. as a whole.
"The Birthday Project"
Such a simple yet ingenious idea! Oring set up a nomadic, portable birthday party for parks and flea parties, dressed in a 1960s party dress and convinced people to send birthday wishes for the president's 60th.
When viewed in class the letters were much more centered on the presidency itself and the turmoil of the county, projecting a more hateful than heartful vibe, nonetheless the idea itself creates this creative intimacy between passerbyers and the country's highest figure.
"Creative Fix" stemmed from 2008's "Birthday Project" as Oring was inspired to ask people what they would do to fix the country if they could do anything at all. In a series of one minute responses people were given the chance to voice their deepest concerns and passions.
People are introduced by name, occupation and location. Some of the videos are overwhelming with people unleashing everything, then again, that's what makes this so powerful and full circle, defines live art, when something isn't being done for performance but for the individual and the questioning of life itself.
Three of my favorites that really stood out from this project were:
"Ryan Alexiev- ban technology on Sundays, the idea: go out and engage with the world and real people"
"Jessica Ingram- encourage the country to slow down"
"Amy Mooney- one of the most immediate things we should do is honor our teachers"
One woman focused her change on the idea of more community dinners, more time with friends, family; an increase of focus on the rich quality of life not the quantity of materialistic goods.
I adore this overall genre of work because it forces people to take a step back and really think about the issues. Two years ago I did a project where I went out into the streets, stopped random students, homeless men, working women, and I asked everyone the same questions, the most important of all, and entire center of the project, "how would you define happiness?"
Such a broad, big picture idea, meant to stir up questioning and reflection, I was excited to find many people, no matter the age or place in life, focused on the same defining answers- the simple things and rich, loving relationships. A few examples of younger generations responded with feedback shallow in comparison to middle aged mothers with children and a greater depth of life experience, but all in all, this project reminds me of Oring's self indulging style of digging deeper and questioning every day life, re-focusing, examining and then responding, sharing words and thoughts that benefit strangers either in sync with your thoughts or completely separate, now with inspiration to think differently and see a new point of view.
Self reflection and awareness of the world we live in leads to much deeper appreciation and in return, far reaching happiness. It's all we can do to connect with others and remain open minded and curious about life like Oring and her subjects are.
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