Art Project Captures Population And Imagination

So, I'm an art snob.  It isn't intentional, and I come by it honestly (thanks, Ma!).  It isn't that I don't get abstract ideas, I'm just a traditionalist and I prefer that my art challenge the eye but in the end make sense to most folks.  The examples I've seen of interactive art has failed to impress.


Until today.

With help from old and new friends, Candy Chang turned the side of an abandoned house in her New Orleans neighborhood into a giant chalkboard where residents can write on the wall and share what is important to them. Before I Die is an interactive public art project that transforms neglected spaces into constructive places where we can discover the hopes and aspirations of the people around us.

You can follow the link to read them all, they range from expected (see the world) to the juvenile (meet Robert Pattinson).  Sprinkled between these are some surprisingly touching and enlightening declarations.

Before I die, I want to:

Be the difference.
Be heard.
Understand.
Get clean.
Get my house back.
Succeed.
Find my purpose, so I know for sure I've fulfilled it.

Those are the ones that jumped out at me.  They capture us as individuals and people, and show what is really on our minds.  We're not all shallow or simple.  Money isn't an issue for most, in fact I only recall one reference to it on the walls that I read.  But it also shows me that we are longing because we are lost, and one of our deepest fears is that we will fade away before we have a chance to leave a mark that really speaks for us.  The artist saw that need and gave people a chance to think, participate and share. I love that, and I hope it makes others happy as well.