People as Monuments
People as Monuments was an interactive public monument series that challenged the here and now of Kansas City. The temporary public art installation included a plinth/platform which people activated to become instant “public monuments”.
Alongside some organized performances, the general public was also invited to step up on the plinth and become an instant public monument. A camera documented Citizens as public monuments. Organized performers included Jose Faus, Mark Southerland and Jordan Stempleman.
The project challenged the typical approach to place-making by commissioning permanent monuments stating “We were here”, while People as Monuments shifts the conversation and context to “We are here and now” challenging the typical public art infrastructure.
For more information, images and the text of Stempleman’s poem click here, http://seanstarowitz.com/topics/tag/jose-faus
Date and Location
This performance will take place on Thursday, October 16, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Oppenstein Brothers Memorial Park, 12th and Walnut, Kansas City, Missouri
Bio
Sean M. Starowitz’s work is executed in a variety of social, political, and community engaged contexts. Notable projects include Fresh Bread, BREAD! KC and Byproduct: The Laundromat. He has also explored curatorial projects such as The Speakeasy, and Vagabond, Kansas City’s premiere pop-up restaurant. He has contributed writings to Proximity Magazine and Temporary Art Review, and has lectured at Queens College in NY, UCLA’s World Arts and Cultures Department, and at American University in D.C.
He currently resides in Kansas City, Missouri as the artist-in-residence at the Farm To Market Bread Company. He is a 2010 graduate of the Interdisciplinary Arts program at the Kansas City Art Institute and a 2012 Rocket Grant recipient with support from the Charlotte St. Foundation, Spencer Museum of Art and the Andy Warhol Foundation. More recently, he is a 2014 Charlotte St. Foundation Visual Art Award Fellow.
