Player Identification: Person Experiencing Homelessness 

This past spring, I began to embark upon an anthropological study of my chosen “Urban Player”: any person who is experiencing homelessness. My investigation took shape in two research methods that are integral to my practice today: photographic documentation and observation by noting the daily habits of the person experiencing homelessness.

I sought to respond to the ways in which the person experiencing homelessness embodied the space in question: the streets in the Potrero Hill and Mission Bay neighborhoods. I observed temporary structures being installed and de-installed, all within the timeframe of a few hours. I noted the tools and the valuable items that those experiencing homelessness carried, and equally as important, I noted the tools and the objects that were left behind. I interacted with one person by giving him a “care package” containing healthy food.

As a response to my observations, I designed and lasercut a puzzle out of plywood, and painted all of its pieces in order to create a metaphor speaking to the beauty and the uniqueness of each person in this population.