I deviated from my original idea, realizing that my initial thoughts missed the point a bit. Instead I decided to create an Affirmations Booth, where people could still come in and be showered with compliments, without all of the disco ball clubfest antics.
I created a 30-second track, which contains a myriad of compliments. At the end, I asked them to pose for a picture with one of three signs (their choice). The signs said the following:
-I am awesome.
-I am proud of myself.
-I am smiling because I know I am wonderful.
To support this idea, I created a Tumblr blog to publicly display all of the photos. I gave a slip of paper to each participant with the web address, so they could access the blog and see their photo, in addition to everyone else who participated in the project.
I didn’t properly articulate to my friend who was filming exactly WHAT we were trying to document, so he focused much more on each participant and their reactions to the words in the headphones, rather than the entire experience, which involved encouraging people to listen to whatever wacky shit I had on my headphones and then me standing there, holding my iPod, smiling lovingly at each listener. However, we did encounter lots of great people across the East Village last night. A few people reciprocated by showering us with compliments (thanks!). One guy serenaded us with a violin. One girl enthusiastically told us about a benefit she was organizing for Children of Chernobyl. Another lovely lady told us that she just found out she got a new job to replace one that she completely hated, so the affirmations made her feel even better. If I continue this project, I definitely want to be in a place where I can encounter a more diverse population, but in a world where monsoons are a daily part of life (this project was scheduled to happen TWICE and was rained out both times), you have to seize those few moments when you have clear skies and friends willing to help out.
Kudos to all of you. YOU ARE AWESOME!
