Curiosity filled the air on Saturday September 4th, 2010 in Bloomington, IN as the annual 4th Street Festival was underway. There were white tents that lined 4th Street starting at Indiana all the way to Lincoln. As I focused on the intersection of Grant Street and 4th Street my microscope's lens revealed behind the scenes conversations to artists' current happenings. As the people scurried across my lenses I notice common themes of parents with strollers, children hand in hand with their parents, dogs leading their owners, people laughing, dancing, singing, and buying to the tune of Here Comes Your Man. As an outsider, I took notice of the lookers, consumers, and the returning collectors as they truly embraced this artistic community of selected artists. Knowing there is an application process for the Bloomington 4th Street Festival: of the Arts and Crafts enhanced the breadth of knowledge that was displayed in each tent and corner. As one artist's partner remarked, that Bloomington is the "crown jewel" to celebrate your art or craft, which brought us to settle here.
The life of an artist was mentioned, by their financial struggles to their successes since September 11. Some artists' have found their income to be congruent with past years, where as others have seen drops or rises do to public shifts of interest. It was pointed out to me that arts and crafts run the 4th Street Festival; not the music, ads, the town's motive, or some other commercialized force. Some art fairs on the other hand have an absent heart as the local community view this as a perfect opportunity to promote to the consumer while still entertaining with some arts and crafts. The 4th Street Festival's heart is rooted to the artists and either their art or craft that is celebrated by this Hoosier state's crown jewel of Bloomington.
Certain tents had an audience in mind, such as WonderLab. WonderLab sponsored the children's tent where you could hear words of encouragement, praise, and joy from a child who just put on a finishing touches. I heard someone say, "If you have any artistic or creative children send them our way;" words of planting a seed that could be nurtured in this great community of Bloomington. Muddling through the various vocabulary strained my mind to even think of another environment where words such as: hymnody, cast blast, diamond blast, fritting, sky-shooting, and many more would all fit together as they did this past Saturday. The unique discovery that came about from this literary analysis was the lack of words or reading necessary to navigate through the 4th Street Festival. As a child would and did, the five human senses of smell, taste, touch, sight, and hearing were all interchangeable tools for navigating through the tents and beyond. Once one's interest of smell was caught by some kind of noodle, the hunt was on for that particular aroma to satisfy their hunger. Similarly, one would find that a fascinating picture evoked a personal emotion or a piece of jewelry reminded them of a loved one. The 4th Street Festival had more to offer by the common ways of words or literacy, but through the sensual experience that brought out a community to embrace artists through a friendly gathering to share one's art or craft's passion.
http://sites.google.com/site/4thstreetfestival/
ReplyDeleteI hope you went to check out the local artists and more!
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ReplyDeleteI relate with the idea of using my senses to navigate. Bustling throngs can be overwhelming for some. My tendency is to take in stimuli at my own rate even choosing to narrow my focus strictly to visual or tactile experiences. I ran into a friend who suffers from overstimulation, and though she enjoys the art festivals, she does so from the periphery.
ReplyDeleteI also saw the fair as a very sensory experience. In the midst of the activity literacy did not seem useful. Exploring and experiencing is more useful in this setting than, maps, or signs.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how you allude to the use of the senses as being generally more (or equally) useful than word in this setting. Do you feel this kind of "sensual literacy" is something that is a universal skill, accessible by most people no matter their background, or if there are still social and cultural underpinnings that help one to understand in this way?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! Did you notice any ways that people navigated the space based on their reading of the literacy(signs, layout, artifacts)? How did literacy influence where people stopped?
ReplyDeleteAt the 4th Street Festival there were two kinds of people: some who went directly to the information booth and others who just meandered throughout the tents. The people who went directly to the information booth might have a particular artist they are interested in, be on a certain time frame, or be very selective. Now the majority would just investigate on their own the layout of the 4th Street Festival. I found that not many people were influenced by literacy because that was lacking in size, location, and amount. If you enjoyed an artist you would have to hunt around their tent to find a biography in some cases, but not all. However, based on personality some people might just ask the artist about their work, where they are from, their influences, and for their card. Personally, I enjoy questioning the artist and hearing their passion come out in words and that influences my interest in their work.
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