The Public Living Room
the context
In an effort to provide safe socializing during the COVID-19 Pandemic, the City of Salem sought to increase seating capacity in a popular town center, Derby Square. Despite the absence of typical community summer events such as farmers' markets, art and craft fairs, and concerts, the plaza was still a destination for congregation among friends, family, and social bubbles.
The prompt
This project was conceived and executed by Creative Blocks, an experiential design studio founded by me and creative partner Lauren Smedley, as part of a year-long artist residency with the City of Salem. The city provided four wooden Adirondack chairs to Creative Blocks with the broad goal of creating functional public art. Noticing first-hand how socializing had suddenly shifted into the public realm and away from intimate interiors and personal homes, we sought to recreate a space for gathering in addition to repose in the form of a public living room.
the research
- placed the unpainted Adirondack chairs in various locations in Derby square to observe how people used them
- hand-painted each chair and installed them with chalk art placemaking
- observed usage patterns, and updated questions on interaction table
the concept
Responding to the clean angular lines of the classic Adirondack chair, we were reminded of the modernist interiors of the Rietveld-Schöderhuis in Utrecht, Netherlands. We painted the chairs bright primary colors to stand out against the muted colors of the historic Salem. A Lichtenstein-inspired black outline further separated the chairs into their own vignette, and created opportunity for more whimsical graphical embellishments; a throw pillow; a snoozing cat; a forgotten T.V. remote. A patterned "rug" was installed with spray chalk that responded to the geometry of the brick floor, and an up-cycled wooden pallet became a chalkboard coffee table that encouraged discussion and interaction.
the results
Since the concept and installation of this piece evolved from direct public observations, adoption and usage was immediate by residents and tourists. The installation was posted organically on the Mayor of Salem's personal instagram account with positive reflections.