Citizen form — Question 01.
ANSWER

Citizen* is a collaborative art project between Tash Kahn and john ros which explores ideas of how members of the public relate to each other and what it means to be a member of society today.

*We define citizen as a participant in a physical social network regardless of legal status or national origin.

Three questions:

what is your passion?
what does home mean to you?
what does love mean to you?

The 6 questions I think work best are:

• what is your passion?
• what is the meal that makes you think of home?
• what is your relationship to (the street/area/shop) you found this card?
• what was your favourite subject at school?
• what is the first thing you do when you wake up?
• what does the word community mean to you?

LOGISTICS (UK)

100 blank postcards bought from shop | white | A6 | £8.95
100 postcards | printed online to our spec | 105x148mm | £45.00
100 posters | printed online to our spec | A3 | £21.00 + delivery

100 first class stamps | £70.00
100 second class stamps | £61.00

DISSEMINATION

• engaging with shopkeepers/barristers/waiters etc asking them questions directly
• physically posting postcards through 100 people’s front doors
• pasting up posters with a QR code on them | asking shops to put them in their windows

the best i could do (for now) is pare down to ten… six from you; four from me…

• what is the best/worst thing about your neighborhood?
• what would you do to improve it?
• have you lived in the area all your life? If so, how has it changed?
• what is your passion?
• what is the meal that makes you think of home?
• what is your relationship to (the street/area/shop you found this card)?
• when is the last time you read a physical newspaper or magazine?
• how do you identify?
• how often do you cook for yourself or your family?
• what is the first thing you do when you wake up?

LOGISTICS

i’ve also done a bit off research on po boxes; postcards and postage:

us
po box / 150$/yr
postcard / 4.5 x 6 in.
/ $0.35

100 post cards | heavy matte
/ 75$

uk
po box / 270£/yr
/ 16.5 x 24 cm
/ 61p

IDEAS FOR DISSEMINATION

• physical postcard, filled out and returned to us.
• physical postcard with a url and/or code to online form
• stickers with a url and/or code to online form
• advertisement with a url and/or code to online form (pull-away url?)

I have been thinking about Citizen and how to get people to engage with the project. Walking down the street I always walk faster when I see a ‘Chugger’ (charity mugger) or someone handing out leaflets. I might stop and read something at a bus stop, or an advert on the tube for instance, but I am notoriously difficult to engage with if I think strangers are trying to sell me something. So if other people are the same, how do we get this information? I am thinking of the Big-Brother-esque experiment at Schiphol airport where, desperate to keep the men’s room clean (and maintenance costs down), the powers that be painted a fly in the urinals. An experiment in human behaviour that could work here. Then I started thinking about politics, religion, class and celebrity as the basis for questions we could ask people, and then I thought about food.

Some questions I have been mulling over are:
* what is the best/worst thing about your area?
* what could improve it?
* have you lived in the area all your life? If so, how has it changed?
* if you could live anywhere where would you live?
* what does the word community mean to you?
* do you know your neighbours?
* do you have faith in your government to protect you if something went wrong?
* what is your favourite film?
* what is favourite beverage?
* do you go to art galleries? how often?
* what is your passion?
* do you have any rituals particular to your family?
* if I came to dinner what would you cook for me?
* what is your favourite family meal?
* what is the meal that makes you think of home?
* what is the best place to eat in your area?

I am still thinking of what we will do with the data when we get it, and what we envision the show to look like…

3 more questions that I thought of are:
* what is your relationship to (the street they are on/area)?
* how would you describe it to someone who has never been here before?
* what would you hope for the future of (the street they are on/area)?

possible citizen questions … as i was typing my weird keyboard jumped and deleted part of the sentence to leave, “zen questions.” … bashert?

in thinking about questions to ask participants, passers-by, viewers, community members, residents, etc. — i cannot help put conjure thoughts and ideas of haacke.

list of questions session 01

• where were you born?
• what neighborhood do you live in?
• can you name a famous artwork?
• can you name a famous song?
• can you name a famous composer?
• what is your favorite tv show?
• what is your favorite movie?
• what is your favorite book?
• who is your favorite celebrity?
• can you name a famous artist?
• what genre of music do you most often listen to?
• what was your favorite subject in school?
• what if your favorite food?
• are you a dog or a cat person?
• what do you think being a dog or cat person means?
• when is the last time you read a physical newspaper or magazine?
• do you subscribe to any newspapers or magazines (either physical or digital)
• what is your age group? (<14; 14-17; 18-22; 23-29; 30-34; 35-39; 40-44; 45-49; 50-54; 55-59; 60-70; 70-80; 80-90; >90).

list of questions session 02

• how do you identify?
• how do you identify your gender?
• would you consider yourself a sexual person?
• how often do you have sex a week?
• do you consider yourself religious?
• do you go to any type of religious service?
• what if your highest level of education?
• how often do you eat out or get takeaway?
• how often do you eat fast food?
• how often do you cook for yourself or your family?
• are you partnered? or grouped?
• how large is your family unit?
• how much sleep do you get a night?
• when do you wake up?
• what is the first thing you do when you wake up?