Yellow police tape blocks the entrance. Slogans like "Good night, don't let the petrochemicals bite" and "Work is killing you" adorn the doors and windows. If the new art installation outside green|spaces sounds provocative, well, that's sort of the point, says Jeff Cannon.
When Cannon and Anj McClain began preparing for the annual Greenbuild conference in Phoenix, Arizona, they didn't want to simply close up shop for a week. Cannon explained, "We wanted to communicate what we do while we're here, while we're away." So they hired local firm Widgets & Stone to design and produce the installation, which Cannon jokingly dubbed "Out of Office Reply."
"It became a little sensationalized—even though the facts aren't," Cannon stated. The goal, he said, is to spark conversations about indoor air quality—"the idea that buildings are killing us"—and renewable energy. "The way we're continuing to build is causing harm," Cannon continued, "a lot of harm." But he maintains that they aren't promoting a gloom-and-doom attitude: "None of the damage is irreversible. There are answers."
And though work on the project was still underway on Tuesday, Cannon said he's already gotten feedback from members of the neighborhood: "I got a stern talking to today."
John Hawbaker
fftspam on Nov. 12, 2009
wgaff
Phil on Dec. 1, 2009
This is provocative in a good way. Praise for the design.