Oak Alleyway stands near a pivotal intersection within the city, at the junction of Shoestring Street and Ladyfish Lane. Despite its modest length, the alleyway enjoys a considerable degree of prominence thanks to its excellent visibility and constant stream of pedestrians passing day by day, hour by hour. Local residents find it to be a prime location for affixing advertisements and personal notes, turning it into a hub of community announcements and promotions. Here the familiar becomes unfamiliar, and the ordinary is a spectrum. In Oak Alleyway, we find ourselves in a little nook of it all.
Grounded in nostalgic poster culture, the studio is turned into a fictitious city alleyway that reflects familiar spaces and communities in new unfamiliar ways. Combining risograph printmaking and digital graphic design, public communication is used as a mediator in the conversation about our own lives. Through playful exploration, this work visually examines the intricacies of human connection and the role of design. Through this physically layered and interdependent space, the trivial ways of communicating create community.
Thank you to the Michigan Arts Initiative for their support.
