There’s a vulnerability required to act in such a way. The performance is innocuous yet suspicious and often elicits public curiosity. Tending to a site has even kindled frustration from passersby. Simply put, it wasn’t my situation, so it wasn’t my responsibility.
I was intrigued by the terms of engagement in public space. The performance is an act of self-conditioning, exerting pressure on our contemporary social contract. It’s palpable how my body and actions can measure against anti-black stereotypes of public engagement, especially concerning sites of break-ins. It underscored the breach of contract; for me, tending to shared domain unsolicited is cause for worry.
Here’s where the Society for Care and Maintenance came to be: a fictitious organization ‘solicited’ to tend to sites. So you don’t have to be concerned. However, it’s just a scam.
After identifying sites of trauma, the Society for Care And Maintenance separates the glass from coarse debris while capturing in-action self-portraits and forensic-style photographs of glass piles amidst newly maintained pavement.
CHAPTER 1
No.5: Site documentation. Found shattered tempered car glass, Oakland, CA, 2022
Single Channel Video (2:37 minutes, loop)