May 01, 2005
Harvard Square Mayfair - Cambridge, MA
WHEN: Sunday, May 1st, Noon to 6PM
WHERE: somewhere near Out of Town News in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA
WHAT: I will be setting up the Bring Your Own Voice booth as a part of the Harvard Square Mayfair. I've been wanting to set up the booth outside ever since I built it, and Harvard Square makes lots of sense. When I set it up briefly for the Globe photo shoot, I was mobbed by curious onlookers. Unfortunately, I couldn't do any recording then.
I have been told that I will be setting up on the street near Out of Town News, though there is a possibility that this will change, so if I'm not there, just walk around a bit and you'll find me. Hopefully I'll occupy a spot that is a good combination of being a well-trafficked area while not having huge amounts of ambient noise.
Come check it out!
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Summary:
Number of voices recorded: 26
Reading sheets used: 1, 2, 9, 8, 10
Weather: before, during, and after the rain
Level of success: from very low to reasonably high, as the rain pushed through
Records broken: # of people in the booth at one time - 5
Photos: Check them out
This event started out pretty much as bad as you can get. The weather forecast was for the rain to clear out in the morning and sun to take over by mid-day, but surprisingly enough, this isn't exactly what happened. When I woke up it looked like things were clearing, so I loaded the booth on the car and prepared everything else. Then the rain came back, and by the time I was in Cambridge, it was pouring, the booth had gotten a good rinsing, and I had realized that the Crayola markers I was letting people use to sign the booth weren't even slightly permanent (yes, I realize this is obvious now!). This put me in a foul mood.
Thankfully the wonderful people at Diego Salon, with whom I was sharing a space, were immensely friendly and helpful and I did get everything set up and covered in plastic without huge amounts of additional damage.
As the afternoon progressed, the rain petered out, and I started to get some good interest. Diego Salon was cutting people's hair for Locks of Love, an organization that donates hair for use in wigs for child cancer patients. Some people would get their hair chopped 10 inches and others would just go ahead and get their friends to dare them to shave their head entirely for donations to the cause. I thought it would be interesting to capture people's thoughts immediately after a dramatic change in appearance, so I had some questions prepared for them.
You've probably heard enough, so finally, I want to thank Kristine, Rob, Brandon and Kate (multi-colored Sharpies!), for all the help and will leave you with some choice audio snippets (click below to access them):
media whoring
call the cops!
personality test
contextual
yeah, make it up
huh?!?!
Mr. White
happenstance
social
it's on my head
tribal
liberation