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Noah Cott - Roof is on fire


CONTEXT: What were the circumstances that framed the meaning and process of this project?

The context for this project was the growing rift between how those kids were portrayed in the media and their actual feelings, desires, concerns, and aspirations. This project was then able to utilize the media to insert their voices not only into the ears of the people who showed up but into the same television screens that had been serving to stereotype them.

2. CONTENT: What was the issue, need, idea or opportunity addressed by this project?

Wanting to address the voicelessness of teenagers and their stereotypes perpetuated by the media—they’re talked about all the time but rarely listened to. And the few occasions they are granted a voice, it’s dictated by somebody else

3: FORM: What is the medium that was used to address or embody the content?

There were three effective mediums for this project—one was a site-specific piece of installation theatre using the real voices of teenagers, another was the live media coverage both leading up to and during the performance itself, and the third was the documentation of the entire process being made into a film so that I can still hear their voices 25 years later.

4. STAKEHOLDERS: Which are the groups or individuals that invested in the process and outcomes of project?

Suzanne Lacy, Chris Johnson, all teenagers involved, members of the media, Craig Franklin.

5. AUDIENCE: For whom was this project conceived? 

I think the target audience for this piece is a pretty wide net with, the most pertinent being whoever most readily accepts the media’s stereotyping of young teenagers in Oakland. Another target audience might be the parents of some of the kids who haven’t fully invested in either the day-to-day struggle of their child or their future. Another might be other kids their age who haven’t been given the same opportunity to share their voice but can be informed/inspired/challenged by their peers on a broad scale.

6. ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES: How were the stakeholders, audiences, and others engaged/connected to the project?

Suzanne had an interesting relationship to the project, it seemed to be described as her project but we didn’t hear much from her at all which might be a good thing. The most engagement we saw was her trying to get the cars arranged in the right figuration. The teenagers’ engagement is interesting because although a lot of logistical planning went into making the project happen, the project itself was unscripted and so to fully engage with the project they had to just sit in their car and let a conversation play out. 

7. GOAL: What are this project's objectives?

To humanize teenagers and give them a voice. Illuminate the day-to-day struggles that come with trying to make a future for yourself when nobody will help you.

8. VALUES: What were the project's guiding values or core beliefs? How were they expressed in the process?

Overall, I believe this project’s biggest core value is allowing these kid’s voices to be heard, uncensored. It was important that nobody was told what to talk about or what to say to each other—the value was placed on the real complicated feelings that they are navigating. This project’s core beliefs also have a lot to do with comparing/contrasting what’s being said about someone versus how they see themselves. This project places lots of value on having both of those narratives heard to open your eyes to how you might be prejudiced or feeding into a destructive system. 

9. RESOURCES: What tangible and intangible resources were used to pursue the project's goals?

Cars, Parking lot, Stories of the kids, Media, Documentary Crew, Posters, ~$100,000

10: OUTCOMES: What were the results of this project? 

I’m not exactly sure, but the things I can tell is that a lot of the kids seemed to feel empowered by having a platform to talk. I also heard lots of audience members digesting all the new information they were given, like one woman re-evaluating how she sees a group of kids on the street depending on if they were white or black. From what I can tell, audience members were impacted by this work and hopefully went on to curtail their assumptions and approach life with a little more respect.

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