Monument Intervention

I did not chose a specific monument to work on for the intervention project. What I chose to do, and feel so strongly about, was making a video projection about the destructive nature of Black Friday. Black Friday is a first hand look of how manipulative corporations are to lower income families. It saddens me that they can be so easily seduced by cheap prices, and in-turn, cheaply made products. And what has come of it? Chaos, violence, and even death.

Isn't that what an intervention is really about? Giving truth to those who are blinded by it, and making the statement loud and clear.

My original idea was to make this video and display it on a Walmart or Target building on Black Friday, when people are standing in line at 3,4,5 o'clock in the morning. That was my ultimate goal. However, since this project's deadline was earlier, my collaborates, Hanada, Patrick, and I choose Sunday, the 14th, on the Mens' Macy's building in Union Square.

Since the project was my idea, I planned out what we should do and when to do it on a google spreadsheet for all of us to view and add. We stayed on track for the most part, and in the end we did accomplish creating a successful video. On the other hand, the actual projection was not.

Hanada, and I scouted out a place the week before, made sure everything was in working order, and we felt confident we could pull it off. However, when it was show time, we didn't realize how bright it would be from all the street lights. The projection was not successful, but we were glad we weren't asked to leave the Macy's store.

But thanks to the Hilton security guard, we were able to project from there. Again, not very bright or clear, but at lease we did it!

Would I do it again? Absolutely! I was determined to project the video as much as we could, but without a power outlet, that couldn't happen. But I'm now in search of buying a projector, a very powerful projector. It was definitely a high for me.

Coming home, I was determined to still get our video seen and our message heard. My husband suggested putting music to the video, he picked a great song, "It's the most wonderful time of the year." We laid that underneath the video, put it on youtube, and forwarded to everyone we know. Hanada, and Patrick has done the same thing. So far, in the last hour, there has been 37 views (and it's 1am). Hooray!

I would love to do this again on Black Friday.


Black Friday Projection from Jessica Johnston on Vimeo.

the "Black Friday" video