Video by Yak Films

Before you die, you have to watch this dance video of TweetBoogie in front of the Before I Die wall in Brooklyn! Direct link to Youtube video.

Photos from beforeidiechi.tumblr.com

Before I Die is in Chicago, thanks to the Chicago Urban Arts Society and Good News Only gallery! More on the new project site.

Arcosanti, Mayer, Arizona

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

Carhenge, Nebraska

“A tear of petrol is in your eye. The hand brake penetrates your thigh. Quick – let’s make love before you die.” – The Normal

We’re expanding the Before I Die project in various ways, including a kit (available in July), a book, paintings, and more. For the next installation, we’re seeking an abandoned or forgotten place in the desert that will emphasize the sculptural and contemplative aspects of the wall. We’d like to create a place that will encourage people to hit the brakes while speeding through the Mojave or make a journey into the Sonoran desert to visit a ghost town where civic neglect has been taken to its logical conclusion — and reading the personal hopes and ambitions of strangers might take on a new resonance.

We’d like to hear your suggestions for potential locations throughout the American west. Metropolis, Nevada? Two Guns, Arizona? The Salton Sea? Send us your thoughts and we’ll install the piece this summer — and from the suggestions we receive, we’ll create a map and guide to ghost towns and isolated points of interest throughout the American West. Suggest on the Civic Center site here!

How can we learn more about the stories behind our buildings? How can they better fulfill our needs today? Candy was commissioned by the Alaska Design Forum to create a public art project on the tallest building in Fairbanks around the theme of common space. The Polaris Building was once an apartment complex, then a hotel, and now it’s been vacant for more than a decade. Looking for Love Again is an interactive public art project that collects residents’ stories and ideas about the vacant Polaris Building. The 11-story high-rise was covered with a giant four-story sign that says “Looking for Love Again” to turn the building into an emotional beacon pleading for love and inviting people to come in for a closer look. Two chalkboards at the street level invite people to share their memories of the building and hopes for its future. See more photos, stories, and ideas on the project website, where you can also contribute directly online.

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 our 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 discover the impact that buildings have on our emotional well-being. And maybe we can learn to love them once again.

“Looking For Love Again forces you to examine how the city you live in affects your life, and what you can do to shape a vision of the urban landscape for the better.” – Fast Company

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

Photo by resident

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. Share your memories and hopes on the chalkboards and online at lookingforloveagain.org!

Two Guns, Arizona

“If you can think of times in your life that you’ve treated people with extraordinary decency and love, and pure uninterested concern, just because they were valuable as human beings. The ability to do that with ourselves. To treat ourselves the way we would treat a really good, precious friend. Or a tiny child of ours that we absolutely loved more than life itself. And I think it’s probably possible to achieve that. I think part of the job we’re here for is to learn how to do it.” – David Foster Wallace

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

Washington D.C.

Galveston

New York City

Oxford

Helsinki

Singapore

Johor Bahru

New Orleans

Lima OH

As a complement to Time and Erosion…

Port Arthur, Texas

Drive across America and you’ll see the sweep and carnage of 20th century history: port cities, train cities, Main Street USA, WWII, highways, white flight, urban renewal, car & suburbia enchantment, car & suburbia enchantment backlash… 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.

Galveston, TX

Near Batesville, Mississippi

Stripped of their faucets, the rusty tubs looked out onto the road and tried to tell us something.

A strip mall near Mechanicsburg, PA

Nashville, TN

New Jersey service station

Bangalore

Johannesburg

Somewhere in North Carolina

Medan

Panama City FL

Placencia

New York City

Tallinn

Nice

Johor Bahru

Johannesburg

Los Angeles

“Bob, our sales are down. What we need is a sign that will freak the fuck out of everyone.”

Grenoble

Maui

Bangalore

Genoa

Johannesburg

Prague

Singapore. No durian fruit, a.k.a. the stinkbomb.