Sign Language Project Details.

These signs are the eye-catching culmination of a six-week workshop with children from the C.P.C. after-school program located in P.S. 124 where we developed the content and design of temporary “commercial” awnings. The members of TRYST worked with the children twice a week. The workshop focused on discussing relationships between commerce, advertisement, public space, language, imagery and design. The children gathered information and learned to appreciate aspects of their neighborhood in a new light, through experiential activities geared towards heightened perception and critical thinking. For example: a silent walk through Chinatown to notice and collect signs and sights that inspired us in our creative process. We examined the existing signage, discussed concepts of advertisement and commerce, and designed new signs. The work with the children questioned standard design aimed at the consumer. In the process of creating the signs, the children talked about and made art in response to many different questions: If you could sell anything at all (not just an object, but ANYTHING), what would it be? What do people need most in life? What would you like to see more often in advertisements and signs? What do you think the world has too much of? In asking and answering these questions, the children found a forum for their own hopes, dreams and needs and a creative voice.

The children have now designed and will present to the community an alternative “sign” language for the project’s area. Sign Language offers a highly visible venue for exhibition of their original art in their own neighborhood. Doyers St., a quiet winding street that acts as a natural gallery, is also one of the first streets that became what is now known as Chinatown, and holds a wealth of history in its constantly changing storefronts.

The significant aspects of our project are the connections we are making across cultures, between our art world and the complex self-contained world of Chinatown. We are also bringing children out into their communities as artists, and these children will hopefully continue to maintain some presence as artists after we have finished the project. We are bringing experiments in art and social interaction art into a highly public venue. The experiential nature of the work can provoke discussion about the underlying questions and ideas.