We were asked to do an installation for First Night, a New Year’s Eve celebration in downtown Pittsburgh. It needed to be interactive and have “resolutions” as its theme. We constructed a wall 7 feet high and 28 feet wide and covered it entirely with a grid of two-inch squares of paper—7,056 in all, each held with a single staple. Printed on each square was a different resolution for the coming year, such as these: “In 2004, I will be a better mom. In 2004, I will invent a new word. In 2004, I will follow my heart.” A person could approach the wall, find a resolution she liked, pull it off and keep it. Underneath the resolutions, printed onto the wall itself, was one large resolution for all of us. As each small square was removed, this big resolution was slowly revealed.

It was an amazing thing to watch people of all ages interacting with the wall. Some stood for hours and read each resolution. Others found one immediately and began reading it aloud. The installation was written about the next day in all the local papers and we have been asked to build it again for the coming new year.

The budget for the project was around $1,000 for materials. We donated our time.

Afterward, the lumber and cinder blocks used for the project were brought to Construction Junction, a recycling center for building materials.

Archetypal and personal, strong sense of community. The transformation is nice, although we would have liked it to have another layer or two. Represents one end of the technology spectrum: intimacy versus remoteness.