#FREEPEACE Zone on UC Berkeley Campus
Berkeley Center for New Media • Installation Design
The project grew out of conversations about student safety as the Berkeley campus becomes a battleground for the free speech debate during the proposed Free Speech Week.
We wanted to create a "peace zone" on campus where students can safely express themselves and find peace in midst of the violent turmoil that surrounds controversial political debates. We chose an undervalued area of beauty and tranquility on campus and explicitly marked it as an area for peace.
The goal was to get folks who generally race through the pathway to stop and take in a moment of peace. We hope to remind them that despite the potential violence that may occur, this campus can still be peaceful; or that they have the power to make the campus a peaceful place.
We began by laser cutting as many peace signs as we can out of plywood and strung them on twine. We also cut out #FreePeace letters in hope to track people's interaction with the installation on social media.
Initially we were expecting passers-by to simply look up and stop in their tracks in response to our installation. However, we were surprised by both the amount of people who kept walking undisturbed in spite of the dangling peace signs and the depth with which those who stopped for longer intervals engaged with the themes of our piece. Individuals and groups of friends stopped to take pictures and/or have conversations. We got footage of some people taking the time to gently caress the peace signs as they strolled through the path. One student from our class actually saw our installation and posted it to her instagram story.
As articulated by one student who experienced the installation, the piece successfully hosted opportunities for different levels of engagement - some intimate, some performative, some passive.
