Dominique DeVito 

Theme: social anxiety, performance 

Group mission statement: Our overall mission is reflecting the fear of people interacting in this day and age through multiple performance pieces held throughout the city. We live in a time where people are connected 24/7 online via smartphones, computers, and tablets. The connection of a simple face-to-face conversation is rapidly disappearing. Social anxiety over simple conversations is something that many people face. This is a new problem. The four of us will attempt to tackle this problem via four different performance art pieces. The performances will be meant to encourage the public to step away from their smartphones, interact with the art, and most importantly, each other. 

250 word proposal & concept- 

“Language Wall”

In Bensonhurst, Brooklyn there is a wonderful mix of cultures. It is a kind of central hub for all of the surrounding areas that have more divided communities. As part of the theme “confronting social anxiety” I want to encourage the public to interact with people they have never met before. These are people you may pass by every day, people that live in your neighborhood, maybe even on your block, but since we are so consumed in our smart phones and other technology it prevents us from actually getting to know these people. I’m sure many people have had the experience of running into the same people on the subway or at a bus station daily and yet they know nothing about each other.  

For my project I would like to create a Memory Wall. Something that almost everyone in Brooklyn (and New York in general) has in common is immigrating from another place. Whether its you, your parents or grandparents, its very rare to be more than third generation American in many places in Brooklyn. This is especially true in Bensonhurst and its surrounding areas. I would like to have a huge wall, and written on it would be “What is one memory you have from where you first lived?”, it would be written in different languages. This is open enough that it doesn't only pertain to immigrants, since mostly everyone has moved at least once in their life. Spray paint and chalk would be provided, and people would be encouraged to write phrases, names, quotes and memories from their past. The end result, hopefully, would be all different people interacting and sharing their stories with one another, as they write them on the wall.