Thinkers in Residence spend time on 14th Street over the festival weekend reflecting on 14th Street, patterns of movement, artists, pedestrians, publics, personal reflections, and participation. Their responses take the form of writing, walking, image-making, poetry, or on-the-spot conversations with the public.

And now the observations of Matthew Morowitz.

For this year’s AiOP festival I wasn’t fully present and able to take part in every day that it ran (one of the pitfalls of being a grad student in my thesis year).  However, I did engage with a few of the projects that were out and about on Saturday and had an unexpectedly meaningful time doing so. This year was the first time I could truly engage with the festival not as part of the staff and not with any knowledge of the projects and artists beforehand.

I began my day on 14th and C, where I walked in circles for 18 minutes contemplating the action and the life beneath my feet.  It was a reminder of how even a seemingly straightforward activity in such a defined space can have so much variation.

From there I went West and colored a postcard that will be distributed at a senior living facility.  It made me think of my grandpa. I also encountered a man with artifacts of the street and it was interesting to hear his take on the history and life of the corridor. 

At one point, I ran into the curator LuLu as she was engaged with the artist running a project out of an old phone booth.  LuLu was there to drop off a letter as part of this artist’s project. I also passed by a man in a cage, his project definitely felt very timely to a particular problem our current society is treating as “invisible.”

On my way back east, I was pulled into conversation by two people sitting on chairs on the north side of 14th.  I was sat in another chair they had present, given a rock to hold, and asked a series of personal questions about my life.  It was a very reflective experience. After, the non-interrogator presented me with a piece of cloth that they had cross-stitched my conversation onto.  

I ended my day out in front to the 14th Street Y where I saw a music and dance performance taking place.  It seemed to draw a very large crowd of people and I even found myself too captivated by the performance to even think about leaving before it ended.

Overall, I think INVISIBLE made me reflect on some of my own invisible thoughts and feelings the more I engaged with each piece on a personal basis.