Catharsis

the process of releasing and thereby providing relief from strong or repressed emotions

The Bakery is Gone

Tour of the Bakery after the fire

Desire or a need for people to come to terms

Landlord has now decided that the residents next door are evicted, and has plans to put in a

convenience store and gas station in place of the Bakery

Nostalgic Emotion vs Present Emotion

The Bakery is gone vs The Bakery is changing

Both are equally important, need recognition

I will address Present Emotion

We are Gentry by Definition

We are renting cheap property

We have made significant physical improvements to the space

We are in a working class community (historically, too)

We are young, university educated people (artists, hipsters, etc.)

Displacement of Residents happened right next door

Representational Forms

Gentrification is a clear Present Emotion

Through work, we can address this issue and it can be represented in a few different ways

Gentrification is the issue, guilt, burden, and/or responsibility

Assuming we are Gentry

How do we address the issue of gentrification?

ONE

Socially engaging work by way of participationProject Row Houses

Issue is directly experienced by the audience, viewer or community

Essentially useful in placing joy, laughter, sorrow, or guilt on the audience viewer—a potentially

rich experience

ParticipationPersonally, I have decided to reject taking a completely

participatory route for many reasons:

Earlier skepticism following our readings of Rosler—how easy it is to mess everything up, do it wrong—realizing the scope

of our decisions

We simply do not live in the community—how could we request participation when we are temporary—exploitative,

colonization(Reaction from community to Paul and Caleb, as well as the

agency studio members have simply because they live on the west side, Kurt and Carl as well)

Not rejecting it completely, but as an overarching representational form, still acknowledge the rewards

TWO

Social Engagement by assuming the issue to self

We could assume the guilt, admit we are gentry, and carry the burden

Critique on the System

Essentially, form would take on as a large critique on institutional frameworks, i.e. (even that

extends in to another representation)

How we cannot effectively engage without a permanent establishment, non temporary

residence, etc

“How to Gentrify” - critically examining our role

*THREE*

Placing guilt, shifting responsibility, placing burden on someone/something else

Santiago Sierra, Broken City Lab, Ai Weiwei, Supreflex, Yes Men

GVSU, Landlord, the city, Education System, Daycare System, the system, etc.

Nato Thompson

If you can't solve the problem, make it bigger

Exacerbate the problem, because you don't know the solution, or there isn't a solution

Raising awareness to the dynamics of Gentrification

This acts as a shell, a framework, an inquiry, or a context, in which we can work

The Inconvenience StoreForm 3 with parts of Form 2

Accepting guilt of gentrification by recognizing that we may be acting like gentry in a number of

ways

But we are also exacerbating the problem, by accepting that yuppie colonization/cultural uniformity may be the future of the bakery

(maybe our project too)

A way of imagining the future of this space, literally and conceptually (convenience store +

awareness of gentrification)

Eric's Contract Idea

Idea that when you enter a public space, you unknowingly enter into a contract

Coffee Shops, Libraries, Restaurants, everywhere

Example: Buy a coffee, you are then allowed access to WiFi, magazine collection, comfy

armchair, and an hour or two of time

Models of Contract

The Inconvenience Store gives us a framework to establish a model of contract

Free Mugs that people can bring back to receive free coffee or tee?

Any number of ideas that we have mentioned, probably concerning participation

Presentation

Two Forms that I've been thinking about

I like the Santiago Sierra approach—blow the issue up. Create an eye sore of a convenience

store, showing how the alternative is much worse

Second form, could promote the idea of alternative forms of living, economy

Alternatives

We want to raise awareness to the dynamics of gentrification, but without providing a solution,

we are assuming guilt

The Inconvenience Store should also promote alternative forms of economy and institution

Free Sale/Free For All

Goals to consider:Make it successful without dependency on

participation

Promoting Alternatives (economy)

Details

Printing on the donut boxes as take home boxes

Making “Free” Tags for every item

Deliberate placement and arrangement of items in display cases, etc.

“Staff” behind the counter, “How can I help you?”

Uniforms/t-shirts or name tags?

Conclusion

Raising awareness to the dynamics of Gentrification

The Inconvenience Store should also promote alternative forms of economy and institution

How do you imagine this space?How do they imagine this space?

The Inconvenience Store operates on an alternative system

We imagine this space differently than they doWe hope you do too