It has been my dream for many years to do one of my projects about petroleum at the site of the first commercial oil well, Drake Well, in Titusville, PA. Well – it is coming true this Sunday. I have not had much time to publicize the event, but it is Founders Day and the reopening of the museum so there could be anywhere from 500 to 1500 visitors.
I am going to be doing the My Petroleum (On Me and In Me) , an interactive live performance at the Drake Well site. This piece explores how Petroleum is everywhere.
In a unique twist to the scavenger hunt, visitors are invited to check their clothes, bodies and purses to see what they have on them that originate from petroleum and to reflect on the number of items that they may have used in the last 24 hours that come from petroleum. People and their count of items are tracked and every 30 minutes the person who used the most petroleum in a day gets a winning prize.
A visual list of the most used petroleum products is posted as a visual public pop-up graphic and also is available in printed, downloadable, and Google map format. Participants will be encouraged to return with a larger item on the list that they might have at home (like a cooler, pillow, or football) in return for a souvenir/special prize. The graphics and printed petroleum list has a design quality similar to graphics in the 1850s, the time period that the first oil boom occurred in Titusville, PA.
From the shoes that we wear, to the zippers on our jackets, to the aspirin that we take for headaches. Lip balms, umbrellas, combs, dvds, eyeglasses, antihistamines, hair coloring, and many other objects are derived from petroleum. Oh, Petroleum!
I’m going to be busy this weekend – wearing two hats in a way. A Food Font activity in Cleveland on Saturday, and Petro In Me and On Me on Sunday, but it will be worth it!