RESEARCH General Arts

ART
Bus riders' thoughts key part of new genre public art project

Melissa Mitchell, Arts Editor
(217) 333-5491; melissa@uiuc.edu

2/1/03

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The average public-transit user likely views a city bus as nothing much more than a convenient, cost-effective means of getting from point A to point B. But bus rider and artist Anna Callahan sees a whole lot more; she sees common threads that may not be visible on the surface.

And as an artist, she is driven to express what she sees in a way that engages others. For Callahan, a graduate student in art and design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the preferred medium for doing that is what is known as "new genre public art." And it’s the vehicle of expression she chose for her latest project, "On the Bus," currently on view at Champaign’s Illinois Terminal and on Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District buses.

Sometimes referred to as community art, new genre public art blurs the lines between art and real life, often by incorporating elements of performance art or public participation. Among the best-known proponents of the genre is artist Suzanne Lacy, the author of "Mapping the Terrain: New Genre Public Art." Callahan said the art form typically focuses on community building and sometimes is regarded as an instrument for change. "There’s usually some sort of issue that’s part of it," she said. "But my work is different. It’s about thinking about people around you – to feel more connected to the world."

"On the Bus" documents random interviews Callahan conducted with CUMTD passengers from February through April 2002. For her project, Callahan focused on riders on five routes, all identified by colors. She selected the yellow, red, blue, orange and green lines – in part because they covered a broad swath of territory in all four directions, and in part because the artist in her was drawn to the primary-color routes. To get people talking, Callahan – with minidisc recorder in hand – approached subjects with two questions: "What are you looking forward to?" and "What are you not looking forward to?"

"With these two questions as a starting point, conversations developed, each one as unique as the people I met," said Callahan, who described the goal of her project as "increasing awareness of and appreciation for people we encounter in our daily lives."

"Have you ever wondered what the person sitting next to you on the bus is thinking about? Is she on her way home to check the day’s lotto numbers? Are he and his wife trying to decide what to name their baby? Because having a specific purpose makes it easier to ask personal questions of strangers, this project gave me an excuse to approach people and ask them what was on their minds."

The resulting installation consists of a kiosk at the bus terminal that includes audio recordings and graphic documentation of the interviews. Signs on the buses incorporate quotes from riders.

Past interview-based projects undertaken by Callahan include one that focused on people living in three cities with the word "Rock" in their names. Another work-in-progress is the "Danville Community Encyclopedia," which is intended to serve as a record of the community and its residents.