I don't speak for homeless people and I don't think Stan is trying to raise awareness to the plight. We all see homeless people and we know they sometimes live in boxes.
Being installed in a gallery, his constructions are entertaining and light-hearted. Instead of empathizing with the rough existence of a homeless life and trying to illustrate destitution, they poke fun. We laugh at them and then reflect upon the title of these pieces: Homeless Pavilions. I'd think people would feel thankful for the life that they have and happy to be hanging out in art galleries sipping wine and listening to art talk.
I am not an investigative reporter trying to see what it's like to live under the bridge, drinkin' mad dog and picking up cans. I get it, that's rough.
What I am interested in exploring is my relationship to money, that device that I need. I want to understand how much of it I really need. I want to know what it is and what it does and what it's asking from me to get with it. I want to know what people are willing to give in exchange for it. Believe me, I appreciate a quarter more than I used to. That's real. I go from business to business soliciting window cleaning work. This town's pretty picked over though already. I put ads on cragslist for residential windows.
I'm looking at the physical world vs. the virtual world. How do we manage our social connections? Does a conversation with a person involve presence in a room together and the sound of each other's voice? Conversations, these days are often text based and online. We can also share songs and articles and words & emoticons. We can share videos to communicate our point.
Can you imagine having a romantic relationship with someone you've never met in person? It's more full bodied than you might think. Songs and pictures shared online can convey emotional depth. I'm thankful for all the expressive art I find online.
We've had phones for a hundred years now. I'm sure that when phones were new, people had to take a look at the separation of one's voice from one's body with wonderment. I don't have to be in a room with someone anymore to talk to them. This is impossible. It's a miracle.
I guess we've just gotten back to a point where we take it for granted that the body is involved in what I call "me". At least one's voice is needed to talk, right?
One facet of my project is that at one time, I had to decide if I'm trying to make it a kind of marathon by staying literally inside the display window or where ever I'm at or if what I'm doing is more realistic and multi dimensional.
I found that this tour of Los Angeles that I intend to make happen involves the neighborhoods I'm in. I want to know Silver Lake and Atwater Village and Ventura and Thousand Oaks and Hollywood and Manhattan Beach and Watts. Well, maybe not Watts, but I want to meet people and listen to them and share their stories and desires.
I don't intend to continue wandering forever. I do, however, want to use this time in the most useful, possible way. At the moment, I'm a PR tool. I call attention to things I direct my focus upon. That is my purpose in the world.
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