By Laya Liebeseller
Talking Walls marked the beginning of something new at C21. It was the first of what would become a series of gallery installations on the 9th floor of Curtin celebrating both the history and future of the Center. The exhibition assumed the 9th floor of Curtin Hall, the long-time home of C21, to be a space full of exceptional and mundane artifacts. Using a series of informative placards focused on this material history of C21, we asked visitors to imagine what the future of the space could be like. Professors, undergraduate, graduate students, collaboratory group members, and community members were all asked to place Post-it notes around the 9th floor and interact with anonymous commentary. Here are a few ways that conversation evolved:
Of course, being in Wisconsin we included a placard on the history of the bubbler on the 9th floor, polling for terminology. This was by far the most sarcastic evolution, beginning with one Post-it note and growing over time to encompass more than ten related to the topic. Being an Anthropologist from Iowa, I respect bubbler as a term, but reject its accuracy.
Over the course of the two months, we joked about time, lamenting the broken clocks. As one anonymous commenter noted, it was indeed not 3 constantly on the 9th floor.
We had a critical discussion on the Inclusive Restroom and Men’s Restroom. The inclusive restroom was seen as important and necessary, while commenters pondered bathroom symbology and the implications of having a men’s restroom across from an inclusive restroom.
And most importantly, we discussed the layout and feel of the space: how people responded to the heavy wooden doors of the offices; the ways in which the hallways felt closed off and cloistered; the need for more open space; the desire to get in and the need to get out. Do the hallways invite you to find the treasure that lay behind the doors of Curtin’s 9th floor, or do they give you claustrophobia? How can the space be opened to allow for community connection, gathering ideas into a central location, while also maintaining the need for individual space? Talking Walls tied into our discussions across Lonely No More! and on what it means to be alone and lonely. How do we find connection together and apart? And how does the material and physical space play a part in this tension?
Laya Liebeseller is a PhD Candidate in the Anthropology Department and former C21 Graduate Fellow. They study play and games, and the impact of pandemic lockdown on in-person play communities, as well as the communities’ migration to digital platforms.
