Space, object, and encounter

In this this chapter I discuss three recent participatory public art projects: The Table for Contemplation and Action (A Place to Share Beauty and Fear), Unseen/Seen: The Mapping of Joy and Pain, and What Needs To Be Said? as vehicles to discuss new types of objects, spaces, and encounters that engage our emotional lives. The Table for Contemplation and Action (A Place to Share Beauty and Fear) and What Needs To Be Said? offered temporary, physical environments and opportunities for ritual-like writing. Although they were conceived as secular activities in a secular settings, some participants told me that their writings were directed to various definitions or ideas of beyond the ordinary-“the Universe,” “God,” or other possible meanings. Unseen/Seen: The Mapping of Joy and Pain was a temporary, outdoor environment that traveled to several parks in Minneapolis and St. Paul and invited the public to map where in the Twin Cities they had experienced joy and pain. A shared space of emotional engagement and catharsis was created as many participants talked as they mapped and shared intense stories of pain and joy with others present. These projects reveal that there is an opportunity (some might say necessity) for new types of objects, spatial typologies, and engagements to address wider ranges of human emotion and need.