The trouble with people you don't know (2008)
2008
This 84 foot-long project was constructed to wrap around the walls and wall gaps of Inova [Institute of Visual Arts], in Milwaukee.
The piece has a structure similar to that of the Choose Your Own Adventure series of children’s books wherein the viewer makes choices that will determine the way in which the story unfolds.
In reading through the story, the viewer moves through the exhibition space in a non-linear fashion, as directed by instructions from the story on where to
read next. Depending on the choices made while reading, the story will have one of five possible endings.
Narrative synopsis: You, an awkward, self-deprecating bookseller, must navigate the uncomfortable landscape of a large, chain bookstore while subsisting on a diet of ramen noodles and a microscopic paycheck. Along the way, you encounter irrational customers, the wisdom of celebrity self-help guru Dr. Phil, an entrepreneurial scheme involving orange-colored books, and uncontrollable flatulence.