Operand enjoyed a very successful run this last weekend (30, 31 July) at the Rose Kennedy Greenway in downtown Boston. On Saturday, the installation ran from 3pm to 11 pm, and then on Sunday from 3pm to 6pm. In the hours it was up, Operand got an almost constant stream of people, with a footfall of almost a 1000 people.
The event was FIGMENT Boston 2016, an annual interactive art festival. Over the weekend some forty projects were displayed over the beautiful Rose Kennedy Greenway. Operand was one of the projects that ran into the night till 11pm, and as the night wore on, so did the interest in Operand. Between 9–11 pm, the tent was filled with people, with as many as 20 people dancing, running around, (hula hoops and staff in tow), and enjoying the installation.
A woman probably in her mid fifties, came into the tent and stood next to me, just beyond the active area, looking in at the people interacting with the installation — jumping, dancing. She turned to me, Did you make this? I replied in the affirmative. Can I hug you?
A south asian couple that reminded me of my parents’ friends were leaving the installation quite happy. The woman turned to me smiling: This is wonderful. Everyone is leaving smiling. (pointing to her husband) Even he is smiling. And he never smiles.
The demographic which really got my work though, was the ones below 7. With no need for explanation or instructions, and a jump now, think later attitude, is it any wonder? One girl stayed 20 minutes and had to be dragged out by her parents. There were multiple people who returned again to the installation, bringing friends. I even had a couple come on Sunday saying they thought it was too crowded on Saturday night, so decided to re-visit the next day.
I’m slow on the uptake when it comes to getting word out there — marketing, mailing lists, Instagram, twitter, and all the rest. I’m learning, but I’m terribly slow. Sometimes it’s a wonder I managed to get into the schools I did, when I can’t seem to get a hashtag right. Every time I put up a piece of work, I learn in the aftermath of the silly follies I made. Testament to the skill-sets I never thought to gain. But seeing all those people enjoying themselves, smiling and feeling alive. Seeing the effect my work had on them, makes up for all the opportunities lost and the hours toiled .
I will never know these people, beyond the interactions we had in that one day, but maybe, that is enough. Perhaps some of them, I will see again someday. Perhaps not. But I do know, in that moment when they walked into my work and smiled: I had them.
And they loved it.
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