A pop-up democracy event that invited people on the street to make a collage representing social and political issues.
Problems and Purpose
Four pop-up outdoor interventions held across Vancouver, British Columbia in 2015 invited participants to make mixed-media collages inspired by elections issues.
Background History and Context
Originating Entities and Funding
The interventions were executed in collaboration with the Tin Can Studio – a mobile studio housed in a vintage 18ft Streamline trailer.
Participant Recruitment and Selection
The activity was open to anyone passing by the sites, which were located in busy areas close to transit and retail centres.
Methods and Tools Used
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
Participants walking passed the intervention were invited come inside the Tin Can Studio (or sit down at a table outside the trailer) and were provided with collaging materials that consisted of a 4X6 piece of durable cardstock, scissors, glue, markers and pages of thematic icons representing the different federal public policy areas (eg: democratic reform, education, health care, human rights, national security). The intervention sites also included a range of other social and creative activities participants could engage in, including singing in community choir sessions and life-sized free-standing chalkboard block letters that spelt the word ‘VOTE’ where participants could draw/write what they were voting for.