Thoughts on meaning cleaning

February 22, 2008

I've been thinking about our last Meaning Cleaning all day. At the end of our work, with the removal of our homemade perimeter, commuters walked right over what we did without noticing anything at all. It was like it never happened. I did not expect anything really, but it felt immediately disrespectful to be so disregarded.

It made me very upset.

I was surprised by the general lack of awareness, surprised that people needed a "sign" not to pass through an area, but when that sign was removed, everyone just walked through very mechanically. Almost by rote. Everyone looked depressed and blank.

I know this city is one of 8 million people and it may be impossible to keep it clean all the time, but I can't help thinking about when I was in Kassel at Documenta this summer and had to use the toilet. I was expecting an overly used messy area (I mean there were portable and unmanaged after all) But to my great surprise..all bathroom areas were immaculate, even though thousands of people used them on a daily basis. They were perfectly maintained because everyone who used them kept them that way. There was no division between "us" and "them".

Sadly, that is not the case in New York City. We all litter, we all walk over homeless people, we all walk over newspapers in the streets. I cannot point the finger outward because I do it too. But it's still shocking to me that there seems to be a decline of awareness, a decline of care for each other in this city. I noticed that in a real way when we were done with our work in the subway transfer underpass. No one cared.