Storefront for Art and Architecture
97 Kenmare Street
New York, NY 10012

Photos above by Caroline Oh

Wartime Housing: Homecopters, 2100

“Sometime they’ll give a war and nobody will come.” – Carl Sandburg

When leaders tell us to go to war, we will buckle our sofas and launch our homes into the sky like giant helicopters and land in the enemy country to see it for what it is: a place with people like you and me, making dinner, falling in love, walking to work, dreaming about the future. We will show them our homes and they will show us theirs. Abstract judgments will be replaced by faces and names, and we will know who our leaders talk about when they talk about civilian casualties. Foreign cities will turn into memorable places where we ate and walked and laughed and thought. And if our leaders say we must fight in that land, we will say no we will not until no one follows those leaders anymore. And someday children will see our war machines in a museum and wonder how we imagined that was okay.

My world in 2100:

New York
Inhabitants: 9,000,000
Political system: Democracy
Local fact of relevance: The Mosco Street dumpling store in Chinatown still sells five dumplings for a dollar.

Literature: microfables
Art: Deep Time Movement
Architecture: mobile temples
Film: New Orleans Noir
Music: desert symphonies
Design: sidewalk planetariums
Technology: flights around the world in one hour
Science: memory enhancers
Medicine: cancer-curing cigarettes
New terms/neologisms: kitchen pilgrimages
Obsolete terms: social media
Global fact of relevance: Everyone is issued a passport at birth to encourage travel and understanding.

Public art by Jetsonorama in the deserts of Arizona

“We recognize our own mortality, and we are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame – but rather, how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better.” – Barack Obama, speaking in Tucson

Arcosanti, Mayer, Arizona

At Paolo Soleri’s unfinished utopia Arcosanti, I realize I’m attracted to Modernist confidence but terrified of dusty tricycles.

Bywater, New Orleans

It was an experiment and I didn’t know what to expect. By the next day, the wall was bursting with handwritten responses and it kept growing: Before I die I want to… sing for millions, hold her one more time, eat a salad with an alien, see my daughter graduate, abandon all insecurities, plant a tree, straddle the International Date Line, be completely myself…  People’s responses made me laugh out loud and they made me tear up. They consoled me during my toughest times. I understood my neighbors in new and enlightening ways, and the wall reminded me that I’m not alone as I try to make sense of my life.

After receiving many requests, my friends and I created a toolkit and the project site beforeidie.cc to help people make a wall with their community. You can also download all files for free to remix or create your own stencils. Thanks to passionate people, over 100 Before I Die walls have now been created in over 10 languages and in over 30 countries, including Kazakhstan, Portugal, Japan, Denmark, Australia, Argentina, and South Africa. They have been a constant source of inspiration and therapy for me. Each wall is unique and reflects the people of that community. Each wall is a tribute to living an examined life.

Our public spaces are as profound as we allow them to be. The historian Lewis Mumford once wrote that the origins of society were not just for physical survival but for sacred things that offer “a more valuable and meaningful kind of life.” At their greatest, our public spaces can nourish our well-being and help us see that we’re not alone as we try to make sense of our lives. Regularly contemplating death, as Stoics and other philosophers encourage, is a powerful tool to restore perspective and remind us of the things that make our lives meaningful. Each passerby is another person full of longing, anxiety, fear, and wonder. With more ways to share in public space, the people around us can not only help us make better places, they can help us become our best selves.

Visit the project website beforeidie.cc for more walls, tools, and resources. Follow the Before I Die project on Twitter and Facebook to stay updated on the latest walls and responses. Watch my TED talk about the project. Have you created a Before I Die wall or remix? Please send your photos and stories to hello@beforeidie.cc!

“One of the most creative community projects ever.” - The Atlantic

The first stencil

Within 24 hours of stenciling the wall.

Update Sept 22, 2011: After seven months, the first wall comes to a happy end: the house will be turned into a home again thanks to new owners. We painted over the wall and stenciled one last thing – something Wendell Pierce said a few months ago that has stayed with Candy since: “Our thoughts are to the individual as our art is to the community.” It was ready to go but from the ashes come more.

Update Sept 22, 2011: After receiving many requests, we created a Before I Die toolkit to help people make a wall with their community! It includes a one-column stencil made of thick mylar so it’s easy to hang rigid against a wall. It also includes a title stencil, a guide, metal chalk holders, gloves, and chalk. All files are also available for free download if you’d like to create your own stencils.

Almaty, Kazakhstan

Brooklyn. Photo above by Shake Shack

Brooklyn. Photo above by Shake Shack

Johannesburg. Photo from facebook.com/BeforeIDieSA

Savannah. Photo above by Trevor Coe

Querétaro, Mexico

Thanks to your passion, this participatory public art project is expanding to countries around the world, including Kazakhstan, Mexico, Italy, Australia, Portugal, Argentina, and beyond! Visit the project website beforeidie.cc for more info. Follow the Before I Die project on Twitter and Facebook.

“Death can inspire life. Especially in New Orleans, on the corner of Marigny and Burgundy, where the Before I Die project has used the specter of urban decay and death to create art and inspire. Using a boarded up house as a canvas, artist Candy Chang transformed a haunting reminder of blight and divestment into a powerful affirmation of human life and imagination.” – Life and Times

Developed with support from the Black Rock Arts Foundation. February 2011 and beyond. 41′ x 8′, Chalkboard paint, stencils, spray paint, chalk. New Orleans, LA. With permission from the property owner, residents of the block, the neighborhood association’s blight committee, the Historic District Landmarks Commission, the Arts Council, and the City Planning Commission. Installation assistance: Kristina Kassem, Alan Williams, Cory Klemmer, Anamaria Vizcaino, James Reeves, Alex Vialou, Earl Carlson, and Gary Hustwit. You have permission to use photos above for publicity of the project. Photos by Civic Center, unless credited otherwise.

This project is an experiment – what if we could easily share the stories behind our buildings? What happened here? Who grew up here? How has it played a part in their lives? And what if we had more of a say in what these buildings could become? What if we could easily collect demand in an area? By drawing attention to our neglected spaces and providing residents with a platform to share, perhaps we can better understand the impact that buildings have on our lives and how they can become meaningful again.

2011, Industrial fabric (68′ x 36′), chalkboards (10′ x 30′), high-rise. Fairbanks, Alaska, Commissioned by The Alaska Design Forum. Project coordination by David Hayden. Project assistance by Mike Hondel. Installation assistance by Bernie Baecker, Carol Hayden, Sean Hering, Kate Incarnato, Galen Lott, Dustin Miller, Jessica Nelson, Amy Nordrum, Ian Oleson, Sheri Oleson, Pat Rivera, Jack Schmid, Trent Schoenemann, Sue Sprinkle, Dave van den Berg, and Jared van deer Weele.

Within this space, themes already emerged. For memories:

Memories of the Tiki Bar on the top floor

Ghost story of room 303

Themes for hopes:

Desire for a grocery store

Desire for an Indian restaurant

Desire for modern apartments downtown

Part of the team. Photo by resident

Photos of the process:

Photo by Carol Hayden

Photo by David Hayden

Project coordinator David Hayden. Photo by resident

David Hayden and Mike Hondel of the Alaska Design Forum

All photos by Candy Chang unless credited otherwise. You have permission to use above photos for publicity about this project. See more photos of the process on the project website and on the Alaska Design Forum’s Common Space site.

2010, Industrial print, 36″ x 60″. New Orleans, LA, Exhibited at Beckham’s Book Shop and Du Mois Gallery, 2011. 

Installation photos by Morris Brum

As an experiment, Candy created fill-in-the-blank stickers that say “I wish this was ____.” She placed boxes of free stickers in businesses around the city and posted grids of blank stickers and a permanent marker on vacant storefronts, so anyone walking by could fill one out. The stickers are vinyl and they can be easily removed without damaging property. Responses ranged from the functional to the poetic: I wish this was… a butcher shop, a community garden, a bike rack, an affordable farmer’s market, a taco stand, a place to sit and talk, Brad Pitt’s house, full of nymphomaniacs with PhDs, a source of tasty healthy food I could afford, my art gallery, your dream, Heaven. It’s a fun, low-barrier tool to provide civic input onsite, and the responses reflect the hopes, dreams, and colorful imaginations of different neighborhoods.

The project was created as part of the Ethnographic Terminalia exhibit at DuMois Gallery and has since expanded to cities around the world. The stickers are made of vinyl so they can be easily removed without damaging property, and slitted backs make it easy to peel and apply. Thanks to the Urban Innovation Fellowship from Tulane University and the Rockefeller Foundation, Candy and her colleagues have taken this idea a few steps further and created a tool called Neighborland to help us join forces and build on ideas together.

To those concerned about the subjunctive mood (“I wish this was” vs. “I wish this were”): Long discussions on the topic suggest that both usages are acceptable. This project is about striking up a casual conversation in the city, and it just sounds right in this context.

November 2010 and beyond, Vinyl stickers, 4.5″ x 3″. New Orleans, LA. Read how residents have used it in The Times Herald.

New Orleans

New Orleans

Port Arthur, Texas

Drive across America and you’ll see the sweep and carnage of urban history: cities that grew and shrank because of ports, then trains, then roads, then highways. And now every state has cities with old downtowns lined with empty little storefronts for little rent. Dignified buildings wait. Someday they will be loved again.

Bangalore

Durban

Somewhere in North Carolina

Medan

Johannesburg

Istanbul

Panama City FL

New York City

Tallinn

Nice

New York City

Johor Bahru

Johannesburg

Shembe village, Durban, South Africa

New Orleans

Jaaga in Bangalore

Cedric Price’s drawing of the Fun Palace

In Mexico Beach the waves crash into a Connie Francis song and one firework poofs in the sky.

“At the edge of Brooklyn or the world sits a quiet tea room waiting for you.” – Justin L. on Ashbox Cafe

So when GOOD Magazine invited her to contribute to their 2010 Neighborhoods issue, she wondered if she could take advantage of the format and make something that could be torn out of the magazine and used as a tool. The Neighbor Doorknob Hanger is a simple, double-sided sign that provides a friendly platform for residents in dense quarters to offer and request things at everyone’s convenience. One side says “Please Disturb” and makes space for you to list offerings and choose how you prefer to be contacted – a knock at specific times that are good for you, by phone, or by email. The other side of the doorknob hanger says “Can I borrow?” and provides the same format for requesting things. Think of it as an invitation, a validated request, or a low-tech status update for your door, so we can share more resources without interrupting each other at a bad time! If you missed the issue, you can print your own at home with these pdf files of side 1 and side 2.

2010, 3.5″ x 9″, Printed on card stock in GOOD Magazine’s April 2010 issue. 

Cape Town

Cameron Highlands

Maputo

3″ x 4″ die-cut cards are printed on heavy 12pt coated cover stock. Units are individually shrink-wrapped. The word on the street: BLDG BLOG. Boingboing, Gothamist, FastCompany, Public Workshop

2008, Post-it notes and storefront window, 54″ x 54″. Brooklyn, NY. Commissioned by Windows Brooklyn. Installation assistance by Kay Cheng. Later exhibited at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, 2009.

More images on Flickr

Results:

All Post-it notes on final day.

Post-it notes whittled down to ones with responses (half of total).

After the week-long installation it was a pleasant surprise that 1) nearly all the Post-it notes stayed in tact after multiple rain storms and 2) people responded! 151 notes out of 300 were filled out. What a fun and easy way to collect neighborhood info. The results are tallied below:

Nearly half of responses came from people living in their apartment for 2 years or less – a reflection of the temporary-ness of many New Yorkers/renters? The winner of Cheapest Apartment goes to someone living in a studio in Carroll Gardens for 43 years that costs $146/month (!) And the Most Expensive goes to someone in a 4-br in Cobble Hill for 4 years that costs $3,720/month. Some other interesting responses about monthly rents:

3 br in Red Hook for 13 yrs – $200
1-br in Brooklyn Heights for 1 yr – $3315
1-br in Jersey City for 3 yrs – $1000 (“w/ a backyard bitches!”)
3-br loft in Chelsea for 30 yrs – $1095
1-br in Cobble Hill for 11 yrs – $893.45
1-br in Carroll Gardens for 21 yrs – $350
2-br in Clinton Hill for 14 yrs – $700
2-br in Williamsburg for 10 yrs – $800
2-br in Carroll Gardens for 55 yrs – $350
2-br in Bethlehem, PA (the only non-NYC-area response) for 1 wk – $730

52 responses came from people living in 1-br apartments in Carroll Gardens. Below are the range of costs depending on the number of years people have lived in their apartment:

A few lifers are getting good deals, but it seems like some costs have caught up with time. Candy printed “cost(s)” on the notes to invite input from both renters and owners, but the responses were mostly from renters. Now she sees that she still botched the wording – most Brooklynites buy complete brownstones/houses rather than apartments. The only owners who responded were people who she met while tending to the project. One man has lived in a two-apartment house in Carroll Gardens for 30 years and it cost him only $125,000 (it’s worth $3 million now). A woman named Deborah bought three homes in Bed Stuy from 1988-2003 and never paid more than $250,000. They put her two sons through college and will allow her to retire early. “Like they say,” she said, “they’re not making any more of it. Get yourself some real estate!”

Team: Peter Ngau, Musyimi Mbathi, University of Nairobi Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Monica Bansal, Alyssa Boyer, Candy Chang, Kay Cheng, Leticia Crispin, Reuel Daniels, Jen Graeff, Beth Helton, Lily Langlois, Ryan Walsh, Eleanne van Vliet. Faculty & support: Eliott Sclar, Sumila Gulyani, Christie Marcella, Sigurd Grava, Julie Touber, Nicole Volavka, Patrick Kinney, Mike Reilly

Downtown Nairobi

Ruiru

Screenshots of mid-presentation. View pdf

3′ x 10′ project poster. View pdf