CONCEPTUAL — ARTA MARIE POWERS

SERVICE HUMAN

**CALL TO COLLABORATION**
Think of the omni-universal tasks that exist in our daily lives; watering plants, paying the parking meter, washing dishes, checking the mail, making coffee; how can we begin to modify these tasks to enhance our lives or make space for new ones that capture our genuine interest and skills.CALL TO COLLABORATION

Featured

Aug 19, 2018

AFIS (Available for Immediate Square)

“That kind of thing is reserved for America Where they let people live on the streets.” German foreign exchange student c.2002

AFIS is a proposed community based project that transfers abandoned and bank owned homes to community organizations to set up services and opportunities in our communities.

AFIS started as a Social engaged art practice in 2016 after I began documenting and researching housing insecurity in America. AFIS is run by the alter ego Miss. Powers of Reality Realty a “organization” specializing in the permanent placement of the displaced, disadvantaged and marginalized communities; believing that community stability is derived from the stability of its inhabitants.

In American there is no city without abandoned buildings and a growing homeless population. Housing insecurity in America is as pervasive as fast food. Homelessness often increases an individuals risk of suffering from long term illness much in the way that having an acute or lifelong illness can cause a family or person to loose their financial security often rendering them housing insecure or homeless. The cyclical nature is intentional.

In 2018 there were a reported 1,447,906 vacant properties in America this not only included single family home units but multi family units such as condos and apartments. This represents 1.5% of the homes in America.

The same year 552,830 .02 % of the American Population where reported as being homeless. This included both unhoused homeless persons as well as “housed” persons who are living in their cars and or with friends or family but who have an inability to secure hosing on their own. This number is likely a gross underestimation of the actual population of homeless persons in America. It is almost impossible to accurately estimate the population that is largely nomadic, transitional and or hiding the fact that they are homeless to protect their job or to protect their childs ability to attend a certain school and gain access to certain resources and opportunities.

AFIS is attempting to gather solid information about who is housing insecure and what it means to be homeless and housing insecure in America.

Aug 19, 2018

objectifying objects

Objects are sexy. They can be placeholders for any expression and can be used as tools for transitional ways of thinking. We can understand objects to be one thing, and then place other responsibilities on the same thing.
It is especially fun to take loaded objects and turn them into the mundane, and the mundane into the loaded. The devaluation of both sides, loaded and mundane into the neutral will, can bring about exciting and valuable results.

—Propaganda works in this way; it takes an idea and uses visual influence to convince one of that idea.