Siteworks: A Surprise Party, 2018
We “Siteworkers” created a site-specific performance in order to research and share a contested public space known as the Albany Bulb. The Bulb is a construction debris landfill in San Francisco Bay known for its informal art, spectacular views, and for many years, a longstanding homeless community. We drew maps of its physical and emotional landscape and created a performance to allow a small invited audience to share in our explorations. Our goal was to examine the notion of public space as a commons. Our research combined methods from landscape architecture, urban design, city planning, archaeology, literary analysis, dance, and theater. The performance that grew out of the research was immersive, playful, participatory, and highly personal. We invited our guests/audience to a “surprise party” and walked them through the nooks and crannies of the Bulb as they picked wildflowers, made garlands and pondered park regulations. They played with mirrors, shared food, listened to music, and watched a lone dancer on a distant dike, silhouetted against a view of the Golden Gate. We shared our understanding of the Bulb as a place where park users have created a commons with complicated thresholds between the public and the private.
Visit the Siteworks course page and check out their video for more information.
B.A. Art History, 2018
Helen Jiang
B.A. Film and Media Studies, 2018
Amy Loo
B.A. Political Science, 2018
Tiffany Meng
B.A. Urban Studies, 2018
Ricky Montali
B.A. Art Practice, 2018
Katie O’Connor
B.A. Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, 2018
Midy Patty
B.A. Individual Major, Space and Character, 2019
Moira Peckham
B.A. Anthropology and Archaeology, 2018
Michael Qi
B.A. Undeclared, 2021
Peihan Qian
B.A. Architecture, 2020
Hannah Ricker
B.A. Development Studies, 2018
Natalia Rico
B.S. Conservation and Resource Studies, 2018
Briana Salmon
B.A. Architecture, 2018
Daniel Sanchez
B.A. Architecture, 2018
Grace Treffinger
B.S. Conservation and Resource Studies, 2018