I believe that art can go beyond being a visual object by communicating ideas that call people to action. Community art and involving an audience in a work can be a force for social change. Art can be a powerful tool to deepening ones’ views of ourselves and the world around us by provoking thought about social, political, and cultural issues.
As an interdisciplinary artist, I use still and moving images; audience interaction and technology in whimsical, non-traditional ways to provide multiple access points to ideas. I see making art as a process of research, discovery, creative activity, and engagement with others. My work seeks to develop an experience for the audience to enter into ideas, information, and dialog.
My work is socially engaging, interdisciplinary projects with social interventions or participatory components. The final piece is less about a product and more about creating surprising, interactive, real world situations that encourage audience members to participate. Audience members become part of making the work, and I as the artist become a facilitator and collaborator.
Some of my studio work inspired my current project Food Font. I was photographing words and letters made out of food intending to use these images to open dialog about issues related to food. I realized my studio process had potential to be an engaging and an interactive way to promote discussion and build community around food. I transformed my personal practice into Food Font, which is an interactive project where people can make alphabets out of food, take pictures of each letter, and later use these and other food alphabets in an interactive online design tool. With the design tool anyone can “write with food” and create images to print, save, and share.
The goal of Food Font is to engage communities and build awareness about food, health, and sustainability. The project supports the efforts and promotion of the local food movement and also education about food and health. I want the project to create dialogue in these areas in both real and on-line communities.
– Kristen Baumlier 2012
