Micro/Macro

A place that caught my attention while walking by was right at the intersection of Brady and Water Street. There is a small garden and resting area secluded from the street by the surrounding brush. From this sitting area you can see the artwork across the street of the large colorful animals, which is always pleasant to look at. An object I would use as a metaphor for this location is a seashell. Seashells are usually collected by children during their visit to the beach as a treasure to take home. The seashell, while simple in its design, has a certain beauty and mystery that other objects found in nature cannot compare to. This park is place in a very urban and busy environment, but it is a treasure to find in the city and hold on to. A simple, yet, lovely location to sit and enjoy a quite moment in a very chaotic city. Just as the seashell provides an escape by listening to it closely to hear the ocean.

An object that becomes a metaphor for a location that is significant to me is a small unicorn key chain I have had since fifth grade. This key chain has definitely seen better days, but I could never bring myself to get rid of it. The chain broke a few times before and I was insistent on fixing it. The initial purchase of the key chain was with my childhood best friend, Rachel, who lived across the street from my parents house. We bought identical key chains and then exchanged them. Even though I rarely see her, the past few times we have run into each other she still had the key chain as well. While Rachel and her family still live across the street from my parents house, the key chain is not a symbol for home. Rather, it represents all the places my family lived in during my childhood, all the friends I made that I couldn't imagine living without when we would move again, all the memories that still make me laugh at our childish innocence. That unicorn key chain probably is not even worth a penny, but it holds more value than almost anything I own.

The intervention created by Justin Beale and myself took place on North Farwell Ave. We used chalk as our medium to comment on the Milwaukee "beer culture". This location was choosen due its close relations to a number of bars in the tavern and the people leaving the bar was our target audience for the work.